A brief prologue: Our beloved KHS Class of 1972 classmate Valerie (Saari) Young died on February 7th and today her obituary appeared at the Yates Funeral Home site. Her Celebration of Life will be held on March 21st from 1=3 at the Blackwell Hotel, 820 E. Sherman in Coeur d' Alene. Here is the link to Valerie's obituary: Obituary information for Valerie Joyce Young
And now, today's blog post:
1. We should all have a place to visit in our lives where someone is as glad to see us as Robin is glad to see Gibbs at Mutley Makeover.
I think in his own canine way, Gibbs picks up on the boisterous welcome Robin gives him and he is happy and excited to be at the groomer.
I always feel good leaving him with Robin.
And, when I returned to pick up Gibbs up a couple hours or so later, he was leaping nearly as high as my waist, happy to feel clean and groomed and happy at the prospect of returning home.
For Gibbs, it's all good.
2. Dr. Bieber, the nephrologist I see at Kootenai Health (he comes to Smelterville once a month), is much more low key than Robin.
When I walked into the exam room, he didn't say anything like, "Oh! Billy, Billy, Billy! It's sooo good to see you" in a special voice reserved for his patients.
No, Dr. Bieber got right down to business and I told him that when I get up in the morning, I continue to feel -- well, I don't know exactly what to call it - dizzy? foggy brained? light headed? groggy? wobbly?
This sensation is not as strong as it was last summer and into the fall. Back then, I sometimes couldn't walk straight and the sensations in my head would last much, sometimes most, of the day.
I used to try to be out of bed in the morning between 6 and 7 o'clock, but it's helped this problem to sleep longer in the morning until about 8 or 8:30.
Dr. Bieber thought it might also help if I reduced the dosage of one of my meds.
I'll try that.
It would be fantastic if this experiment works, even though these sensations have not kept me from doing the things I want and need to do, I'd be very happy to feel clear-headed first thing in the morning.
Now the awesome news: as Dr. Bieber and I reviewed my lab results, he not only told me how happy he was with them, he said he couldn't imagine me doing much better.
Most of my numbers are stable, others have improved (cholesterol and protein in my urine), the viruses they always check for are negative, the tests I've taken to assess rejection risk have shown me to be not at risk, and my tacrolimus levels are right where the docs want them.
Everything looked great.
I see the transplant team in Spokane in mid-May for my 2nd anniversary check up.
I'll see Dr. Bieber a couple of weeks after that so that he and the transplant team and I are all on the same page.
I might very well be moving toward the promised land of labs every three months, Dr. Bieber every six months, and the transplant team once a year.
Dr. Bieber was all smiles as we wrapped up our short and most positive appointment.
I was so happy I drove straight to Silver Peak Espresso and bought myself a 16 oz triple latte.
3. I listened to couple more Great Courses lectures today and it's starting to sink in what made Beethoven such a titanic figure in the development of classical music and I'm beginning to understand the impact he had on composers who came after him and formed what we now call the Romantic Period.
I learned how composers, following Beethoven's lead, put self=expression ahead of writing compositions within the demands of forms they had inherited and figured out ways to make these compositions coherent while working outside of traditional structures.
I learned more about Schubert and The Elf King, a gorgeous piece of program music.
I learned more about Chopin devoting himself to miniature compositions and the intricate beauty of his etudes, preludes, nocturnes, and other genres.
I'm not sure I'll ever be able to take in and remember all the technical details about structure and form that Professor Greenberg covers in these lectures, but I'm learning more about music history and the genius of one composer after another, making the time I'm committing to listening to this course a most worthwhile undertaking -- in fact, it's a source of joy, just the kind of learning and enjoyment I had hoped I'd give myself over to in my retirement.
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