Three Beautiful Things 06-29-2024: Dave's Killer Bread, Burgers on a Bagel, The Spirit of the Kellogg YMCA

Covid isolation continued today. Here's what else happened: 

1. Walmart contacted me after I made an order Saturday. They couldn't fulfill my requests for Dave's Killer Bread or Dave's bagels. They offered me replacement products from Franz and another bakery, but I declined. I wanted Dave's Killer Bread products. I then asked Christy and Carol if either of them were going grocery shopping today and, if yes, could they see if they could purchase us some Dave's Killer Bread products. 

Christy went to Yoke's. Yoke's had both bread and bagels from Dave's Killer Bread! She picked them up for me. That made my day! 

2. Dinner time rolled around and I asked Debbie if she'd like a hamburger on a Killer Dave plain bagel. She thought that sounded awesome. And it was! Those Killer Dave plain bagels are perfect for making just the kind of small to medium sized burger we both prefer and it tasted great.

3. I don't know exactly what year the Kellogg YMCA closed. 

I welcome anyone commenting who can pinpoint the year. 

What I do know is that after years of neglect and a few false starts to resurrect it, the building has now been declared beyond repair, beyond salvaging, and will, it looks like, one day be demolished. 

Many of my friends and I have lamented this building's inevitable demise, but have been quick to put our grief aside and express our love for all the great times we had at the Y. 

I last played basketball at the Y over Christmas break when I was a sophomore at NIC. 

It was one of the first times I tried playing ball after getting hurt at the Zinc Plant in July of 1973. 

That last time I played at the Y was very similar to the score of times I played there before that day. 

I was relaxed. I felt confident. Being relaxed and confident, I was at my best. At the Y, I always felt like a real basketball player, unlike when I was a Kellogg Wildcat, playing for the high school. 

As a Wildcat, I struggled mightily with confidence (often I would pretend to be confident, but that was an act). I played high school basketball nervously, never really free of anxiety, of feeling like a failure. I masked these feelings by doing stuff to make my teammates laugh -- and that was fun -- but I almost never was free of the anxiety and the mental pressure I felt.

BUT, at the Y, I felt none of this pressure, none of this anxiety, and what I remember and value the most about playing there was the looseness and freedom I felt. My friends and I loved the games we played at the Y, deeply valued one another's company, and had a blast playing wide open, pressure free basketball.

My Y friends and I are all in our 70s now. Over the years, we have told and retold stories again and again about the many many hours we spent in the Y and the people who worked and hung out there. 

I love that we keep these stories and memories alive. Doing so takes the sting out of the Y's physical structure about to meet the wrecking ball.

Nothing, however, can wreck or destroy the spirit of the Kellogg YMCA and the shared love my friends and I have for the friendships we built there and the fun we had. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-28-2024: Covid Isolation Continues, Two Modest Improvements, Mustard Sauce on Pork

1. Debbie and I seemed to do fine spending another day in isolation from one another. We didn't talk much, but, while she was on the patio, I stuck my head out the back door and asked her how she was doing. She continues to have a cough, but, in her words, she doesn't feel terrible. And, as she added, "It could be worse." 

I was relieved to have another day without Covid symptoms. No fever. My vitals remain strong and stable. We'll continue to stay apart from each other for as long as we need to. 

2. I can imagine that the other good news I have to report may not seem like much, but every bit of improvement I experience is, for me, a big deal.

As I've repeated several times, in order to protect my surgical site and allow it to heal, I have to limit myself to very light lifting and not do any kind of twisting or reaching that strains my lower abdomen. 

Today, I thought through a plan how I could change the sheets on my bed, slowly, methodically, without putting any strain on myself. 

My plan worked! 

I added one more bit of self-reliance to my life after transplant, a most positive development. 

In addition, I know that Copper weighs more than the amount of weight I'm supposed to lift. 

Today, though, I figured out that if Copper is on my bed and I need to move him to the Vizio room, I can wrap my arms around him, hug him to my chest, and move him without really lifting him -- in contrast, say, to if I picked him up off the floor. 

I moved him using this method today and didn't feel any tug on my abdomen at all. 

Again, this might seem like a small thing, but it's huge for Copper and me, especially because his litter box is in the Vizio room and sometimes I need to move him there. 

3. I mixed up some Dijon mustard, hot mustard, crushed garlic, and honey in a small bowl and spread this sauce over boneless pork chops after I fried them and this modest experiment worked for both Debbie and me. I served us the pork with a side of corn, green beans, and white rice all mixed together. 

 

Three Beautiful Things 06-27-2024: Copper and Covid Isolation, Salmon and Risotto, Wow!! *Beverly Hills Cop*

 1. Debbie has chest congestion and a cough, but says she doesn't feel terrible. She says she's not running a fever. She and Gibbs alternated staying on the patio, where it was often chilly today, and upstairs in the room where she sleeps, where it was warmer. 

I did not experience any Covid symptoms today. As part of my post-transplant self-monitoring, I take my temperature twice a day and my readings have been great, no fever. 

I spent many hours isolated in the room where I sleep. 

So did Copper! 

Copper is very happy with this Covid necessitated isolation I've imposed on myself. So, while I occupied myself reading about current events online and working puzzles, any grouchy feelings I might have had about having to confine myself to one room never happened, largely because Copper is so relaxed and content being able to join me and is not himself isolated any longer in the Vizio room. 

2. I made a quick trip to Walmart today for a curbside pick up of an order of groceries. 

I also wore protection in the kitchen and fixed a fun dinner for Debbie and me. I marinated a couple filets of salmon in a Cuban sauce we had on hand and baked the filets. I also prepared the last of the risotto from a mix that Zoe gave us for Christmas. I rounded out this meal by fixing broccoli. 

I'm sure glad we don't have to let having Covid in the house keep us from eating delicious meals! 

3. The other day a friend, Libby Bagi,  from back in the St. Mary's Episcopal Church days, posted a childhood memory featuring "Axel F", the theme song from Beverly Hills Cop.

Her post moved me to go to YouTube and watch the music video of that theme song and suddenly I realized that that movie looked like just the sort of thing I was in the mood to watch.

So, after Debbie and Gibbs went to bed, I stayed up, fired up the Vizio, went to Netflix, and had a blast watching Beverly Hills Cop -- and I realized I'd never watched it before. 

Beverly Hills Cop turned out to be just the sort of movie I was in the mood for.

For starters, I loved its music soundtrack. In addition to the superb theme song were great songs by Glenn Frye, Patti LaBelle, and The Pointer Sisters. 

I loved how this movie never wavered in its commitment to exaggeration, whether in its outrageous chase/crash scenes, its shootouts, its presentation of characters, and in the con jobs and pranks pulled off by Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy). 

I loved the acting in this movie. Maybe some of the characters were cliched, maybe they were overblown, but this movie fully committed itself to cliches that I found hilarious, entertaining, and great fun. 

Steven Berkoff was superb as the corrupt, cold-blooded villain. John Ashton and Judge Reinhold played the cliched partnership of the grizzled veteran and the young screw up detectives splendidly. Ronnie Cox was the perfect by the book police lieutenant, and I always enjoy it when Stephen Elliot brings his hefty, overbearing, and authoritarian might to a role. I also enjoyed how Lisa Eilbacher played Axel Foley's old friend from a Detroit neighborhood whose career skyrocketed into managing an upscale art gallery in Beverly Hills and who finds herself caught between her loyalty to Foley and her other Detroit friend who was murdered and her boss, Victor Maitland, the movie's villain. 

Last of all, I had a blast watching Eddie Murphy. He was the ideal actor for playing Axel Foley. He's at once a quick talking con man, a man devoted to his neighborhood friends, creative in how he investigates crime, and, along with his verbal virtuosity, he is a superb physical actor in this movie. 

Now I'm wondering if I ought to give another move from the early 1980s featuring Eddie Murphy a look. I never watched him with Nick Nolte in 48 Hrs. and before long I might just change that. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-26-2024: Debbie Tests Positive, Regular Chicken Wings, Copper at 3 A.M.!

1. The isolation/separation continues in our house. Debbie tested positive this morning for Covid. I contacted the transplant team and I will follow their directive to remain isolated, as best I can, from Debbie in the house for seven days. I'm to take a test if I experience symptoms -- I haven't so far -- and I'm in high self-protection mode, spending most of my time in the bedroom where I sleep with the door closed and wearing a mask when I leave the room, whether Debbie is nearby or not. 

Fortunately, I won't have any problem occupying myself while isolated thanks to daily puzzles, blogging,  books, movies I can watch on my laptop, the NYTimes crossword archives, music, podcasts, and other things. 

2. Debbie has been spending most of her time on the patio and I continue to be our primary cook. Tonight, I baked regular (not party) chicken wings seasoned with lemon pepper and sesame seeds and served them with brown rice and corn kernels fried in butter.  

3. Copper spent Wednesday night with me. Being near each other is a great source of contentment for Copper (which in turn makes me content). What I don't quite understand yet, however, is why Copper starts yowling at 3 a.m.! It's like he has an inner alarm clock that goes off at that hour and he starts, as the vet calls it, vocalizing. 

Oh, well. 

If I get up and walk around a bit, it seems to settle him down. 

Maybe he wants some wet food. 

Last night I didn't rally myself to get him food -- maybe tonight I'll have more gumption and do so. 

Ha! 

We'll see. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-25-2024: Covid Precautions, A Ground Beef Potpourri, Spending the Night with Copper

1. My first bit of business today: hear back from the transplant team. I sent them a message last night reporting that Debbie had been staying in a house in Juneau where two other people staying there tested positive for Covid. Debbie tested negative, but had been exposed, and I sought advice about whether there were precautions we could take that would allow me to pick up Debbie at the airport and I asked if Debbie and I could be in the same house upon her return. 

Nurse Angela responded after she consulted with Dr. Murad. 

First of all, he advised that we not be in the same car together. 

Thank goodness, Christy stepped up and was free to drive to Spokane and pick up Debbie.

Secondly, Dr. Murad asserted that Debbie and I could be in our house together. We just need to spend much of our time in separate rooms and, when in a common room, wear masks and maintain distance from each other. 

No problem. 

If, when it's been seven days since exposure, Debbie continues to test negative and is not experiencing symptoms, we can lift these mild restrictions. 

We aren't sure just what seven days since exposure means -- the first day of exposure? The last? 

Wednesday, June 26th, marks the seventh day since Debbie's first exposure. 

She'll test on Wednesday and if it's negative, we might still take precautions, but we'll feel closer to being in the clear. 

We will need to discuss it. 

By the way, Debbie protected herself with a mask on both her flights yesterday and by cleaning her tray and other surfaces near her, as Nurse Jenn had advised her to do when we talked with her about travel a couple of weeks ago. 

2. Debbie told me about her time in Juneau -- it was a superb weekend -- and I updated her about what happened when I saw the transplant team on Monday.

While Debbie relaxed with Gibbs on the patio, I fixed one of my favorite dinners all in one pan. I chopped an onion, peppered it, cooked it for a while, and then added ground beef, enhanced with Montreal seasoning. As the beef browned, I added sliced mushrooms and zucchini to the pan and after everything had cooked for a short while, I added frozen green beans and frozen corn kernels. I added Italian seasoning to a can of diced tomatoes, put the tomatoes in the pan, and then I mixed in a container of left over brown rice. As everything continued to cook and heat up, I sprinkled grated sharp cheddar cheese over the top of this mixture and that was our dinner tonight. 

I enjoyed it a lot and there's plenty left over to snack on whenever we want to.

3. Having learned Monday that being with Copper at night does not put my compromised immune system at risk, Copper spent Tuesday night with me. Copper has never been a one to seek out much physical contact with me, but, when we are in the same vicinity, it relaxes him and he was content, even purring, much of the night. He was restless a couple of times, but for most of the night he was still and happy. 

With Gibbs being upstairs with Debbie, I could leave the bedroom door open and the Vizio room's door open. Copper's litter box is in the Vizio room so he had easy access to it all night long, if he needed it. 

I know I'm happy to have learned that Copper and I can be in each other's company with very little risk and Copper gave me every indication that he likes this development, too. 

 

Three Beautiful Things 06-24-2024: Positive Check Up, I'm Safe with Copper (Up to a Point), Covid Exposure

1. I sprang out of bed early this morning, spent time in the living room with Copper, and then leapt in the Camry and rocketed to Spokane for labs at around 7:30 and a checkup with two members of the transplant team later in the morning. 

After having blood drawn, the results came in shortly before my meeting with Dr. Murad. I thought my numbers looked good. Magnesium and potassium are in range. My creatinine levels are stable and in good shape. I wondered if Dr. Murad would agree. 

He did. 

He was happy with my blood work, very satisfied when I told him what my blood pressure numbers at home have been, and explained to me that he expects my creatinine levels to improve even more as my dosage of tacrolimus comes down and he suspects that what I called my decrease in stamina when I walk around is partly a result of all the medications I'm taking. Before too terribly long, I'll be going off some of these medicines. 

2. Then I talked to Nurse Angela for a little while. I can have my next two blood draws on July 1 and 8 done in Kellogg and I will return to the transplant clinic on Wednesday, July 10th for my next check up. 

I asked her about Copper. I wondered if Copper could be in the room I sleep in with me. I had remembered the first nurse coordinator I talked to as I was being discharged from the hospital being adamant that I should not spend a lot of time with Copper in any room and, if I pet him, to immediately wash my hands. (I'll always do the hand washing.)

Nurse Angela was much more relaxed about me spending time with Copper. 

She explained that I am forbidden from tending to Copper's litter box and that I can't let Copper scratch or bite me. He's never done either. So, if Copper is with me in the bedroom, I need to make sure he's not bringing litter in on his paws and I must avoid his feces. 

As of late, Copper has been voiding his bowels in the litter box. For months before now, he wasn't doing that. He was regularly crapping outside the box. 

Copper only did this once when we were in the same room together. He was alone when he crapped outside the box in the room I sleep in. 

Copper and I can spend time together in the bedroom if he doesn't make a mess in there -- if he does, I'm forbidden to be the one to clean it up. But the litter box CANNOT be in the bedroom, so I will also need to make sure he has access to his box in the Vizio room if he and I are together in the bedroom.  

This is challenging when Gibbs is in the house. 

Please, if you read this and feel moved to give me advice, I'm not ready for it. 

I have enough thoughts going through my head about how I can spend more time with Copper and any advice would only overwhelm me, not really be of help. Thank you. 

3. Debbie called me this evening from Juneau. 

The good news is that she tested negative on her first Covid test. 

But, that she was exposed to the virus by two people she was staying with who tested positive has complicated her trip and presents her and me with some questions. 

Debbie's niece in Fairbanks, as I do, takes immuno-suppressive medicine. Misty and Debbie agreed that it would be best for Debbie to cancel this trip and find another time to travel to Fairbanks and meet Misty face to face. 

The questions for Debbie and me have to do with whether we can be, first, in the same car, if we take precautions with masks and ventilation. Can I pick her up Tuesday afternoon at the Spokane airport? 

The other question is can or should Debbie stay at Carol and Paul's until over the weekend or can we take precautions with masks and distancing and be in our home together? 

I sent the transplant team's nurse coordinators a message seeking their advice. 

I'll write more about this tomorrow. 

But, if the nurses recommend that I don't go to the airport, Christy can do it. 

And, fortunately, Debbie can stay with Carol and Paul if the nurses recommend that she and I not be under the same roof for a while. 

You might remember that Christy and Carol were exposed, at a Tri Delt reunion,  to a fellow sorority sister who tested positive for Covid when she returned home and Nurse Jenn recommended that I keep my distance from my sisters for ten days, the first being the day they were exposed. 

Both Christy and Carol (and Paul, by the way) tested negative, but Nurse Jenn recommended that I exercise an abundance of caution for those ten days. 

So, we'll see. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-23-2024: Quick Grocery Pick Up, Fun Sunday Puzzle, Cube Steak and Eggs

1. I roared out to Walmart, use their app to communicate my parking slot number, and almost instantly an employee brought my grocery order to the car and now I am stocked up on protein, shredded wheat, produce, and wet cat food. I'm happy. Copper will be happy.

2. I had a fun time figuring out the theme of this week's Sunday NYTimes crossword puzzle. I won't give it away, but once I realized what it was, much of the rest of the puzzle fell into place. 

3. As part of my grocery order, I bought four cube steaks in a pack. I have a thing for cube steaks and fried eggs. Because of my post-transplant situation, I'm not supposed to eat runny eggs, though, so I fried the eggs barely past being over medium. I guess you call them over firm. I missed mixing up the yoke and the cube steak, but it worked out fine. The eggs still tasted really good with the meat. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-22-2024: Walking on The Trail, Family Dinner is Tonight? Yikes!, Moving My Beer Stash Along

1. We've always called it The Trail. 

It's the path leading from the convergence of Riverside and Mission, along the bottom of hill over looking west Sunnyside and the hospital, to Kellogg High School. If you start up The Trail from Riverside and Mission, it's a short uphill climb. 

For now, until my surgical site has healed, I must limit my walking to flat areas.

If, however, you start walking The Trail from the little bridge over Jacobs Creek at the high school, there is a rise in elevation, but it's very mild.

Today, it came to me for the first time that walking The Trail, starting near that bridge and ambling to the Wellness Trail trailhead might be the perfect walk for me. 

It was. 

I established a slow pace, walked up the slight incline without a problem, and it took me about fifteen minutes to cover this segment of The Trail and return to the car. 

I think this walk will be a perfect way for me to build back some stamina and when it comes time to stretch it to twenty minutes, all I'll have to do is walk around the parking lot or stroll around the outside of the high school.

2. Christy sent out a notice about this weekend's family dinner and it didn't occur to me to read the date we were having it. Stupidly, I assumed it would, once again, be on Sunday. Well, Carol brought Gibbs home this morning and, as she left, she said, "Okay! See you tonight at family dinner!"

"What? Wait! Isn't dinner tomorrow?"

"No. It's tonight so Paul and I can take Sunday to get ready for our upcoming camps this week."

"Oh, man! I'm totally unprepared for tonight!"

Well, luckily, Christy assigned each of us to bring a snack for dinner and our meal would be a collection of these snacks. 

I knew I had a bag of frozen shrimp on hand and fresh lemons. Carol agreed to pick me up a head of garlic when she was out today, so I was set.

I heated up some olive oil, added a chunk of butter to the pan, and cooked the shrimp I'd thawed. When I turned the shrimp over, I added four cloves of crushed garlic and when the shrimp were done cooking, I added the zest and juice of a whole lemon. 

Thus, I took Lemon Garlic Shrimp to Christy's deck as my contribution. 

3. Christy, Carol, Paul, Brian, Molly, and I sat around a long table on Christy's deck. Christy served gin and tonics for our cocktail (I enjoyed a tonic and tonic) and we had a variety of snacks to choose from. Christy also prepared a shrimp recipe. She baked the shrimp and offered cocktail sauce as a condiment (and Frank's hot sauce), so our shrimp snacks were different from each other. Other snacks included popcorn, dill potato chips, imitation crab salad, deli bread, pickled asparagus, crackers, and more. Molly brought huckleberry licorice for dessert. 

It was a fun collection of snacks and worked great.

Ah, one more thing. 

Back in about December, I started working with an app to keep track of calories and to set goals for weight loss. I also cut way back on drinking beer, almost abstaining.

With my new kidney, it's all right if I drink a very moderate amount of alcohol, but, for at least the time being, I'm just not in the mood for it and I am abstaining. 

Because I nearly quit drinking beer about six months ago, I have had a fairly good stash of beer in the fridge and the basement that's been untouched. 

At dinner tonight, I offered Molly and Brian this beer, thinking they and some of their friends might like to drink them, hoping that most of it would be drinkable, even though none of it is very fresh. 

They accepted my offer and, a little later in the evening, Molly texted me the news of how she and Brian had, indeed, distributed some of the beer to other people and kept some for themselves. 

This delighted me! 

Three Beautiful Things 06-21-2024: Debbie in Juneau, Brian Checks In, I Watch *Minority Report*

1. I enjoyed the handful of pictures and a video Debbie sent me from Juneau. I loved seeing photos of her reunited with Laura and TR (Babes with Axes bandmates) and a picture of the scene at Katie's wedding (Katie is the band's fourth member). The video featured a bunch of people performing together at the wedding reception. In the clip Debbie sent, the musicians were performing the mighty song, "Hush". Hearing it led me to play Deep Purple's mighty recording of the song and to play a short Deep Purple concert for myself. 

I don't know just yet what my future will be with alcohol. Currently, even though I'm not restricted from consuming a very moderate amount, I'm abstaining. Today was the first day since my surgery that I thought having a drink would be fun because I've had this thing in the not too distant past of enjoying the pairing of a dry gin martini with listening to Deep Purple. I experienced a mild yearning for a martini this evening. 

2. Debbie's brother, Brian, called me today for a quick check in to see how I was doing. I appreciated his call a lot and was happy to report that things have been going very well over the last nearly six weeks. 

3. I decided today to go in a different direction in my movie viewing and rented Minority Report. It's a futuristic science fiction quasi-political thriller about a police unit, called Precrime, that draws upon foreknowledge provided by three psychics (or "precogs") to apprehend would be murderers before they commit crimes the precogs have seen happen in the future. Thanks to this unit, operating in Washington, DC, over its six years of existence, no murders have occurred in the city -- or so it seems. 

The movie gets complicated when the precogs reveal that the chief of Precrime, played by Tom Cruise, will murder a man he's never met. 

And, with that revelation, the movie becomes a thriller as Chief Anderton flees, the rest of the Precrime unit chases him, and Chief Anderson suspects he's been set up. 

I like watching movies from time to time that are different from what I usually watch and I'm glad I took this detour just so I could see how Steven Spielberg told this story and what he did technically to create the world of Washington, DC in 2054. 

I wanted to experience the intrigue and fascination with this movie so many reviewers of it have written about. 

But, I didn't. 

It wasn't because of Tom Cruise whose performance was terrific. 

It wasn't because of Steven Spielberg who imagined and brought to life a compelling picture of Washington, DC in 2054. 

I guess the movie's exploration of crimes being known in advance and what happens when flawed humans corrupt this means of preventing murders just didn't do much for me. 

In other words, I don't think the movie failed me. It's a terrific piece of moviemaking.  I think, for whatever reason, I failed the movie simply by not having much interest in the story it told or how it dealt with the philosophical question of predestined futures in conflict with human free will. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-20-2024: Good Thing We Left Way Early for the Airport, Afternoon Meal at Post Falls Pavilion, Debbie Arrives in Alaska

1. For years now, I've been determined to leave the house or wherever I'm staying plenty early to go to whatever airport I am flying out of. 

I would much rather sit and wait in an airport than rush to get there. I'd much rather sit and wait in an airport than experience high anxiety if, in any way, my trip to the airport gets fouled up and there's a chance I won't make it on time. 

Debbie is also committed to leaving for the airport early.

So, today, we left Kellogg shortly before noon so Debbie would, ideally, arrive at the Spokane airport in plenty of time for her 2:50 flight. 

We were just past the Broadway exit on I-90, nearing Spokane, when we came upon traffic at a standstill.

It turned out there'd been a three vehicle crash a ways ahead under the Freya overpass. 

Local law enforcement closed the freeway and directed the scores and scores of vehicles inching forward on I-90 to leave the freeway at the Sprague exit. 

Debbie punched up the WAZE app on her phone and WAZE gave us a route in East Central Spokane that got us, eventually, to 2nd Avenue and on a ramp back onto I-90 past the accident.

We crawled on the freeway for about 40-45 minutes, took about fifteen minutes to get from Fancher and Sprague to our re-entry to the freeway, but thanks to leaving Kellogg so early, and thanks to having free sailing for the rest of the drive to the airport, Debbie entered the airport around 2:15 or so and then she flew through TSA and boarded her flight on time. 

Had we acted like nothing could go wrong between Kellogg and the Spokane Airport and left at say 1:00, Debbie would have missed her flight.

Simply leaving Kellogg about three hours before Debbie's flight was scheduled to leave helped us stay relaxed and believing we'd get through the tie up and make it to the airport on time. 

And we did. 

2. Back on I-90, after dropping Debbie off, I neared the Trent/Hamilton exit eastbound and could see a ways ahead of me that traffic was at a standstill. I didn't know then and don't know now why this was true, but I immediately exited the freeway and decided to leave Spokane via E. Trent Avenue. 

At a long stop light I punched Post Falls Pavilion into my Google Maps app and made my way to E. Horsehaven in Post Falls and Post Falls Pavillion's collection of food trucks. 

I had already decided I'd give Benzo Box a try and ordered Orange Chicken, breaded deep fried chicken nuggets covered with a moderately sweet orange sauce accented with some kind of pepper that answered the sweetness with some heat. My meal also included two scoops of rice and a very delicious Asian salad.

It was the perfect, low risk place for me to go, given my suppressed immune system.

Aside from a rest room visit, I was outdoors the whole time, never near another person, and sat alone at a heavily shaded table. 

It was a fun stop: I hadn't dined away from home for several weeks and I enjoyed it. 

3. Back home, Debbie texted me the great news that she landed in Juneau, so everything with her flights worked out great. Katie's wedding is on Friday, June 21. Debbie will get to spend time not only with Katie, but with Laura and TR, the other Babes with Axes. I look forward to hearing what she'll do out and about in Juneau. 

After a few days, she'll fly to Fairbanks and meet her niece Misty and Misty's children. Misty is Debbie's niece. A few months ago Misty discovered that Debbie's brother David was her biological father. She contacted Debbie. Debbie and Misty have had many lively telephone conversations since then and now will get to spend time together in one another's company. 

It's going to be quite a trip for Debbie! 

Three Beautiful Things 06-19-2024: The Key Word: Stable, Ten Minutes of Walking For Now, A Balanced Diet

1. Having my labs done in Kellogg worked. 

Yes, the transplant team received the results later than if I'd had them drawn at Sacred Heart again, but because my condition is stable, the short delay didn't matter. Nurse Jenn sent me a note today confirming what I thought when I read the results: my numbers are, indeed, stable. My medicine dosages will stay the same, at least until next week when I'll have labs done again, at Sacred Heart, and when I'll have appointments with at least two members of the transplant team. 

2. Walking at the Kellogg city park for about ten minutes seemed just right today. There's no getting around the fact that having had transplant surgery and having been inactive while the surgery site heals essentially wiped out all the endurance I built up from November to early May when I was working out four to six times a week. 

I have to be smart about rebuilding my stamina. I'll walk the ten minute loop at the park until I feel like I can walk the loop twice and start doing twenty minute walks. 

I honestly have no idea when that will be. 

3. I think I'm doing a fairly good job following the dietician's guidelines for what to eat after having had a kidney transplant. I'm balancing different food groups, eating plenty (I hope) protein, focusing on fresh fruits and vegetables, and doing my best to eat foods with a moderate amount of potassium. Today I ate oatmeal with fresh strawberries and I tried almond milk for the first time. I almost always fix myself a fresh green salad for lunch. I snack on almonds. Sometimes I snack on an apple. I also enjoy a couple of slices of Dave's Killer Bread during the day, often with Adams crunchy peanut butter. Tonight we had chunks of salmon for dinner with steamed Brussels sprouts and a small potato each left over from last night. 

I'm trying to keep my weight stable. I'm over ten pounds heavier than I was when I checked into the hospital on May 11th, but until the surgery site is healed and as long as my system needs more calories as I recover, I'm following the dietician's advice and not concerning myself with weight loss. I'll focus on that again when I'm healed, can return to the fitness center, and can go back to tracking calories again. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-18-2024: Safe Trip to Shoshone Glass, RIP Willie Mays, I Loved These Salmon Patties!

1. I assessed the situation. I know the waiting area at Shoshone Glass usually isn't very populated. I knew my wait would be under an hour. I'd wear face protection with a mask. Such rational assessment brought me to the conclusion that I'd be safe taking the Camry to Shoshone Glass to have a windshield chip repaired and waiting on site for the job to be completed. 

I'm happy to say my trip to Shoshone Glass worked out just like I anticipated. I was alone in the waiting area. The job took under an hour. I got to contribute to the smooth running of our household without taking much of a risk that I'd catch a bug. 

Another small step forward in my progress toward a gradually less restricted life! 

2. I found out today that my first (and almost only) major league idol, Willie Mays died. 

I read and hear athletes talk a lot about players they not only idolized, but that they emulated, patterning their own way of playing after the player(s) they looked up to when young. 

I idolized Willie Mays, followed his day to day performance in the baseball box scores, but I never even thought of trying to play like him.

Even at a young age, I knew some mortals live on a higher plane, breathe rarified air, are untouchable, and inimitable. 

Willie Mays was such a player for me. 

Looking back, I now think that although I could never hit, field, or throw like Willie Mays, it would have been wise for me to learn from and try to imitate his joy, his freedom as an athlete. 

I was a nervous athlete, stressed out by my nagging and sometimes overpowering fear of failure. 

This stress made playing sports, from Little League all the way through high school basketball, high school golf, American Legion baseball, and even men's slow pitch softball a nerve wracking experience and my anxiety affected my physical performance. 

Physically, I rarely played any sport with anything even approaching a sense of freedom and abandon -- certainly not the way Willie Mays did.

Had I thought to do it and had I, even in small ways, emulated Willie Mays' joy and abandon when I played, I would have enjoyed playing competitive sports a lot more than I did. 

Sidenote: As I write this reflection, I'm thinking that I did play with more ease and abandon in shirts vrs skins basketball battles at the YMCA. Yeah. There were times at the Y when I felt like an accomplished player. No wonder I enjoyed that action so much! 

3. As read handouts I received from the transplant team and work to figure out what foods are best for me right now, the benefits of eating fish keep coming up.

The other day, Debbie bought us a can of salmon and I began to yearn for salmon patties. 

So, this afternoon, I combined the can of salmon with mayonnaise, panko, fresh squeezed lemon juice, a beaten egg, dry dill, Dijon mustard, and thinly sliced green onions in a bowl and added salt and pepper. I formed this mixture into patties. I had already begun to boil some small potatoes and sliced a yellow squash. I seasoned the squash with garlic powder and tarragon. I fried the squash at the same time I fried the salmon patties and the potatoes were tender at about the same time I was done frying the patties and the squash. 

I served each of us a salmon patty on a bed of fresh spinach and Debbie and I both ate a potato or two and the squash as sides. 

This was a very satisfying meal, especially as it reminded me that I REALLY enjoy Bumble Bee canned salmon. I hadn't even thought about canned salmon for ages and now I hope I don't forget about it! 

Three Beautiful Things 06-17-2024: Blood Order in Hand, First Walking Day, Ah! Gravy!

1. I've had a lot of blood work done at the Kellogg LabCorp and I learned early on that, when possible, if the blood work order came from outside the Heritage Health world, it's always best if I bring a copy of the order, in hand, to the lab. Indeed, today, when I checked in at the front desk, my order from Dr. Khan at the Sacred Heart transplant program was not in their stack of orders. An order that will work in July from Dr. Bieber was there, but not the one I needed today.

So I simply said, "No problem. I'm carrying an order" and about ten minutes later, Krysti called me back and everything went smoothly. 

Now, the transplant program and I will see how much time elapses before LabCorp reports the results. They might come on Tuesday, but the good news is that since my numbers have been good and stable, getting the results immediately is not as urgent as it was in the early post-surgery days. 

2. As I knew would be true, I've lost a lot of the physical stamina I built up when I was exercising 4-6 times a week in the months leading up to the transplant. 

Today, I figured out a ten minute loop to walk at the Kellogg City Park. 

To start, I'll walk for ten minutes -- that's what I did today -- and hope that before too long I'll feel strong enough to do the loop twice and walk for twenty minutes and keep slowly building more stamina.

When I met with transplant team members as they prepared me to be discharged from Sacred Heart back on May 14th, the dietician told me this was no time to be trying to lose weight. My healing and recovering body needs calories and especially needs protein. 

It's common for transplant recipients to put on weight after the surgery. 

I certainly have. 

So, I'll continue to eat plenty to help fuel my recovery and healing, but I'm also hoping that getting this walking routine underway might at least help slow down the weight gain until I can return to regular and more vigorous exercise -- but that won't, as I understand it, be until the fall.

3. I had thawed a package of party chicken wings. Even though family dinner on Sunday featured chicken, Debbie and I decided to have chicken for dinner again tonight. 

So I fried the wings, made brown rice, steamed frozen cauliflower and broccoli, and made a fun and tasty chicken mushroom gravy to put over the rice and to put on the chicken if we wanted. 

I was really happy with how smooth and delicious the gravy turned out. I love gravy, but I don't fix it often and having gravy as part of our meal was a special treat. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-16-2024: Round 4 of the U. S. Open: Golf Exposes Players, Labs Tomorrow Uptown, Time and McIlroy and DeChambeau

1. For over forty years, I've experienced watching golf tournaments, especially majors, as similar to diving into the plays of Shakespeare. 

In Shakespeare's plays, crises expose characters for what they are really made of -- crises might expose their strengths, their weaknesses, their deepest loyalties, what they most value in life, and other dimensions of who they are. 

So does golf. 

It can be thrilling to see a golfer rise to the occasion presented by a crisis and hit just the right shot or sink a pressure packed putt.

It can also be agonizing to see a player fail in a moment of crisis.

I witnessed both the former and the latter in the final holes of yesterday's men's U. S. Open.

It was agonizing to watch Rory McIlroy fail. He bogeyed three of the last four holes. From the comfort and pressure free comfort of my home in Kellogg, Idaho, I thought he chose the wrong club for his tee shots on both 15 and 18 -- why didn't he hit a more lofted club into 15 and why did he hit his driver on the 18th tee, especially when he'd had success the day before keeping his ball in the fairway with a three wood off the tee?

Then, on 16 and 18 his missed short par putts. 

It was painful to see him shrink, to witness his being exposed, for whatever reason, as not equal to these moments of pressure and crisis. 

On the other hand, the last stretch of holes exposed Bryson DeChambeau as a player who has matured, who overcame his wildness off the tee with courageous and creative scrambling and who seized the moments of challenge, pressure, and crisis not only with skill and self-control, but with buoyant joy, fully availing himself to the gallery, seeming to thrive on needing and then executing great golf shots to win this tournament. 

With the way spectators encircle the greens and line the fairways, golf tournaments play out similarly to live theater. Golf courses become stages. The golfers are players on this stage. Unlike plays, though, what will transpire on the stage of a golf tournament is not scripted and, as spectators, it's this not knowing what will transpire that makes golf such a superb source of drama and it's the not knowing that ends up revealing the mettle of the players as they face the demands and pressures of the terrain they play on and the competition they engage in with the other players. 

2.  It's not a HUGE deal, but the fact that the transplant team determined that when I have my weekly blood draw tomorrow (Monday), they don't need to see the results immediately. Coupled with the other fact that I am now able to drive a car, it means I can transport myself and have my labs performed at the uptown LabCorp. 

Now, I'll admit, the several trips I've made to Spokane with Debbie, Christy, and Carol driving me have gone smoothly. All the same, I look forward to simply buzzing uptown, having my blood drawn, and being back home shortly thereafter. 

So, tonight, I got everything ready: I set out my printed copy of the lab order, a mask, a urine specimen cup, my Monday morning pills (which I take right after by blood's been drawn), my water bottle, wallet, and car keys. 

I'm set and I'm hopeful that having this blood work done in Kellogg is going to work out fine. 

3. Back to Shakespeare and golf for a second. Again and again Shakespeare explores how time can be a source of healing and a source of weight, a means of wearing down humans. 

It's been ten years since Rory McElroy, one of the world's premiere golfers over the last thirteen years or so, has won a major golf tournament and those ten years have become a source of weight for him. He's thirty-five. Unlike ten years ago, when it seemed he had all the time in the world to win more majors, the number of years he has left to play golf at an elite level seems much more finite. 

I thought he suffered under this weight as he finished yesterday's round by bogeying three of the last four years. He's had numerous top ten finishes and a few runner up finishes in major tournaments since his last win, and I wonder if falling short has imposed the weight of doubt upon his psyche. Is that what we saw yesterday? Did we see the weight of doubt cloud McIlroy's judgment and stymie his ability to execute down the stretch? I can't say for sure, but this possibility certainly crossed my mind. 

Time for DeChambeau, on the other hand, has been on his side. Time has matured him. He's taken time to transform himself into a more open, less arrogant, more engaging person on the golf course. It is as if over time he has learned the virtues of humbling himself, evidenced, I thought, by his gracious comments after he won the tournament about his admiration for Rory McIlroy and the empathy he felt for him in the aftermath of his collapse. 

If McIlroy seemed weighed down on Sunday afternoon, DeChambeau seemed weightless, light, fun-loving, generous with his time. He let spectator after spectator touch his U. S. Open trophy. He joined Johnson Wagner as Wagner had himself filmed while he recreated DeChambeau's superb shot out of the sand on 18 -- and when Wagner popped his shot two within two feet of the pin, the light spirited DeChambeau playfully handed Wagner his trophy, as if to say, "OMG! Two feet! Here! The trophy is yours!" 

 

Three Beautiful Things 06-15-2024: Five Week Anniversary, Helping Out at Home, Rested and Relaxed

 1. In, oh let's say about August, it will become less and less important to mark how many weeks it's been since I received a donor's kidney. 

Right now, though, while the kidney is still new and maturing and the surgical site continues to heal, it's important that I mark weekly anniversaries.

Today marked five weeks since the surgery. 

At his point in my recovery timeline, I'm focused on two primary things and starting to figure out a third. 

I'm focused, first of all, on self-protection. It continues to be important that I am cautious about being around people, especially if I don't know if they are ill or have been exposed to illness. In time, I can relax this caution, but, for now, I'll continue to stay home a lot, wear a mask if I do go into a public place, and be vigilant about staying clear of people who I learn are ill or have been exposed to illness. It's why I'll stay home from our Father's Day family dinner after my sisters were exposed to Covid last weekend, even though they both, thankfully, tested negative. 

Second of all, I continue to treat my surgical site gingerly. I don't lift anything weighing more than five pounds. I try to keep my physical movements smooth and do my best not to overreach for items or needlessly stretch or strain my abdomen. 

So far, all the signs are positive that, thanks to the help of medication, I'm not experiencing rejection of my kidney and, as I continue to have my blood tested weekly, all the signs are positive that my new kidney is off to a solid start clearing waste from my blood. It's doing its job. 

2. At the same time that I am focused on self-protection and caution, I am doing all I can to help out around the house, performing light tasks like cooking and keeping the dishwasher emptied and loaded. Now that I can drive, I can also safely help out with grocery shopping thanks to being able to order groceries online at Walmart and have them delivered to the car out in front of the Smelterville store. 

I did just that again today. 

We had a few holes in our previous two orders and I filled those gaps in an order and drove out to pick up it up early this evening. The items were light enough that I could, without risk, carry them into the house and put them away. 

Because I can take care of this and other light duties, Debbie can travel to Alaska this coming week for a wedding in Juneau and to see her niece in Fairbanks, trips we once had feared she might not be able to make. Now, however, we know that as long as someone comes in daily to scoop out Copper's litter box, I can take care of myself just fine. 

3. On this windy, rainy day, I didn't get a walking routine started. It was not what I think of as a typical June day -- in fact, I saw pictures posted online of new snowfall at Silver Mountain.

So I rested and relaxed, mostly catching up on the past week's New York Times crossword puzzles. 

And I contemplated where things stand on today's five week anniversary of my surgery. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-14-2024: Driving! To Walmart!, I Passed the Clutch Test!, Time to Start Walking

1. I can drive our cars now. That means I don't need to be transported by other (most willing) drivers. Moreover, it means I can contribute to the everyday sorts of things that keep our household running and the whole load is no longer on Debbie alone. That's been the case for just over a month now.

So, I got up this morning, leapt into the Camry, and blasted out to Walmart and a friendly Walmart employee delivered the groceries that Debbie ordered last night to the car.

I brought them home and each bag was light enough that I could carry them in the house and not risk straining my surgical site. 

I realized, as I put the groceries away, that I wanted some things we didn't include in this order, so I opened an online account at Walmart, downloaded their app, made another order, and rocketed back to Walmart around 4 o'clock in the Sube and, once again, a friendly employee brought them out to the car. 

2. I had wondered earlier in the day if I could actually drive the Sube. Would driving with a clutch be too much for my healing muscles and tissue in my lower abdomen? 

I took a test drive late in the morning. 

Debbie had loaded the back of the Sube with cardboard and I decided to take the cardboard to the recycling bin at the county transfer station. 

No problem. 

I didn't feel even a trace of discomfort as I worked the clutch. 

The cardboard bin at the transfer station is below ground level, so it was easy for me to take just a few pieces of flattened cardboard at a time and drop them into the bin. 

It required no lifting and put no strain on the surgical site. 

So, yahoo!, I can drive both cars, do some light tasks, and be a contributor to the life of our household again. 

3. As the surgical site continues to heal and as my new kidney continues to mature, the time is right for me to get out and walk. I've lost an awful lot of the gains I made before the surgery when I was going to either rehab or the Fitness Center about five times a week. 

I've thought and thought about whether there's anywhere near Kellogg where I can walk in a loop, preferably near water. I sorely miss the Delta Ponds in Eugene and the walks I used to take around Greenbelt Lake when we lived in Maryland. 

It doesn't meet my wishes for a loop around water, but the best place, to me, to walk around here is the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes and I'll return to it soon. Right now, I need flat places to walk (no hiking yet) and the Trail of the CdAs is mostly flat.  I'll look for stretches that feature more benches. I currently don't have a lot of wind and I've lost some of the strength I built up in my legs from November to early May. I'll want to walk where I can also easily stop and rest. 

So, that's my next project. 

Now that I can drive, I can transport myself to trailheads along the CdAs and I'll start trying to determine which stretches work best for my current (temporary) needs. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-13-2024: Stent Removed, Pill Panic, Simple Penne Dinner

1. Having chronic kidney disease for over twenty years, one biological fact has been always on my mind and has been a subject of every appointment I've had with every kidney doctor I've seen: Kidneys remove waste products from the blood and produce urine. 

Therefore, when a donor's left kidney was grafted into my lower abdomen, so was a ureter, the tube that drains urine from the kidney to the bladder. 

The surgical connection between the transplanted ureter and the bladder needed time to heal, so in order to hold the ureter open and maintain proper drainage, the surgeon placed a stent in the ureter. 

Today was a very important day in my recovery.

Dr. Levi Deters, urologist, removed that stent in his office using a cystoscope inserted into my bladder through my urethra. 

Thanks to a local numbing agent, I felt maybe three seconds of discomfort during the procedure caused by a bit of pressure, but much like when Nurse Jenn removed my catheter, Dr. Deters complete the procedure quickly.  

Why was having this stent removed a big deal?

Most important, its removal confirms that healing is taking place and that my new ureter can function on its own. 

Less important medically, but a great turning point for Debbie and me is that now I can drive a car again. As long as the stent was in, driving was off limits. 

Debbie and I left Spokane Urology after the procedure and I strode happily to the Camry, piled in the driver's seat, and drove us back to Kellogg without a problem! 

2. I take a bunch of pills every day at the same time: 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

This morning, I was so preoccupied with putting on sun screen, making sure I had my sunglasses, remembering to wear a mask, making sure I knew the route to Spokane Urology, and other things that for the first time since my surgery, I forgot to take my 8 a.m. pills. 

I called Nurse Jenn and left her a message that I would take my pills the second we were back to Kellogg, and asked her to call me back if I needed to do anything differently. 

She didn't call back.

We arrived home shortly after 11:30. I took my morning medicine. 

I also take two medicines in the afternoon. I did that at the right time. Then I got completely back on schedule and took my 8 p.m. meds. 

I hope the panic I felt as we approached Coeur d'Alene and I realized, right then, that I forgot to take my pills, will stick with me as a reminder not to forget again. 

Taking these meds, especially the anti-rejections pills, in a regularly scheduled manner is crucial as I transition into living with a transplanted kidney.

3. Back home, back on schedule, a bit pumped after getting to drive again, I turned to a very simple recipe and made Debbie and me a pan of lemon and garlic shrimp penne. 

As it has several times before, it worked! 

Three Beautiful Things 06-12-2024: Negative Tests! Woo Hoo!, Medications Under Control, Great Take Out Dinner

1. I'm still going to follow Nurse Jenn's advice and not go to family dinner on Sunday. This kind of abundant caution won't last forever. But, really good news from Christy, Carol, and Paul: they all tested negative for the Covid virus! 

2. I welcomed having a ho-hum day today. If the day had a highlight, possibly it came when two of my medications arrived in the mail, further confirming that the complimentary service at the Sacred Heart pharmacy is very reliable. I was taken off one of these medications temporarily and put back on it Monday. I kept the pharmacy informed and then made a request via a voice message to have this medication refilled. They did it. Just like that. I am really happy I decided to manage my medications via this service. 

3. Debbie brought me a cheese steak sandwich with pasta salad and green salad from Radio Brewing. What an awesome treat! I welcomed a break from fixing dinner and was uplifted by how tasty this take out food turned out to be.  

Three Beautiful Things 06-11-2024: An Abundance of Post-Transplant Caution, Linda and Mary Visit Us, Simple and Satisfying Dinner

1. It's important that I keep in mind that being 41/2 weeks out from kidney transplant surgery means that I have a few new liberties, if exercised cautiously, but, at the same time, the transplant is still new and the process of building back an immune system is young. Today, I learned from Carol that one of her and Christy's sorority sisters contracted Covid at the Tri-Delt reunion they attended over this past weekend. Christy, to a lesser degree, and Carol were in her company and potentially exposed. 

I have to avoid being around people who have Covid and I wondered if the same held true for being around anyone who has been exposed. I contacted Nurse Jenn and she recommended that I keep my distance from my sisters for about ten days following the exposure. 

Out of an abundance of caution, therefore, I will stay home from Sunday's Father's Day family dinner.

It's a bummer, but I agree with Nurse Jenn. I think it's best to play these things safe and I know I won't always be as vulnerable to contagion as I am right now. 

Oh, and by the way, so far, Christy and Carol are just fine. 

2. Out of the blue this afternoon, Linda Lavigne called me, reported that Mary Chase was paying her a visit, and they wondered if they could visit me. 

I concluded that if we kept some distance from each other and met on the patio, that, yes, it would be great to see them.

Back before the pandemic, Mary, Linda, Kathy and I spent quite a bit of time together, mostly playing trivia at different places around Spokane. Since then, Mary has moved to Gresham and Kathy has fallen very ill. To have a reunion with Mary and Linda today was very enjoyable and we had a good session getting caught up on some things and, within myself, I enjoyed the nostalgic feelings I had for the pre-pandemic fun we enjoyed together. 

I miss those few months when I, and sometimes Linda and I, would drive to Spokane, and play trivia.  Sometimes we did other things like go to Luna, go out to a movie, enjoy sushi together, and, on one occasion, Cathy and I went to an afternoon Zags women's basketball game and dinner afterward. That, too, was a lot of fun.

One result of these get togethers: when Cathy fell ill and could no longer care for Copper and Luna, the cats moved in with me! 

3. I fixed a very simple dinner for Debbie and me this evening. First, I mixed together plain yogurt, fresh lemon juice, and garlic. I used this mixture to put on top of filets of tilapia I fried and garnished the fish and sauce with sliced green onion. Alongside the fish, I served steamed Brussels sprouts, a favorite vegetable of ours. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-10-2024: Great Lab Results, Four Weeks Down and the Future Looks Good, Picnic and Spa

1. What a morning! A great morning! At Sacred Heart! 

Debbie drove me to Spokane for 7:30 labs where, in addition to the regular blood work, I was also tested for Hepititis B, Hepititis C, and HIV, in keeping with transplant guidelines. Within an hour, the results of the regular tests appeared in the MyChart portal. 

I liked what I saw.

A lot. 

My creatinine level continues to trickle downward, a very good sign.

My potassium level is down and back in range, indicating that the dietary changes I've made and the medicine I'm taking are working. 

My magnesium level had been low and with the help of daily magnesium supplements, it's back in range. 

Then, as I expected, when I met with Dr. Khan, he found these results very encouraging and, while the lab report numbers made him happy, he was even happier when I told him that I feel great, my energy is good, and that I'm experiencing no pain or discomfort in the surgical site. 

On Thursday, I have an appointment with Dr. Deters to have the stent from my new kidney to my bladder removed and he and I will discuss the possibility of increasing my Flomax dosage as a way of reducing my nighttime visits to the bathroom. 

2. After Dr. Khan left, Nurse Jenn came in the exam room to review my orders for the next week or two and to discuss any concerns Debbie and I had. 

Debbie and I raised questions about what I can do and can't do going forward and about the advisability of Debbie traveling by air later in the month. 

I'll try to encapsulate what we learned. 

I'll begin with the most important thing that finally sunk into me today. 

Yes, at the time of my surgery, in order to help my body not reject the new organ, my immune system, through a heavy dose of medication, was greatly reduced. 

As the effects of that medicine wear off over the next three months, my body is rebuilding its immune system. 

I will take medicine for the rest of my life to keep my immunity suppressed to a degree, again, to keep my body from rejecting the new organ, but

I will have an immune system that functions -- not at full capacity and it will be slower, but it will function. 

My mind had been stuck in the reality of the approximately first four weeks, which now have passed, when, indeed, my immune system has been highly compromised and I've needed to be very cautious, to the point that I've isolated myself. 

Gradually, in the next couple of months, I'll be able to do more stuff. 

For example, we can have family dinner. It would be ideal if we gathered outside and, if indoors, ideal that I not sit too close to anyone. 

If anyone in our family is ill or if they know they've been exposed to an ill person, that person should not join a family dinner at this time. 

Jenn said I can go to the store and other not so crowded places and should try to go when things aren't too busy -- it would be best if I wore a mask. 

For now, it's best if I stay home from, say, Friday's memorial for Jack Lunger. But, by July 13th, I think I'll be able to at least make an appearance at Ed Hanson's 70th birthday party at the Elks, masked, keeping some distance, and not staying too long. 

Jenn told Debbie she should go ahead and keep her travel plans, but be mindful of how she feels when she returns home, paying attention to whether she picked up a bug on her flights. If she did, the two of us ought to keep our distance from each other and, as always, wash our hands regularly (I do this obsessively!). 

So, here's the kicker -- and it encouraged me to hear this:

The goal of the transplant team is to have me back doing the things I was doing pre-transplant, living an active and social life. It just takes some time. 

I admit it. My mind had been stuck in the realities of the first four weeks and today I began to see what things can look like beyond these four weeks. They can look pretty good. 

One more thing I learned: if I contract a cold, a flu, even Covid, am I doomed? 

No. 

Nurse Jenn explained that the transplant team is able to treat illnesses. Their success rate is very good. In addition, and I am repeating myself, as time goes on my own body's immune system will be improving and will be able to fight off bugs and infections -- it might need help, but I'm not defenseless. And, I should add, nothing has been done to compromise my white blood cells. They continue to work on my body's behalf. 

Again, my mind was stuck in the first four weeks reality. 

Now I'm not going to go out and invite illness upon myself. I'll exercise caution. I'll ask people around me, when I can, to be careful. But, it's encouraging and a relief to know that if I catch a cold or even if I get Covid, I'm not doomed.

3. After we were done in Spokane, Debbie went into Pilgrim's in CdA and built us each a salad at the salad bar and we enjoyed them at a picnic table in the Coeur d'Alene City Park. Debbie then met an appointment at the spa where she gets her hair cut and other things. I rolled the Camry's windows down about half way so the day's breezes would blow through and I waited for Debbie in the car. I read my book on cougars a little bit, but mostly I napped, a welcome refreshment after our great morning at Sacred Heart. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-09-2024: Early Mornings with Copper, A Little Time at Vizio U, A Month Under My Belt: What Now?

1.  Copper loves being out from the room he spends most of his time in. Since my transplant, I can no longer have Copper with me at night. Complicating this situation is that Gibbs and Copper can't be in any room at the same time because Gibbs hassles Copper -- bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, chase. 

So that Copper and I can have time in the living room together, I'm now getting up between 4-5 a.m. and letting Copper out while Debbie and Gibbs are still upstairs in bed. In addition, if Debbie and Gibbs go to bed early -- which is fairly often -- I stay up and Copper and I have time together in the living room then. 

I find other times to be with Copper in the living room. Sometimes Debbie leaves the house and takes Gibbs away in the car. Sometimes they hang out together on the patio. And, sometimes, it works to put Gibbs on his leash and Copper will cautiously make his way out to the living room and sometimes, when leashed, Gibbs remains quiet when he sees Copper. 

It's usually minor, but one drawback to getting up so early and sometimes staying up for a while after Debbie and Gibbs retire is I experience some sleep deprivation. 

That was true today. I didn't get many hours of sleep Saturday night leading into Sunday morning and I often had to interrupt those hours with nocturnal trips to the bathroom. 

This is all to say that today was a low key day primarily because I spent a few hours back in bed, just making up for sleep I didn't get, and am I ever happy that my life is such that I could saw some daytime logs and it didn't affect anyone or anything! 

2. Today, I managed to slip into Vizio University briefly, but I didn't want to fall asleep at my desk and embarrass myself, so I just roamed around online, looking for podcasts, interviews, or other material illuminating the work of Eric Rohmer. I'm both fascinated and perplexed by repeatedly finding out that Quinten Tarantino LOVES Eric Rohmer. So I began to wonder, is there something in Tarantino's movies I could be seeing that points to the influence of Eric Rohmer? I don't know. I didn't make much headway today looking into this question, but I might have found some scraps of comments about Rohmer and genre and some other scraps about Tarantino and genre that might point to Tarantino admiring Rohmer because Rohmer's work is difficult to classify and knowing that Tarantino seems to thrive on bending classic genre expectations, making him, also, difficult to classify as a filmmaker. 

3. As of Saturday, June 8th, yesterday, it's been four weeks since I had kidney transplant surgery. 

Everything, my blood work, the way I feel, the progress of the healing of the surgery site, points to this having been a successful surgery and my first four weeks of recovery have gone superbly.

So, today, knowing that I'll be at the transplant clinic tomorrow, June 10th, I am starting to wonder just how much I might be able to spread my wings a bit. I know and I accept there are things I can't do until more months have passed. I just can't be putting stress on my abdomen with lifting, bicycling, or other bodily movement that puts stress on my core. 

But, how about socializing, going shopping, and other such things, especially after Thursday, June 13th, when I see a urologist in Spokane to have the stent going from my new kidney to my bladder removed? Once that happens, I can drive again. The world will widen a bit. What will I be able to do?

Debbie and I talked today about what we want to cover on Monday when Nurse Jenn comes in the examination room to go over what will be next with labs, clinic visit, changes in medication, and other things that might need covering. 

In my blog post tomorrow, I'll be able to report on what Nurse Jenn had to say and write a bit more about how things might open up a bit for me during Weeks 5-8 post-transplant.  

Three Beautiful Things 06-08-2024: A Trip to Spokane Valley, The Movie *Z*, Reopening Vizio University and Watching an Eric Rohmer Film

1. Repeatedly, the transplant team urges me to protect my skin from the sun. My suppressed immune system leaves me more vulnerable to skin cancer. 

Earlier in the week, Patrick asked Debbie to meet a guy in the Spokane Valley and purchase, on Patrick's behalf, a computer. Debbie agreed to do it and I asked if I might tag along and enjoy the ride. Debbie said, "Sure."

So I put on long sleeves, covered my legs with sweat pants, put on my wide brimmed hat, along with a mask and sunglasses, and put sun screen lotion on my hands and face (next time I'll remember my neck), and piled into the Camry, well, ha!, protected. 

The transaction occurred at Starbucks on North Sullivan. No problems. We blasted to Staples and took advantage of their packing and shipping service. Patrick will have his new device on Wednesday. 

Then we returned to Kellogg, mission accomplished.

2. In May of 1963, in Greece, zealots, with the covert support of the police and military, assassinated democratic, anti-war Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis, a leader of the resistance to Axis rule during World War II, and an outspoken proponent of human rights and an array of social freedoms.

In 1967, the Greek writer Vassilis Vassilikos, wrote a novel, Z, based on the assassination of Lambrakis. The title refers to the first letter of the Greek word, Zi ("He lives!"), a popular source of graffiti that began to appear on buildings in Greek cities in protest of the political conditions that fostered the assassination of Grigoris Lambrakis. 

Costa-Gavras co-wrote and directed the movie, Z. It won the 1969 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. 

I mentioned in my blog post yesterday that I have had this movie in the back of my mind for over forty years, ever since I saw Costa-Gavras' powerful 1982 movie, Missing.

I started the movie Friday, but, because of sleepiness, stopped it after forty minutes.

Today I watched it all. 

First of all, Costa-Gavras presents the movie in a documentary style. I experienced it as cinema verite. 

Secondly, the movie alternates between two stories. 

On the one hand, it tells the story of the military and police, the movie's unnamed country's security apparatus. From the first scene of the movie, we learn of the military's and the police's view that those in their country who support democracy, human rights, and pacifism are like mildew, mildew that must be bleached out of the country's social system, eradicated from schools, universities, the streets, and elsewhere as a threat to the country's unity and its preservation of law and order. 

Once the assassination occurs, fairly early in the plot, the movie focuses, in part, on the military and police's efforts to cover up their involvement in the killing and we see ongoing campaign of lies and misinformation get underway. 

The second story Z tells is of a persistent investigative magistrate whose work leads him to discover that the assassination was, indeed, supported by the the military and the police and we watch him doggedly pursue the facts and the truth of the case. 

I'll leave it at that. If you'd like to find out more about the cover up and the investigation and how it all turns out, watch the movie. I won't spoil it by telling you.

3. In his interview with Greta Gerwig in their episode of Adventures in Moviegoing, Peter Becker expresses astonishment that Gerwig, when she chose her influential movies to present, didn't include movies by French New Wave director Erich Rohmer. 

I didn't know why he asked her this, but did some shallow digging and learned that many who follow Gerwig's work and that of her her husband, Noah Baumbach, see that Rohmer is a strong influence on their work.

This meant nothing to me. 

So, I unlocked the doors and knocked down the spider webs at Vizio University and decided it was time to look into this. I haven't watched any of Greta Gerwig's movies -- I've only read about her -- and the only Noah Baumbach movies I've watched are The Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding. 

Upon looking at Eric Rohmer's list of movies, I realized that in 1983 or 1984, I went to the Magic Lantern in Spokane and saw Pauline at the Beach, but I have no memory of how I experienced it. 

In the Criterion interview, Greta Gerwig talked a bit about a film cycle Eric Rohmer directed in the 1960's. It comprises six movies under the overall title of Six Moral Tales. 

They are all offerings on the Criterion Channel. 

I watched the first of these movies this evening, a short, twenty-three minute film, The Bakery Girl of Monceau. 

A few thin observations. 

It's a street movie, filmed in a small section of Paris. That it wasn't filmed on a soundstage creates the illusion that it is closer to reality itself, free of the artifice of a studio soundstage. 

It focuses on a male law student's inward monologue as he pursues a woman he doesn't know but has fallen in love with.

He buys a lot of cookies and sweets at a bakery and flirts with the eighteen year old woman who waits on him.

Toward the end of the movie, he confronts a decision: on which woman should he focus his attention? The elusive Sylvie? Or the bakery girl, Jacqueline? 

It's a moral tale. 

By what moral justification does he make his choice? Or is there one? 

Three Beautiful Things 06-07-2024: Costa-Garvas Movies, Mandatory Blood Tests Coming Up, Cooking a Shepherd's Pie Alternative

1. One of the new offerings on the Criterion Channel this month is the 1982 nightmare story, Missing, which tells the tale of a journalist's father (Jack Lemmon) and wife (Sissy Spacek) as they confront one bureaucratic dead end after another as they try to find their missing son/husband in Chile in 1973. I watched this movie around the time it came out. 

It unnerved me.

Its director is Costa-Garvas. For the last forty years or so, I've had it in the back of my mind to watch Costa-Garvas' political thriller from 1969, Z.

Finally, today, I started the movie. I got forty minutes into it and simply because I was sleepy, thanks to my nights of irregular sleep and my new habit of getting up at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning, I turned it off and will return to it as soon as possible. 

The movies opening forty minutes arrested me as Costa-Garvas sets conflict in motion between an authoritative, military and police dominated government and left-wing activists opposed to the government's policies and practices. The movie is set in an unnamed Mediterranean country, but is a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of the democratic Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis in 1963. 

In these opening forty minutes, as the movie portrays this unnamed country's deeply and violently polarized population, I can already tell that it's going to unfold how history doesn't repeat itself, but is continuous. Its portrayal of political polarization looks an awful lot like our world in the 2020s. 

2. The United Network for Organ Sharing manages the nation's transplant system. One of their policies is that between day 28-56 post-transplant, transplant recipients are to be tested for Hep C, Hep B, and HIV. 

Nurse Jenn messaged me today that these tests will be included in the lab work I'll have done on June 10th.

No problem. 

Good to know. 

On June 13th, I'll see a urologist in Spokane and he will remove the stent running from my new kidney to my bladder. 

It'll be a welcome turning point in my post-transplant life.

Once the stent comes out, I'll be able to drive a car again. 

3. One of our HelloFresh bags this week contained the ingredients for a shepherd's pie.

Unfortunately, for me, at least, the shepherd's pie recipe included tomato paste and a mashed potato topping. 

Until my potassium level comes down, potatoes and tomatoes are temporarily off limits.

I stored the tomato paste packet and the handful of potatoes and went to work cooking an alternate meal with the remaining ingredients.

To the carrot, onion, and celery that came in the bag, I added zucchini and mushroom and I sautéed these vegetables. 

I then added the package of ground beef from the bag and added the packets of thyme and garlic powder and the two packets of beef concentrate. 

Once the vegetables and ground beef were cooked through, I topped them with a layer of jasmine rice and topped the rice with the packet of grated white cheddar cheese from the bag. 

I don't know what you'd call this meal, but it was comforting and delicious and, since I was tired when I cooked it up, I welcomed that it was quite a bit simpler than the shepherd's pie! 

Three Beautiful Things 06-06-2024: Surgery Site Improving, Watching *The Earrings of Madame de . . . *, A Perfect Post-Transplant Dinner!

1. I'm almost at the end of the fourth week since the kidney transplant. I'm settling into what is becoming normal for me: documenting my liquid intake and output, taking medicine at 8:00 in the morning and evening, being careful not to lift over five pounds, being careful not to twist, make jerky moves, or make other movements that might offend the surgery site. I'm remembering, in addition to the 8:00 pills, to take magnesium supplements at noon and to mix and drink a soluble powder at 2:00 p.m. whose purpose is to lower my potassium. 

Now, believe me, I'm not going to go nuts about what I'm about to say and start doing yoga or go to the gym and lift weights or even change the sheets on my bed (!), but today, for the first time, I could feel that the occasional tugs, jabs, sharp jolts, and tightness in the surgical areas having eased up a bit. I swear I could feel hints of what it will feel like when this area completely heals. 

Feeling this today did not make me want to pick up my activity. It motivated me to be even more obedient to the restrictions I currently live with, knowing that the caution I'm exercising and my obedience is definitely paying off. 

I really do not want any setbacks. 

2. During Greta Gerwig's discussion, in The Criterion Channel's Adventures in Moviegoing, of Max Ophuls's 1953 masterpiece, The Earrings of Madame de . . ., one of the clips from the movie features Madame de speaking a line that I wrote down and that I've been stewing over for the last couple of days. She says, "It's when we have the most to say that we can't speak." 

I had to watch this movie today and find out where in the story Madame de says this and what leads her to utter it. 

Now I know, but I have decided that to say more about it would constitute writing a spoiler, so I'll leave it to you to find the movie, watch it, and discover the importance of this utterance. 

Countless lovers of movies consider The Earrings of Madame de . . . to be a nearly perfect movie, especially because of its cinematography, its visual style. In their Criterion discussion, Greta Gerwig and Peter Becker agree that the camera is dancing in this movie, best illustrated by a sequence of dance scenes at a series of Parisian balls. 

The movie centers on a pair of diamond heart earrings that Madame de's husband gave her as a wedding gift. We learn at the outset of the movie that Madame de is in debt and she decides to sell the earrings, but hides this fact from her husband. The movie then follows the earrings of Madame de as they are purchased and sold again several times, as they change hands, and as they become inextricably connected with the love affairs of both Madame de and her husband. 

As one might expect, with each change of ownership, with each time a character gives the earrings to another as a gift, the earrings come to carry more and more of the weight of the emotional complications of infidelity, humiliation, and jealousy, all while Max Olphus presents a lush world of luxury, almost claustrophobic material wealth, and intoxicating movement as this story dances to its fateful conclusion. 

3. The movie ended.

I retired to the kitchen. 

I steamed cauliflower. I sautéed white onion, zucchini, and mushrooms and added leftover jasmine rice to these vegetables. I then fried filets of tilapia, seasoned with Old Bay Seasoning, and topped the fish with roasted panko. I created a bed of the rice and vegetable mixture, put the fish atop the bed of rice, and served the cauliflower alongside the fish. 

It worked. 

For my dietary needs, it was a dinner rich in protein and fresh vegetables and low in potassium. 

As a bonus, it was delicious. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-05-2024: Moviegoing with Paul Schrader, Moviegoing with Greta Gerwig, Return to *Midnight Diner*

 1. I experienced a low key turning point today in my post-transplant life. I finally plugged the Vizio back in. My Criterion Channel subscription had lapsed and I rejoined. I also moved our Netflix subscription level up a notch. 

Yes, my mind remained focused on meeting the daily regimen of my post-transplant life -- mostly focused on taking the right medicine at the right time -- but it was a pleasure to engage my mind in the world of movies again.

When my Criterion Channel subscription kicked in, I immediately tuned in to the latest installment of Adventures in Moviegoing and watched and listened to Aliza Ma interview Paul Schrader about his fascinating personal history with movies. Schrader was raised in a strict Protestant church that forbade movie viewing. It wasn't until he was in his late teens that he saw his first movie and, once he did, he dove into movies with a voracious appetite, started a film club at Calvin College, had the good fortune to meet Pauline Kael, and she helped him hone his skills as a movie critic. 

Eventually, Schrader began to also write screenplays and, before long, directed movies, too.

After listening to the interview, I watched him talk about individual movies from the Criterion Collection, one at a time, that are especially important to him. I love this feature of Adventures in Moviegoing. No matter what person is being interviewed, his or her movie choices and comments on these favorite movies are fascinating and, inevitably, my own limited world of knowledge about movies gets widened and deepened. 

Paul Schrader was especially fascinating to me because, while he left the Christian practice he was raised in, his spiritual hunger, curiosity, and keenness grew as did his unending explorations of the bridges between the sacred and the profane. 

His movie choices reflected this, well, I guess you could say obsession, with the spiritual in movies (not necessarily religious) and the profane world we live in. He focused on European and Asian movies, none of which I have ever seen, but will now consider.

2. I then turned to the movie choices Barbie director Greta Gerwig made in her contribution to Adventures in Moviegoing. I haven't seen Barbie, but I've been aware of Greta Gerwig's work over the years. I'll go back soon and listen to her talk about her personal history with movies, but I was very interested in what movies she chose from the Criterion Collection.

I'd seen three of the movies Gerwig focused on: Federico Fellini's Amarcord, David Lean's Brief Encounter, and Abbas Kiarostami's Where is My Friend's House? She also focused on movies by Akira Kurosawa, Mike Leigh, and co-directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. I've seen movies by these three, but not the ones Gerwig discussed.

In one of these individual movie discussions, Peter Becker asked Greta Gerwig about how she watches movies as a director of movies. 

I loved her answer and it summed up how I, too, watch movies. 

Gerwig replied that she watches movies with her heart. She explained that how the movies she watches were made doesn't register with her, especially in her initial viewings of the movie. She feels movies. It's not until the movie has stopped working on her -- maybe after the tenth viewing -- that she can begin to consider its technical aspects, the aspects that will help her in her work as a director.

I think it was a couple of years ago that I wrote in this blog about marticulating in an imaginary school  called Vizio University. My plan was to watch tons of movies, especially ones made before 1960, and try to teach myself more about the technical dimensions of moviemaking. 

But, because, like Greta Gerwig, I get absorbed in how movies make me feel, because I have a long history of watching movies with my heart, I never made much progress in the university of my own creation! Now, granted, I didn't watch any of these movies ten times, so I don't know if I, like Gerwig, would begin to be able to tune into the technical aspects on the tenth or eleventh viewing. 

I used to marvel at my colleagues Dan and Kate and Susan. They taught film studies at Lane Community College and they had that ability to analyze a movie's camera angles, the movie's editing, mise en scene, and all of the other technical properties that make movies work. 

And, I must add, they also viewed movies with their hearts. 

I'm not there with the technical details. I don't know if I ever will be. I can say, though, that I loved hearing Greta Gerwig talk about herself as a feeling movie viewer more than an analytical one. 

She uplifted me. 

3. I returned this afternoon and evening to my favorite Netflix offering: Midnight Diner and its sequel, Midnight Diner, Tokyo Stories. Each barely twenty-five minute episode mostly takes place in a Tokyo diner that operates from midnight until 7 a.m. and is run by a superb chef whose name is simply Master. The diner has a small set menu, but Master will cook anything a customer requests if he has the ingredients on hand. 

Each episode features one of Master's dishes. Each episode tells a story about one or two of the diner's customers, ordinary people, who deal with life's universal experiences such as love, jealousy, death, careers, identification, and other big questions within the context of their modest lives. 

I've observed this before, but it bears repeating: these episodes are like visual haiku. Short. Focused on a conflict. Often surprising. Economic. And, above all, emotionally moving and richly satisfying. 

I hadn't watched a Midnight Diner episode for a couple of years. 

I loved returning to this program today. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-04-2024: Patient Empowerment: Managing Changes in Meds, Great Call to the Specialty Pharmacy, Superb Conversation With Transplant Dietician Karlee

1. Especially in these weeks immediately following the transplant, my prescription situation is a fluid situation. Right now, I take a daily baby aspirin, magnesium supplements, two anti-rejection pills and a steroid to treat inflammation (these are forever meds), a pill to prevent CMV infection, a blood pressure med, a soluble powder to reduce my blood's potassium level, and two meds I was taking before the transplant to reduce cholesterol and to treat my enlarged prostate. Every time I have labs, it's possible that the doctor(s) might make a change in dosage, take a prescription off my list (three went off this week, two permanently and one temporarily), or add something (this week it was the soluble potassium reducing powder). 

So, one of my critical tasks as I move through my life with a transplanted kidney is to keep these changes straight and to maintain my pill box accurately. 

It helps immensely that when I meet members of the transplant team, one team member who drops by is one of the clinic's pharmacists and she gives me an updated prescription list to put in my post-transplant binder. I immediately remove the outdated one. 

Once in a while, though, I'm not absolutely sure what's what. For example, the new list the pharmacist gave me on Monday didn't include one of my meds and my After Visit Summary page, which lists changes in meds, didn't list this change and no one had mentioned this change to me verbally.  

I reached out to Nurse Angela for clarification and, indeed, as long as my potassium level is high, Dr. Poudyal wanted me off the medicine that wasn't on my new list. 

Luckily, when I have questions like this, the team responds in a timely manner so it was easy to get this minor problem straightened out. 

It's imperative that I stay on top of my ever evolving meds list so that if something doesn't seem right, I can jump right on it and make sure I know what's going on. 

After all, I'm an active and participating member of the transplant team, too! 

2. I didn't mention in yesterday's post that because I'm a transplant patient, my prescriptions are managed by the specialty, not the general, pharmacy. On Monday, I enrolled in the specialty pharmacy's program to have my medications mailed to me at home. When I signed up for this complimentary service, Pharmacist Tracy told me to be sure to let the specialty pharmacy know when the doctor(s) discontinue any of my meds. 

Once I confirmed that the prescription I wondered about in the paragraphs above was indeed temporarily suspended, I called the specialty pharmacy to inform them and I inquired about when I'd be receiving certain drugs that I'd be running low on next week. 

The specialty pharmacy employee who fielded my questions was superb to talk with. She told me exactly when I could expect meds to be arriving and bolstered my confidence that if I'm ever confused about the delivery of my pills that the people in this program are eager to put my mind at ease. 

Before too long, my prescription list will stabilize and a predictable mailing schedule will take shape. 

Right now, things are in a bit of flux, but talking with the person at the pharmacy reassured me that my prescriptions are in the control of experts eager to provide superb service. 

3. Shortly after noon Karlee, a transplant dietician called me, unexpectedly to check in on my eating habits. 

I'd been hoping that one of my clinic visits would include an appointment with a program dietician because I'm doing my best to simultaneously raise the magnesium in my blood and lower the potassium.

Karlee asked me what I tend to eat for meals and snacks. She addressed my questions about magnesium and potassium. She put some information in the mail to further help me out. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and it's much clearer to me now that to bring my potassium down, I need to cut out potatoes, oranges, and tomatoes, reduce my dairy intake, and limit my consumption of nuts. I can return to these foods once my potassium level comes down. 

The HelloFresh pasta meal I prepared tonight included both tomato paste and a dairy sauce. I fixed Debbie's meal and included the dairy and tomato paste.

I made myself, however, an alternative pasta dish with Brussels sprouts and toasted panko and it was delicious and within the boundaries of what I need to be eating until my potassium stabilizes. 

To sum things up: today made me very happy. My communications with all three Sacred Heart employees were golden. They were stimulating. They were reassuring. It buoys me that I am moving forward in my post-transplant life with a growing understanding of what I need to do and a growing confidence in my ability to follow through -- and that help is always just an e-message or a phone call away. 

I'll fall back on a word I learned nearly fifty years ago. 

It's empowering. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-03-2024: Full Support in Action, Turning Point in My Recovery, Relief at the Pharmacy

1. I'll begin today's blog post by looking back to late October, 2018 to late February, 2019, the period of time that I was under consideration to be transferred out of Baltimore's University of Maryland transplant program and enrolled in the kidney transplant program at Providence Sacred Heart in Spokane.  The meetings I had with the Sacred Heart transplant team on October 30th introduced me to this program's thoroughness and caution and introduced me to what a superb transplant team I'd be working with.

Among the most important things that happened during those four months the program considered my case was assuring the transplant team that I had support in place, that I would have a primary support person to transport me, help monitor my medicines and my liquid intake and output, and help make sure I was taken care of in other ways after the surgery.

The program's pre-transplant social worker, Helen, oversaw this crucial dimension of my transplant preparation. I remember then, and she brought it up again back in April of this year, how deeply impressed she was that not only had Debbie committed herself to be my primary support person, but that Christy and Carol also made it abundantly clear that they would be available and were ready to step up when needed. 

I bring this up because as it has turned out, my surgery and my recovery have gone so well that Debbie has missed very little work, I've been able to take care of things like my medication schedule and pill box maintenance and fixing myself meals on my own, and, with Debbie going to work, Christy and Carol have fulfilled their promise that they would step up and help out when needed.

Until today, once Debbie (with my full support) stepped aside, Christy has been my driver, taking me to Spokane for labs and my appointments.

Today, however, Christy had a morning appointment she didn't want to miss (with my full support!), so Carol drove me to Spokane and the plan we drew up back in 2018-9, the plan that so impressed social worker Helen, was fully realized. Now the entire support team had participated in transporting me to Spokane for the crucial blood work and other appointments!

Today, Carol really got slammed by weather. She kept her cool and maintained a steady hand at the wheel as we traveled through plummeting rain, a burst of hail, and high winds to get to Spokane and back.

It all worked out. 

Carol occupied herself at Rocket Bakery after dropping me off at the Outpatient Health Center around 7:15 and then went on a browsing and shopping spree at Trader Joe's and, to my relief, enjoyed herself. I was tied up for about three and half hours and knowing Carol was having a good morning was a relief.

2. Today I got to talk again with Dr. Monita Poudyal, the nephrologist I worked with in the afternoon of May 11th before I went into surgery. She also paid me a follow up visit in ICU on May 12th.

Dr. Poudyal reviewed the blood work I'd had drawn a bit over an hour earlier and told me things looked "extremely good". My creatinine level continues to slowly decrease. My blood pressure is good. I'm producing a good volume of urine. My lungs and heart sound great. I have some swelling in my lower legs and ankles, but nothing alarming. 

I've reached a first turning point in my post-surgery care. I no longer need to make two or three visits a week to the lab. My next blood draw will be in a week, on June 10th. I'll also have clinics that day and it's likely that my clinic visits will go on an every two week schedule instead of once a week and that I'll be able to have labs done either in Kellogg or Coeur d'Alene.

Dr. Poudyal prescribed me daily doses of Veltassa to lower my potassium level, the level pushed higher, not by my diet, but as an impact of one of my immuno-suppression drugs. I'll continue to take magnesium supplements. Dr. Poudyal removed two medications from my regimen.

We talked about the occasional discomfort I feel and experience in the area where the surgery took place. 

Dr. Poudyal relieved me of any anxiety that I had done something to bring on this discomfort. She told me such episodes "are to be expected". Let's just say there's a lot going on in that surgery area and that I'm going to feel the discomfort that accompanies, say, scar tissue forming and other transformations taking place. She reassured me by being matter of fact and unalarmed that these occasional episodes of discomfort have happened. 

3. I came into my visit to Sacred Heart today hoping to get some things settled about prescription refills and about the pharmacy's home delivery/mail program. I went to the pharmacy after having my blood drawn and, no problem, all the man who helped me at the counter could do was tell me to discuss my questions with my transplant team.

That was excellent advice. 

I raised my question about the prescription delivery program with Nurse Angela and she said, "Oh! You need to talk with Tracy. I'll see if she'll come over." Well, I had two prescriptions to pick up, so instead of Tracy coming over, I asked for her at the counter at the pharmacy. 

BINGO!

I got my two prescriptions. 

Tracy set me up to have my prescriptions mailed to me in Kellogg. 

Carol picked me up during a hail storm and I was relieved and happy. 

I had a great morning at Sacred Heart! 

Three Beautiful Things 06-02-2024: Obeying the Site of My Surgery, Good Lord! The Wordle Archive!, Feeding My Body and Soul

1. The site in my lower abdomen, left of my groin, got a little cranky on occasion this weekend, starting Friday. None of the discomfort lasted long, but I experienced different and brief jabs of pain from time to time. I began to figure it out. It caused discomfort if I bent at the waist or if I stretched an arm reaching for something. I felt discomfort if something slipped out of my hand and I made a quick move to catch it before it fell to the floor. 

Well, actually, the surgery site often told me loudly, clearly,  and briefly not to make quick moves of any kind. As I understood what caused my occasional discomfort, I began work around those things. I sat up straight in chairs. I walked around, keeping my back as straight as possible. I spent time in bed, lying flat (the surgery site really liked this!). Cooperating with the surgery site, being mindful of what I could do in my movements to avoid discomfort worked. Resting much of the day helped the surgery site settle down and I spent most of the day without discomfort and what I did experience was minor. 

2. Oh my! The New York Times has made an archive of past Wordle puzzles available online. Wow! I didn't jump jubilantly on the Wordle bandwagon in the beginning and, whoa!, if I want to go bananas working past Wordle puzzles, a ton of them, unworked, are just sitting in this archive, singing their siren song, urging me to drop all else and solve them! I think I'll just do that! Not all at once, but it'll be fun to have all these Wordles to turn to from time to time and keep my mind active and entertained. 

3. Debbie cooked up a superb hash along with a couple of thick pork loins. It was awesome.  I followed it up with combining a helping of the superb cabbage salad she made with Romaine lettuce and a variety of chopped vegetables, ate this combo, and left the supper table confident that I had contributed positively to my recovery, both physically and spiritually. This simple dinner fed my body's need for protein and my soul's hunger for comfort and food that tastes really good.