1. As I write this, it's Tuesday morning. I've had labs drawn and my guess is that the results of this blood work will determine whether I'm discharged today. If these blood tests follow the pattern of previous ones over the last two days, if my creatinine levels are coming down and my GFR is continuing to improve and since my blood pressure is great, I'm not in pain, and I'm able to get up and around, I'd say chances are good the doctor will have me discharged this afternoon. That will be an hours long process of learning what will be required of me, and of those looking after me, at home, including a schedule of when I need to return to the transplant clinic for labs and check ups. Debbie is my primary support person in all of this.
2. I was transferred out of ICU this morning. I no longer need the more concentrated attention I was getting in Intensive Care, so today I had longer periods of time to myself. A transplant coordinator and a pharmacist visited me to begin the discharge process. I'm learning about my lifelong meds routine and about the dangers of too much exposure to the sun. I now have a thick notebook of information and instructions for life after transplant, with special emphasis on what Debbie and I will need to keep track of and chart over the next couple of weeks.
I walked today out in the hallways, accompanied on each walk by a different nurse. It felt great to move and it's encouraging that I'm able to pull myself out of bed, get on my feet, and walk without much wobbling. All of this is possible thanks to my surgery incision/site healing up. It's doing splendidly.
3. Having Spotify and my earbuds on hand today uplifted me considerably. I posted on Facebook last night that I brought a Peter Himmelman album back into my life, one I hadn't listened to in years, but I felt it calling me Sunday night/Monday morning and I answered its call. I'll repost what I wrote on Facebook here about how Peter Himmelman moved and comforted me.
I turned to another source of pure delight and listened to a wide range of J. J. Cale performing songs and watched him and Eric Clapton and others perform together on YouTube.
Here's what I wrote on Facebook last night:
Nearly thirty years ago, I twice heard Peter Himmelman perform in concert, first in Seattle when Bill Davie opened for him and then again in Portland where I joined Peter Himmelman on stage and met his request that I do an interpretive dance.
At that time, I listened over and over again to his From Strength to Strength album and as Sunday night drifted into Monday morning and as I drifted in and out of refreshing sleep, suddenly that album came to mind.
When I was hospitalized in 1999 with bacterial meningitis, I found strength and inspiration listening to Peter Rowan and Jerry Douglas as well as the Oyster Band with June Tabor.
Today I found similar strength and teared up listening to Peter Himmelman after a long absence. In particular, I felt the power of these songs: "Woman With the Strength of 10,000 Men", "Impermanent Things", and "This Too Shall Pass."
That's all.
I just had to put this down.
That album connected me a lot in my life nearly thirty years ago and it's been moving today to return to it (thank you Spotify) and have it connect me to thoughts and feelings I have about recovering from Saturday night's surgery.
I don't know what spirit move me to resurrect Peter Himmelman in my music listening life. I'm going to call it holy.
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