I became a Type I insulin diabetic back in 1969 when I was 11 years old. Because of that many years of being diabetic, I had high blood pressure, eye and nerve damage, and then kidney failure. My insulin intake was a lot when I was diabetic. Taking about 3 shots a day, while testing my blood sugars at least 3 times daily. The below photo was taken of me on the dialysis machine.

I started dialysis back in 1998. My nephrologist is Dr. William R. Smith. And I went to Central Nephrology Clinic for 1 year and 10 days worth of dialysis before the tranplant. The below photo is where I had my dialysis four hours every Tuesday,Thursday, and Saturdays.

During my hospital stay, The doctors had me on cellcapt , and I had several side effects from that antirejection medication, so they switched me to a new drug called Rapamune. It first came in liquid form, but now it's in pill which is best for me. When I left the hospital, my medications were 15 different. Now I am only taking 6 different including my three antirejection medications which are Rapamune, Predisone, and Prograf.

Monday, March 13. At 10:45 p.m., we got a call from Birmingham telling us they had a kidney and a pancreas for me!!! In 45 minutes we had packed and left, with my Aunt Jane drove us to Birmingham, Alabama.

Tuesday, March 14. We arrived at UAB by 3:30 a.m. They ran some tests and Dr. Carlton Young operated , starting at 4:00 p.m. and giving him both organs, and came to see us at 8:30 to tlet my relatives know I was O.K. Calvin came and joined us. My folks visited me in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. One thing I remember waking up was that I was shaking a lot, and told the doctors that I was in an insuline reaction. Dr. Young was surprised that my new pancreas started to work that soon. When I woke up there, I remember asking someone if I was in heaven, because I saw a beaufil blonde nurse there!!!

Wednesday, March 15. My father stayed in the waiting room .

Thursday, March 16.I was moved into a room with someone else tonight. And was terribly hungry, but couldn't eat anything!

Friday, March 17.I was moved into a private room Friday afternoon.

Friday, March 24. Dr. Young thought that I should stay at the hospital at least till Monday, to try to get my medicines regulated. While my creatinine is slowing going down, my blood sugar is getting higher than the doctor like. They are giving me some insulin to help, which was disappointing for me.

Sunday, March 26. My church gave me a basket of snacks to enjoy.

Wednesday, March 29. The transplant is doing pretty well. But heartbeat is irregular, and they are putting him on a blood thinner to keep him from having a blood clot and a heart attack.

Thursday, March 30. My brother called to say hi. Mary Lowery Reeves called. The risk of the blood thinner is that Chip may lose the kidney, which disappointed me.

Saturday, April 1. I got off the blood thinner, which should help preserve my transplant.

Sunday, April 2.Things are doing a lot better. The nurses station let me use their computer to check and send email.

Monday, April 3.My creatinine and blood sugar are up, and they are afraid that there may be some signs of rejection.

Tuesday, April 4. The doctor came in this afternoon, and said that the heart rythem is normal now. Dr. Young said that I will be off the prograf until it's down. He thinks it's causing me to wobble and shake. I will be on steroids until everything is normal. He said maybe soon I'll be out of here.

Thursday, April 6. This morning my weight dropped to 148 even. I was weighing 150.9 and the woman doctor, April Johnson, said that it's due to the kidneys working. My creatnine is staying at 2.7 which she told me may be my baseline. That's been 3 days of 2.7. I walked good yesterday. I did about 4 times, and even went outside to get some fresh air. But I am retaining fluid and showing signs of rejection of the new kidney, They are putting a new graft in my neck and will give me gamma globulin through the weekend, then they will start all over again, as they did four weeks ago right after my transplant surgery.

Saturday, April 8. This morning, I finally got on the computer. The creatinine dropped from 2.6 to 2.3. My blood pressure and blood sugars are normal. It sounds like we might move on Tuesday or Wednesday if the scan does well, and that the white blood cells increase. The doctor said that I did 5 litres of urine during a 24 hour period. Below is a photo of me when I had dessert on Easter Lunch at the hopsital.

Sunday, April 9. I got in my lab work this morning, and the nurse said that my creatnine was 1.9!!! Down 4ths from 2.3. I hope to have my white blood count higher. We are waiting for the white blood cell count. Maybe by Wednesday we might go to that townhouse!

Friday, April 14. They finally let me leave the hospital after lunch today, and we moved into the Townhouse. Went shopping for groceries. We ate at the hospital cafeteria. Below is a picture of the Townhouse where I stayed for a couple of weeks.

Saturday, April 15. This a.m. we went to the Russell Clinic to get my blood checked, and then to breakfast; my numbers were good. My aunt Jane came to stay for awhile.

Sunday, April 16. Visited my uncle at his place at Lake Weiss in Alabama for a day. Went fishing.

Friday, April 21. After my last blood tests and session with the doctor, I was allowed to leave, so we all left Birmingham after lunch and got home this afternoon, after stopping to eat at my favorite Japanese restaurant: Little Tokyo II. I have to go back for tests on Wednesday. Below is a picture of the Kirkland Clinic where I go every year for annual followup.

Monday, April 24. The bills from the hospital came in. They were: $177,877.96, with $489.16 estimated due from patient. Thank God for insurance and Medicare!

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