1. Today was my first full day at home after leaving the hospital. Before having this surgery, I had expected to have a much rougher time once I arrived home. I thought I'd be fatigued. I thought I'd need intensive help with caring for myself. I thought we'd be staying in Spokane. I thought Debbie was going to miss a lot of days of school.
I know for many transplant patients, it is rougher than it has been for me.
But, I've been fortunate.
I don't need Debbie to be at home with me every hour. In fact, she went to work for half a day today. I'm capable of caring for my catheter, preparing food, monitoring my blood pressure, temperature, water intake and urinary output, along with other monitoring I'm required to do, and taking my medicine on time. I never went in to lie down in bed today and walked around the house as needed and then a little more.
Am I a bit anxious about being at home?
Yes.
It makes me a bit nervous that I might forget to do something. I need to be extra cautious about the freshness, cleanliness, and cooked level of the food I eat. I don't want to screw that up.
I'm becoming more at ease with these new demands and I'm definitely in the first stages of developing new routines and certain kinds of discipline.
2. For a while now, probably weeks, I will be living much like I did in 2020 as the pandemic grew. I can't be in public places, outside of medical facilities. Outside of family, I'm asking friends not to visit me. I'll wear a protective mask in the medical facilities and if I meet with anyone, except Debbie, indoors, they will need to wear a protective mask.
This evening, Carol, Christy, and Paul came to our patio and we all saw each other for the first time since I had surgery. It was a good get together, not solely focused on transplant facts, figures, and updates, but also involving different things going on for all members of our family.
3. Because of all the fluids the transplant surgeon had pumped into me and all the fluids put into my body after the surgery, I gained about seventeen pounds with this surgery.
It alarmed me at first.
I came into the hospital on Saturday weighing fewer pounds that I had in ages, having lost right around thirty pounds since November thanks to my exercise regimen and the way I was eating.
And, then, PRESTO, over half that weight, so it seemed, was back again -- in a day!
The transplant team's dietician encouraged me to go off of the eating regimen I'd been on while losing weight, to stop tracking my caloric intake, and focus on increasing the amount of protein I eat and to fix myself meals balanced between fruits, vegetables, starches, fats, carbohydrates, and sources of protein. I will now drink a glass of milk with each meal for calcium. I'm to stay away from processed foods, limit my sodium intake, and make sure the meat I eat is cooked all the way through and make sure I clean the produce I eat.
No more raw fish meals: I'll miss sushi. I just learned this past fall that I enjoy ceviche. It's out. I doubt I'll be able to dine at another crab feed. My food safety information had warnings about crab. No cheese made with unpasteurized milk. I'm going to need to determine if the milk in the blue or feta or brie cheese I enjoy has been pasteurized. If not, I can't eat it.
This isn't a huge change for Debbie and me. We don't rely much on processed foods. I don't want to, but I can let go of sushi. My diet going forward will be a matter of emphasis, especially as I focus on eating more protein which I'll do largely by eating eggs, nuts, dairy products, tofu, fish, chicken, and some other meat products.
And I've got to remember to clean my produce and keep cutting boards and countertops clean.
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