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.