1. If all goes according to plan, it will be three months before I open up my laptop and write about a post-transplant visit to a doctor's office.
I did, however, have another one today.
I honestly couldn't hope for a more positive visit.
Dr. Bieber confirmed my observation that my lab numbers look great. My "bad" cholesterol is down. My filtration and creatinine numbers improved. My blood pressure was solid. I'm not retaining water in my lower legs or ankles to any concerning degree. The amount of protein in my urine decreased.
Dr. Bieber liked my news that my in-home exercising has contributed significantly to alleviating me of the discomforts I've experienced over the last four months.
So, I'll continue to go in for labs monthly (on Winning Wednesdays!) and I see Dr. Bieber in February and return to Sacred Heart in January and April for specialty blood work and in May for my next annual exam which will mark my transplant's second anniversary.
2. Because of entries I made here at kelloggbloggin', I've heard from several friends over the past few days. Byrdman, Terry T, Liz, Kathy H., Carol Y.. and Rich B wrote me encouraging messages in support of my efforts to get my body moving again.
They all have experience with improving their well-being and I will imagine them being with me, encouraging me, holding me accountable as I work to stay in motion day after day.
3. I also received two wonderful responses to having mentioned my recent plunge into the symphonies of Johannes Brahms.
Before I mention my friends, I've been thinking a lot about when Debbie and I used to hang out at the Old Line Bistro in Beltsville, MD. A good and enjoyable crowd of people hung out there and so there was a lot of great conversation at the bar and sometimes the talking nearly drowned out the music playing over the house sound system.
But, from time to time, I'd hear a fragment of a song by Tom Petty or The Cars or Mumford & Sons ("The Boxer" featuring Jerry Douglas), Elle King and others and I'd snap to attention to that music and immediately know the song.
That's where I want to get with Brahms, and as long as were on the subject, Beethoven.
It all comes from familiarity and I'm trying to grow more familiar with Brahms' symphonies and Beethoven's.
Then when someone says to me, as Scott Dalgarno did yesterday, "You take them [Brahm's symphonies] in remembering that they are following in the wake of Beethoven's 9 symphonies. Who dare write a symphony after Beethoven's #3, 5, 7 and 9? But for my money the Brahms 2 (which I heard recently with the Oregon Symphony) seems every bit as monumental."
I would love to be able to read this sentence and immediately have themes from the Beethoven symphonies Scott mentioned as well as Brahm's second all be at the front of my mind and memory.
They aren't.
"Running Down a Dream" is at the front. So is "Let's Go" and Jerry Douglas' dobro solo during "The Boxer". "X's & O's" lives in my memory -- even though I don't always remember Elle King's name (sigh).
Right now, Brahm's 4th is getting close to being a permanent resident in my memory.
But in order to fully experience Scott's assessment of Brahm's 2 in relation to Beethoven's #3, 5, 7, and 9, I'll need to go to Spotify and play them. I have in my lifetime listened to them all -- and listened to Brahm's #2 often lately, but none of them are embedded in my mind enough to be able to call them up on the spot by memory.
Will I ever reach that level of familiarity with these symphonies?
Good question!
I also heard from Kathleen Horton who wondered if I'd listened to Brahm's Schicksalslied.
I'm not sure if I have.
SiriusXM's Symphony Hall channel plays choral music exclusively as Sunday night becomes Monday morning, and it could be that this composition of Brahm's played while I was asleep or half asleep.
But I've never listened to it on purpose.
Soon I will.
As with the friends who responded to my writing about exercising, Scott and Kathleen's posts encourage me to keep listening to classical music, to continue to try to absorb it into my memory, and to learn more about it -- I know so little despite hours and hours of having it on while in college at NIC and at Whitworth and listening at home in Spokane, Eugene, Greenbelt, and Kellogg and in the car wherever I've lived.
But Tom Petty's songs have stuck in my memory more reliably!
As have Guy Clark's.
And Debbie Diedrich's.
No comments:
Post a Comment