Amanda is doing good and continuing to improve. I’m still back in Texas, but have a flight booked for Friday to head back up. I wasn’t able to work as much as I’d hoped, but I can’t gripe since I haven’t had a full day off since I’ve been back! I’m currently in Alpine, waiting for a train home.
We had pushed the rehab a bit since Amanda was still tender, but she still needed to walk. I didn’t even talk with Britt about keeping her moving. I wasn’t worried; I knew they’d be out shopping. My suspicions were corroborated when I saw multiple Apple Pay receipt notifications start rolling in on my phone. A little celebratory shopping and retail cardio, I guessed!
They didn’t end up going to church on Sunday. Britt and her talked it over, but decided against it. Amanda wasn’t ready to be bombarded with everyone. She wanted to wait till I was there as a blocker! Britt left early Monday morning, and Rhonda wasn’t coming in till the afternoon. I’d asked a friend from church, Becca, to check on Amanda in the gap. Becca is the one who came to my rescue when I broke down. She or Tim hadn’t been to the apartment before, so she got to meet Tank. They are dog people, and she made friends with Tank real quick. Amanda said she sat and pet him for the majority of the time she was there while they were talking.
The following day, Rhonda and Amanda were getting a bunch of work done. Rhonda has been filling in for Amanda a good bit with the in-person activities Amanda can’t do remotely. Rhonda can’t sit still, so I wasn’t worried about her either with keeping Amanda active! There was an issue with pain meds. I clearly remember the PA telling Amanda she had to run out; then she would call some in. Well, she ran out, but the PA wouldn’t fill any more and referred her to the pain doc. The pain doc was off till the end of the week, though. Amanda rummaged through some old meds and found something to get her by until the pain doc returns and can call her something in. It’s always pain meds! At least she isn’t without anything though.
We have a shared note for Amanda’s ins and outs. I’ve noticed the increase in both, with her out being a little more than ins. It seems the kidney is picking up! She has been losing a little fluid without being on a diuretic for a few days. They did put her back on it for a few more days to see if she could get rid of the rest of the fluid she’s holding on to. But, it seems like things are heading in the right direction and maybe we’ll be able to kick even the thought of dialysis to the curb soon.
She has been thirsty lately, which is good, but a weird feeling for her. The year and a half of fluid restriction has conditioned her mind and body both to not want to drink. So, it’s a bit odd for her to get over that she can drink now. She sent me a screenshot of a StarBs reward. We are in the top 5% of all refresher drinkers, a Refresher Superstar, it said! She’s had at least one a day since her surgery and earning some extra stars because of it.
I’m ready to get back to Tennessee. I already have a leave of absence lined up for a few weeks. I think we’re overdue for what I head called “Bilbo Baggins Days,” and I feel we need to adopt the name. Days where you don’t leave the house, no visitors, curl up in comfy clothes, eat 11 meals, and take naps! I still haven’t come close to catching up on sleep, since I left West Texas in hurry and drove straight through the night.
At the end of my leave, mid-July, we’ll both be going home together. Not permanently just yet, but we’re getting close. We’ll be home for almost a month, flying back for a follow appointment in the middle of that Texas stay. Since late May of last year, Amanda has been home only once, and for less than two weeks. So, we’re excited to get her home.
Amanda has a kidney transplant team follow-up tomorrow. This one is with the doctor; they alternate back and forth with the doctor and the PA, even when the appointments are spread out later on. I am a little floored at the difference between the heart and kidney teams. They adjusted Amanda’s main rejection medication last week and didn’t even want her to get labs to check levels; they’ll just get labs at the appointment tomorrow. That would never have happened with the heart team. I’m not even sure they would approve of the kidney team doing that, since its a med the heart needs too. I almost want to rat them out to our heart coordinator! We are so used to labs; we put no telling how many thousands of miles on the Suburban after the first transplant, driving 250 miles round trip just to get labs.
I’ll update again when I’m back in Nashville, but don’t expect to hear from me until next week after a Bilbo Baggins Day! Remember, no news is good news.
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