1. I was being minimally facetious the other day when I wrote that I wished a home test for immune-suppression existed so that I'd have a better idea of just how strong or weak my immune system is on, say, a weekly basis.
Well, no such home test exists, but out there in the wilds of the medical world, a lab test to measure this exists. It's called ImmuKnow.
Last week, the transplant team ordered ImmuKnow for me and today Nurse Jenn gave me a quick summation of the results. Here's what she said: "Your ImmuKnow test came back on the low side at 202 which means you are very immunosuppressed . . ."
Good to know.
I'd hoped, as I close in on it being three months since the surgery, that by now I might be less immunosuppressed -- but that's not the case.
That means that I'll continue to do what I've been doing: stay away from where there are a lot of people and protect myself when I go into public places and try to go into these public places when there aren't many people there.
I'm not experiencing this as bad news.
Just as news.
I had another test done last week, called Prosper, to test my risk of rejecting my new kidney. The result of this test indicated a decreased risk of rejection.
I'm experiencing that as good news -- not just news!
So, moving forward, the transplant team has slightly lowered the dosage of one of my immune-suppression drugs, the Tacrolimus. I will have labs done again on Aug. 8th and that same morning I'll meet with transplant team members at the clinic.
I feel great, by the way.
I also feel patient.
I've known from the beginning that it takes months to regain a less suppressed immune system following all the medication I've ingested to keep my body from rejecting the new kidney.
2. After several hours in the shop at Silver Valley Tire Center today, the Sube's front brakes are now in tip top shape. I had similar comprehensive work done on the rear brakes back in March.
I'm happy to get this work done.
3. I cracked open a HelloFresh bag tonight and made Debbie and me a meatball dinner. HelloFresh laid out instructions for making a sauce that the baked meatballs would be coated with, but didn't send the sour cream that should have come.
It was a blessing in disguise.
I had white sauce left over from last night, the sauce I made for us to dip our calamari into.
It was much tastier than a packet of sour cream and, indeed, Debbie and I enjoyed the meatball sauce as well as the roasted carrots and beef of rice that I served the meatballs and carrots on top of.
After dinner, Christy and Tracy came over and we all yakked in the cool of the evening. We bade Tracy safe travels as she will be driving back home on Wednesday after a fun-filled visit at Christy's house, a vacation that included a trip to Moscow/Deary and making the Bovill Run, a large family dinner with much of Paul's family at Carol and Paul's, dining at the Snake Pit and the Outlaw, her introduction to Skyline Chili, a writing retreat in Carol and Paul's back yard, seeing Carol and Paul perform in the melodrama, a trip to see a longtime friend at his cabin on Chatcolet Lake, and, I'm sure much more! In other words, Christy and Tracy worked together to make her visit jam-packed with North Idaho sites, activities, longtime friends, and meals.
My sense on the patio tonight was that Christy and Tracy had a blast!
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