The Daily Jackie, A Transplant Chronicle.

Dear Family and Friends, this might be a better way to communicate Jackie's wellness progress, kinda lost track of where all the emails went, using my fone, Kindle tablet, web mail and the computer, different domains, different providers, some of them come down to Outlook, some stay on whatever device I used, the web mails are on the server, so I'm gonna try this and hope I can keep it up to date.  I think it's more personal, intimate, and joins us together in our growing relief and happiness as we regain our breath.  It will grow and take on character as we all follow Jackie Day by Day together.  I'm already a week behind, please check back to find back dated updates as I'm able to compose something meaningful and you'll find out what all led up to this, kind of like how they released the Star Wars Saga.

Home Dialysis

Jackie's home dialysis 'cycler' and the roomful of supplies, tubes, big bags of fluids, she had to have her own room, and the cat had to stay out, she looked like she was prepared for surgery every night to try to keep everything sterile.  The cycler pumped several litres of good fluids in, mostly sugar, I know, right, and somehow there was an exchange so that by morning there were bags of bad fluid to dump out.  No blood, no needle, no biohazard, this made so much difference in Jackie's condition, but what an effort and I never heard one peep, grumble, complaint from her all that time, and I never left her side.  All this kept Jackie alive for almost a year but it was soon to be in the dustbin of the past, as those English novelists like to say.

Day 1 - Thursday, August 13, 2015

Thursday afternoon, August 13, 2015 Jackie had kidney transplant surgery, I can't even count up the days right since the surgery my mind is so swirlingly logic repellant. Jackie's brother Terry Lee donated the kidney and there's no way to fill up that bucket of thanks to him for this selfless act.  We got there about 10:30 am cuz Jackie had yet another blood draw that morning before checking in to the Kidney Transplant Unit, 9th Floor, at UCSF on Parnassus Avenue. This is a high end unit of their hospital, the best place for this to happen, I have never experienced such detailed management, such superior care, as I saw with Jackie's experience there, even her room was better than I've ever seen, just her and with a big screen TV.

The Staff made sure Jackie was ready, lots of last minute checks, I think she was a little anxious at this point.  They took Terry to the surgical prep unit on the 4th floor first and Giselle, Tim & Julie were standing outside when Jackie rolled in and Colleen Edward and I joined them, one at a time we all went in for a visit then with nothing else we could do, we all went to Pasquale's Pizza on Irving while they were rolling into surgery. 

It took about three hours to remove Terry's totally awesome kidney, so he exited to the recovery room while they completed Jackie's transplant.  For eight months she had been doing something called peritoneal dialysis which involved hooking up a small machine to surgically implanted tubes in her abdomen every night at home for a fluid exchange, so they had to be removed before the kidney went in, so it was a fail safe point, the kidney had to work because her life saving option was being removed.  Colleen, Edward and I waited out Jackie's surgery, they update you by fone how it's going and about 9:30 pm they called and said she was going into the recovery room but they were waiting for her to stabilize before we could see her and eventually we got to look in.

Not good trying to talk to somebody just as they had a breathing tube removed from their throat, and because of some medication she had been taking she needed blood, thickener, fluids, to get her blood pressure and blood volume up to government standards.  I admit being a little worried, I visited her a couple times and when they called in a sonography operator from home to see if she was still bleeding inside and needed more surgery, they kicked me out.  I guess I was talking to myself and sort of walking in circles, totally out of the way, but some nurse dude or something said "Hey Bud, you're going to have to wait outside the doors!"

So I went back to Jackie's room and to sleep for about a half hour when they brought Jackie in with all this equipment and bags and blood and made her comfortable, I was really glad to see her, it was about 2 am, Friday morning, so that was awhile.  I stayed there until about 6:30 am then went over to the Palio Paninoteca and got the first cup of coffee of anybody and sat at the wet tables on their terrace looking out at The City while I ate a grapefruit, one of those Safeway raisin buns and a really really ripe banana that I had been carrying around for a while. City views from Parnassus, home of Delphi, Dionysus, Apollo, the Corycian nymphs, the 9 Muses, the Dorians and the Staff of UCSF Kidney Transplant Unit, the home of gods.  Wikipedia refers to Mount Parnassus as a metaphor for poetry, literature and learning.   I went back up and after a bit went home, fed the cat, took a shower and came back to Jackie's room and Colleen was there with a purple and white Hydrangea plant.  I read that Hydrangea symbolizes heartfelt emotions. It can be used to express gratitude for being understood.

Day 2- Friday, Aug. 14, 2015

Jackie's first day with a new kidney was exciting for her, the Doctors said the kidney was functioning as soon as they put it in, amazing, I kept thinking of it as a new puppy that would lick your face even though you just picked him up for the first time, it was just as happy to be at home in Jackie as it was in Terry. All day long Doctors, Nurses, Housekeepers, Nutritionists, the Pharmacist, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist and even a Social Worker, who had a hard time addressing me as 'husband'.

Everybody explained how important it was to work all their details into her life and we were paying attention but it was a lot. They emphasized activity at least as much as rest and how you can't laugh or cough because they had to cut through some muscle and that needed to heal, and since it was Friday they all had to get in there because the weekend was coming.  Colleen took Giselle shopping on Haight St. and to lunch at Crepes On Cole, in the chi chi Cole Valley 'hood while Jackie started on her liquid diet.  Another bouquet of yellow roses, daisies and tiger lillies arrived from Gerry and Sandi so the room was flush with fresh flora. After a while Edward came by and we went back to Colleen & Giselle's lunch place get some dessert crepes while Jackie was still on her liquid diet.  I stuck around until after midnight and went home to sleep for about 10 hours.

Day 3- Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015

When I got there Saturday morning Jackie was having scrambled eggs, toast, hash browns and coffee, wow, and Colleen had already arrived with a box of Chinese pastries.  It takes about 24 hours for the anesthesia to wear off and Jackie and Terry were encouraged to get up and walk around.  If they walked 12 laps around the transplant unit they could earn a T shirt, and the walking was supposed to promote healing, so here they are in their hôpital couture.
By now Jackie was eating whatever she wanted to order from the 'room service' menu so the timing was right when they delivered an 'edible arrangement' from her teacher friend JR, a fruit bouquet with chocolate covered strawberries, mmmm. JR was so thoughtful she sent Terry one too, and a balloon !  

The hospital was really busy Saturday, the surgical waiting area right off the entrance on Parnassus is more than adequate, actually quite comfortable compared to other surgery / family waiting areas I've been in during the last year.  It has plenty of comfortable seating, recliners, TV, a children's area, lots of reading material, we spent much of the surgery time in there on Thursday, but one thing that's not allowed is food and drink. Somehow over the weekend the larger less occupied area was overwhelmed with what I guess was a large family, the counters along the windows fronting Parnassus were lined with boxes of food, covered dishes, bowls of various food, large rice cookers, looked like a family reunion, everybody was laughing, talking, having a good time.

There appeared to be an organizer, a very well dressed, professional looking woman that was in conversation with many of the folks, I don't know what was going on, but it was really different from the somber, exhausted people nervously clutching their cell phones in sweaty hands, delivering terrifying descriptions of tumors, bleeding, brain matter and organs to the folks back home during the time we spent there.  Saturday morning brought the pink boxes of treats, bagels coffee and more family togetherness, they had it going on.  

Colleen, Giselle and I had some kebabs and stuff on Irving Street, and all of us had a lot of conversation back in Terry's and Jackie's rooms, lots to talk about, then everybody went back to their home base.  I took care of the cat and had a shower and went back to Jackie's room around 12:30 am, Tim, Julie and Mom Jessie, were arriving early in the morning and I wanted to be sure to meet them.  The nurse was really helpful, she folded out this visitor chair for sleeping, but all I could feel was the wood frame around the three sections, but they came in every hour to check on Jackie or something anyway, wow, the patient gets no rest in the hospital.

Day 4 - Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015

Tim & Julie were really a big help for Terry & Giselle, they met them at the airport with Mom and loaned them a car. They came down on Sunday to help them check out so while they were helping Giselle at the hotel Mom Jessie and I had something to eat in the cafeteria. While Terry was getting ready to check out Mom spent a little time with Jackie. Mom Jessie brought down a foto album from Auntie Rose and Debbie's visit this summer, we had a crab feast up there in Sacramento and Debbie formatted and printed a really cool album from her digital pics.  Terry was able to leave before Jackie but after a while everybody was ready, Edward took Colleen home and we went home to begin this two month recovery process. 

Day 5 - Monday, Aug. 17, 2015 

Jackie slept a lot that day, I think I did too, and so did the cat by the way.  Jackie had to have her own room and bed while she was doing peritoneal dialysis, and the cat had to stay out. During the day he would go in there, but he just quit sleeping on her bed, he moved into the other room with me on the big bed, daytime and nighttime sleeping, he had his 'spot' somewhere within an arm's length of me.  Now he's sleeping in her 'hospital' room bed, night and day, mainly because Jackie moved back into our bedroom, and I'm sleeping in the other room, with the cat, it's been him and me all this year, he was also really interested in that rose bouquet. 

It took a while to arrange everything, furniture, beds, making comfort and mobility adjustments, Jackie had to sort out all her pills.  Jennifer the Pharmacist spent a lot of time with us on Friday explaining everything Jackie needed to know and recording all her medicines, dosages, times on an 8 1/2 X 11 green card in pencil, so Jackie could make changes and keep track of everything as the Staff adjusted her medicine as needed for her recuperation.  It was an early night since she had to be at Kaiser the next morning at 8 for a blood draw. 

Day 6 - Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015

Jackie"s pills

Jackie is moving toward improvement so the prescriptions and dosages are working as intended. We had to spend the morning tracing down a lab order, Kaiser didn't have it, drove back to UCSF, they didn't have it but they were willing to investigate it so she got her lab test and later a call with the protocol to follow if there's another omission, like on Thursday, her next appt.  She walked around and up and down both hospitals and to the car and took some rest and ate some real food other than crackers and broth, so all systems are go. The TV is playing tonight, last night Comcast was having a service interruption. I got a haircut, I said I would when she's better, tomorrow we'll go for a walk, depending on how she feels. I'm reporting here, like dispatches from some remote location, Jackie could give you all the specific numbers if she wanted to, but she keeps telling me she'll update everybody when she feels like, so I do this on my own with my impractical eye and inexperienced interpretation.  

Jackie's numbers, blood sugar, pressure, temp, weight, everything, was well within the acceptable range or right on target, that means everything is working well and together, kidney, diet, medicine, rest and exercise.  Jackie is slowly adding in a little apple, cheese, english muffin and egg,  even some tuna and sliced chicken, to the broth and crackers diet.  I have some vegetables when she's ready, I feel like I should only buy the finest, freshest, most nutritious things I can find, that can mean organic. 

I hate describing a person, a human being, the person I haved loved and lived with and for all these years, the only one, in terms of globules of mercury, heat producing units and other impersonal mathematical descriptors of concepts and so called physical laws and sciences, but I can not argue with what has happened.  Jackie has another lab tomorrow morning, I will take her there and continue on to my appointment at my Dr.  After the pharmacy experience at Kaiser on Sunday and the dropped lab order there yesterday and their response, and the bafflegab I get from my health provider, I have been so angry, worse than before, because compared to UCSF, everything else pales.

Day 7 - Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015

But ...  I have to admit it's getting better.  Everything is working out fine, each day brings less risk, I think, in my unscientific mind, and is a day closer to wholeness and a return to robust health and the fullness of life for Jackie.  She can put on her own shoes (the bending) and we walked around our block with just the minimum of discomfort in her side.  I have a fine eye for the fluid retention around her ankles and there is none of that either.  I know better than anyone how hard it is to allow yourself to believe that things can change, be better, and that something good can come out of the gloom and doom when effort and blessing combine for benefit.

Day 8 - Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015

We had an early night and morning call, as I had to drop Jackie off for a lab at Geary Kaiser, then drive straight out Geary to the VA for my 9 am appt.  Not a lot of sleeping got done it seems, but we had time for scones and coffee at Starbucks before the appts.  Lab results are still good, Jackie's not taking any HBP or phosphate medicine, and the nausea is manageable with ginger ale and without the pills it's just the strong cooking smells that are gaggable, mostly roasting or frying meat. We took another walk, not a lot of pain, but she feels more able to sit up, means those stomach muscles are knitting.  Spent a long time food shopping, mostly prepared stuff, some fresh stuff, more ginger ale so she's doing her own meal planing based on appetite, and she prepares it sometimes, no way for me to figure.  Nothing planned for tomorrow, not even a short ride, I notice she holds on really tight, even though I've been driving really slow, school's back in you know, so I think that must indicate a little motion intolerance, balance type issues ?  Oh, she says it's the bumps, those Streets Of San Francisco.  Anyway, it's all good news, so rejoice, UCSF did a good job, I hope we live long enough to see and do everything we want and get bored of it !     

Day 9 - Friday, Aug. 21, 2015

We walked to a store a few blocks away to pick up some high phosphorus food, mostly snacks as you can see, except for the Cheerios.  Regular lab tests reveal how the new kidney and medication affects the whole balance of Jackie's metabolism.  Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are high in phosphorus, and so is a Coke.  A diabetic diet is different from a high blood pressure diet which is different from a kidney diet which is different from a lo fat diet which is different from a dialysis diet which is different from a transplant diet, Jackie hasn't had a diet Coke since she doesn't remember.  The kidney is a central processor for many functions and even when it's working perfectly, it's new to her, so some things that the kidney directs take a while to get up to cruising speed, so in the meantime there's food and medication. While her progress is excellent, the medication is monitored very closely and is changed as needed, so tomorrow we'll pick up something that she used to get at the dialysis center and add foods high in phosphorus.  Not sure yet what's for dinner, but we're working on it. 

Day 10 - Saturday Aug. 22, 2015

I really can't remember what happened and I didn't make any notes, let's just say the healing continues.

Day 11 - Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015

Yesterday Terry and Giselle drove back down to SF so he could go to his appointment this morning at UCSF and they invited us to dinner, so Jackie, Colleen, Edward and I met them at Bertolucci's in SSF.  We've been going to Sodini's in North Beach for years, family events, favorite place. When I was an Alcatraz Ranger and Visitors asked me where to eat in SF I used to tell them Sodini's, I organized a few dinners there, and took so many people there that one night Linda gave me a T-shirt. I never realized it was the same family that owns Sodini's, Bertolucci's and Golden Boy Pizza.  Giselle and Terry honored Colleen with a beautiful pendant because she was selected as a donor too, however Terry and Jackie had six of ten matching genetic markers, more than Colleen, I'll take the blame for that because Colleen is as good as she can be considering she's half me !  

Day 12 - Monday, Aug. 24, 2015

"Dedicated to true heroes Those who give without wanting. Those who receive without forgetting."  I noticed this plaque on the way out of the 7th floor after Jackie's weekly appointment with the Nurse Practitioner assigned to monitor every little detail of her recovery.  It's so descriptive of her brother Terry who decided in the very beginning as soon as he heard Jackie needed a kidney that he was going to donate his, and he did, and it worked and Jackie and I will never forget his heroism.  Some lowly accountant or actuary who has to work the books in heaven just had to move Jackie to another column.

So Jackie's NP, Elizabeth, was pretty satisfied with the screen of results from her blood test this morning, minor adjustments in medicine and diet, just for a week or so, I was looking at the measurements by indicator by week while she was making notes, and I even managed to ask an intelligent question or two, usually when I'm at the Doctor I can barely manage to remember my name.  There's so many multiples of the medicine, the blood factors, the kidney, the effects of surgery, so many things could happen, I'd like Elizabeth to be all like Bob Marley, "Don't worry 'bout a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."  I just picked up another medicine, I think it's very tiring for Jackie, looks like this is gonna be a long haul.

Day 13 - Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015

Sorry, I had all the dates wrong, I hoped this blog would help me to keep the narrative straight, recognize the days and changes, remember what happened, but it kinda blends together.  At the Kaiser pharmacy yesterday I saw two of Jackie's good friends from school, Miss Hardy and Miss Shamila her daughter, Miss Hardy is the Attendance Clerk at Malcolm X now and Miss Shamila is in charge of the after school program at Drew, and she's the lead singer in a couple different bands, we've been to see her at a few clubs and she really puts the rhythm and blues in the R&B, and she covers all my favorite songs, it was good to talk with these ladies.  Her NP, Elizabeth, recommended loose fitting clothing so as not to irritate her incisions, and since there's no Hilo Hattie around to get a mumu, we went to Kohls and she found some things that are in between nightwear and dresses, one looks kinda athletic and it's Vera Wang, wow, in Grey Fog, like the sky out our back window.  We're trying to keep to the diet of the week, low in potassium, high in phosphorus, and the ginger ale really helps with the nausea, but Jackie has lost about a pound a day, which they tell her is normal.  Oatmeal, blueberries, and blueberry scone and apple for breakfast and I picked up a sirloin steak and asparagus for her dinner tonight.

Day 14 - Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015

Jackie and Terry had appointments on Monday, blood draw, lab test and medical review. Unplanned, we met anyway and had coffee, conversation and the view from Palio Paninoteca, one of the restaurants in the Millberry Union building, BTW - best coffee at UCSF - IMHO, wow, give me the win for the most internet abbreviations in one sentence. After Jackie's review I took her picture by the Connie Frank plaque, we didn't know but Giselle took the same picture with Terry. There is something very supernatural going on here. Terry's kidney now lives in Jackie, what does this mean ?  This is hard to wrap my mind around.  Although you can't see it, and forgive me for suggesting this, but for your consideration I submit that Terry is now an amputee, he's missing a vital organ, an important part of his anatomy, but unlike an arm, you would never know to look at him. Jackie is now a composite person, she has Terry's kidney, she owns a part of her brother, he lives in her, she lives by him, this is a mystery that we never think about outside of spiritual experience and sacred literature, it is totally physical, medical, technological and yet it is spiritual, a miracle, something very supernatural. Just sayin'. 

Day 15 - Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015

Going to the lab means getting out of the house early.   Jackie's NP said she needed an abdominal support for all those incisions and the healing subdermal muscle cuts so I went looking for one on Divisadero around the corner from the big Kaiser on Geary.  There's one of those medical supply places, shelves stuffed with all kinds of bandage type stuff, and trussses, lots of trusses, the floor was stacked with boxes of unopened stock, making it hard to navigate and shop, the place didn't seem 'accessible'.  A coupla ladies speaking Russian asked me what I wanted but I was sure there was another place nearby so I went across the street.

The store was neat and navigable, and found what I wanted for $20 less than store X.  I told the lady there I had looked across the street and she just started laughing.  She explained to Jackie about the belt and I mentioned that she just had a kidney transplant and she was very impressed.  I told her that Jackie had the best kidney you could get, from her brother, an Air Force Colonel, a rocket scientist, lifelong runner and athlete, worked for NASA and Star Wars. Got a great laugh out of her when I told there was no better kidney unless it was Trump's !

Day 16 - Friday, Aug. 28, 2015

Jackie's weight loss is slowing down, yesterday about 6 ounces, today it was an ounce or

Waiting for the 14 Mission bus in SF. 

negligible, the result of lessening nausea, more tolerance for heavier food, cooking smells, internal muscle healing, more 'core' stability' less pain and a bit more mobility. Lots of factors to consider here Folks, this is a complicated process.  She should hear the lab results and medical analysis of yesterday's blood draw recommendations from her UCSF NP, Elizabeth. who is charting Jackie's daily progress, making minute adjustments to her sitch. International travel is ruled out for a year, one reason is you can't drink the water, another is Jackie's reduced immunity, caused by the anti-rejection (immunosuppressive) medicine which makes Jackie vulnerable to people with viruses and even fresh immunizations, like you get when you travel.  Long distance might be OK by end of the year, it's ruled out for 3, 2 months at least.  She should be OK in time to get a flu shot, Elizabeth said she wants her to get that.  We had to turn down a very generous offer of a Hawai'i stay, where you CAN drink the water, because the travel dates are too close to the inside minimum recuperation time. Elizabeth said we could go to, say, Reno, and I said "Why?"  Ha Ha heh, huh, um, ahem.  The good news is that the rejection risk is minimal because of the good genetic match, so the immunity suppressing medicine should come off the list sooner than later.

Day 19 - Monday, Aug. 31, 2015

I hope this character means Long Life

It seemed as if the world stopped spinning for a brief time during the last couple weeks, there was a pause. Something happened between Giselle and Terry, Jackie and I, the whole family, and the kinship structure that I don't think the anthropologists have a word for.   I can only say it from my perspective, but this is about Terry and Jackie, donor and recipient. Giselle commented on Jackie's picture and I went off again into the meaning of all this, maybe I really am an interpreter but I think the words have exceeded my reach.  When we describe our family, we use all the familiar words, mother, brother, father, sister, son, daughter, you know, kinship structure.  

Susan brought a cake, it has kidneys on it

What is the word for your spouse who now has their sibling's organ ? What is the word for that sibling's spouse ? What is the word for the sibling that donated that organ in terms of the family and marriage ?  In-law doesn't seem to work right, and think of those people that donate and receive anonymously, we need some new words.  It's almost too personal to describe, if you believe in marriage and the permanence of that meaningful relationship.  I had a teacher in college that said 'Heaven is the fulfillment of all meaningful earthly relationships', and I always wondered how that was gonna play out.  

Mom Jessie hosted a family banquet this Saturday in Sacramento, we had three tables, big party, lots of food, double happiness, joy, relief, life, everything and she spoke a few of those words that have a sense that you don't often think about, what we have to go through in life, and how far, moving from joy to suffering to joy, she called it tribulation, and it made me think of a spinning ball, one and another, night and day, the halves of a whole, she has a few years on us and a few more of those movements and revolutions so we listen and learn, and you get the sense even if you lose the words.  The world started spinning again.

Day 20 - Tuesday, Sep. 1, 2015

Iron Woman

New month, stayed up too late last night and woke up too early this morning, not sure if that last update made much sense. Anyway, Jackie had an appt at UCSF with her NP, Elizabeth and she gave her the full ticket as far as food is concerned, just a little medicine adjustment, she always calls back later in the PM after she looks at the latest lab results.  There was an MD too, Dr. Weber that stopped in and they were both very pleased with Jackie's progress so that's all good news.  These nice days are killers when you're in the waiting room, the lab, the medical office, staring out the window, skylarking a teacher I had called it, but this is the time for this.  

Terry has been recovering rapidly, Tim, Julie, Giselle, Terry & Mom went to Folsom Lake yesterday and he told me he walked 4 miles across the dry part of the lake.  All I could think of was Forrest Gump.  Jackie is a little slower on the walking, but she has Forrest Gump, I mean Terry as a role model, she's loading up on iron, so she'll make it. 

Day 21 - Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2015

Terry and Giselle flew back home today, he mentioned he was feeling very well, doing some long distance walks the last couple days, on the plane he met a fellow kidney donor, odd circumstance on an otherwise uneventful flight, that's what you want, an uneventful flight.  Falling out of the sky in a helicopter that can't fly is not what you want, not uneventful.  Your assignment, should you choose to accept it is 'look up auto-rotate', something I was really glad to learn about over the South China Sea, happens to everybody sooner or later.  

The last month seems a little blurry to me, I don't remember everything so I took me and myself down to the Vet Center, took over an hour to drive downtown, didn't think I had enough time to use MUNI/BART, and wasn't up to riding my motorcycle, so I wound up ten minutes late after crossing the Mission like a checkerboard.  I had a few things to do today, then shopping for the high iron foods for Jackie after a doing a little research then fixing the cable box and finding the cat puke on the cables, it's all fun. Then getting out to my medical appt at Ft. Miley and having all that enjoyment with their devices, I was already there on Monday, it seemed like a long day. Jackie increased her activity by quite a measure today, following on the heels of a very good medical evaluation. and she got stuff done and enjoyed it, I usually hear that after being away all day, hhhmmm. We took some of that high iron/protein sirloin from the other day and made tacos.  And the morning and the night were the 21st day and it was good.

Day 22 - Thursday, Sep. 3, 2015

If you need a rich source of iron to add to your diet clams are high, so is liver, oysters, meat, broccoli, spinach, those leafy green vegetables you get tired of hearing about, lots of things, depending on what you like.  Clams and pasta, good.  For Jackie, we have to cook the clams and oysters, her suppressed immunity system can't deal with bacteria or viruses.  Iron helps your blood carry oxygen, so it can increase the sense of energy you feel, help overcome that tiredness you get walking up the hill if you're lacking it, so in that sense, iron enabled exercise increases that same immunity she has to protect.  But don't self diagnose.  I just talked to somebody that has a lot of dietary considerations and they wanted to eat a lot of carrots to lose weight and get that vitamin A, but they got toxic on too much A, severe, chronic chapped lips can be a symptom.  The internet is a rich source of information about food, but so much of it is conflicting.  Amazon and Google construct and bias your search results according to what they know you like and might buy, and according to a knowledgeable person I talked with, does the same with your searches for medical information, and really, politics too, and so I am extrapolating here to finance and everything else, why not ? The most valuable commodity for sale today is all the stuff we give away for free, our personal identifying information (PII) and all that FB stuff.  Anyway, Jackie is just following doctor's orders regarding the iron, I guess you have to trust something or someone.

Day 23 - Friday, Sep. 4, 2015

San Francisco glistened today.  I noticed when I first moved here how the hills influence the light, the season, the position of the sun and the shadows play tricks on your eyes, it's been said that there are no bad angles in San Francisco. Wikipedia says 'Paris is often referred to as "The City of Light" (La Ville Lumière)', but I think the name applies to SF, there's a quality of light here that makes The City an ideal film location, and just all around pleasant looking, go ahead, just call me chauvinist.

One place that glistens is The Stonestown Galleria, the marble floor, shop windows, lights and that SKYLIGHT give it a dazzle and brilliance que mis tiendas y mercados locales Misión St. faltan.  And since we're living in the slow lane these days, shopping the mall is just about the right speed for a walk.  

Jackie's weight loss leveled off for a few days and now she reversed it, gaining half a pound, OMG !  So before something makes something look big she's trying to 
increase the cardio, cruising Nordstom and skipping the chocolate croissants and macaroons.  No, not really, I made that up, but she did gain 8 ounces and we did go to Nordstrom, I forgot to pay the bill, didn't buy anything though. 

The high iron party is on and this is how we do it !   Sourdough, swiss cheese, clams, apple, braunschweiger, bread&butter pickle.  Oh yeah !  Go Miss Jackie !  What am I having ? Glad you asked, in the freezer I found a frozen confection that looks and tastes like really sweet coffee with milk, and has a lime(?) in it and it has a slight chemical taste but it could be Evan Williams, so I consumed it.

Day 27 - Tuesday, Sep. 9, 2015

Almost been a month, I lose track of the days, like each day is a canvas, a tableau of all the events, and it's lined up between the previous and the following days, but then it slips and instead there's an expressionistic panel.  I missed a coupla days, sorry I don't stream this like from my implanted brain chip.



I think we went shopping, we trimmed the tree, cooking and oh yeah, I know, trying to publish this story of Jackie and Terry on everybody's internets, and today we went to Art's Cafe and Jackie had scrambled eggs and pancakes, two things I'm not good at.  

Do me a favor, share this on your FB page so other people will be able to read it too, maybe somebody has to do this, and they're wondering how people get through, just do it, if you're reading this, just share it on your page, it's the best thing you can do.

Red & White Blood Cells

We've had a lot of inquiries, people wanna visit, no, you don't, please, we can't really go anywhere either, it just takes too much, even updating FB is too much. Jackie's progress is measured in millionths, counting the parts of her blood and the drugs, hormones, cells, components and everything running around in it. The NP and Dr. were happy last week with her healthy prognosis but there's really nothing in it that will make you feel that way unless you look at the blood analysis, and even that isn't exciting. 

Me & Jackie

I told Colleen to imagine a 115 pound cat that doesn't want to eat what you give it and wants to sleep 16 hours a day.  I'm busy, I can tell you all about my day, but this isn't about me.  This is kind of interesting to spend so much time together, interesting doesn't mean hard, but it doesn't mean easy either.

Jackie is taking the days as they come, and going to her appointments as requested, and modifying her diet and medication as required.  It is an exacting and all consuming routine just to manage all that, but there ain't no stoppin' us now !

Day 29 - Friday, Sep. 11, 2015

OK, that last post was scattered, and I know I got the days and dates wrong, sorry, reflects my tired ass self and The Great State of Numbness, I was so tired on Monday from tree trimming, composting and washing vehicles and everything hurt so bad I felt like I needed to sit down in the shower, numbness and pain is double bad.  But never mind all that, "Say nothing to no one!" as Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was fond of saying, especially to terrified housekeeping staff, read 'Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas', you'll know what I mean.  

Like I said, sorry I can't stream this from an implanted memory chip. The weather has been so great here, 'Warm San Francisco Nights' , hope you listened / watched The Animals tribute I posted,  I used to think the whole Irony of that song, all the wonderfulness of SF was that there never were any warm nights, but there's a few.  

This week's focus has been energy and stamina, overcoming that lethargic inertia of the medication and the less than perfect bone marrow.  The kidney creates a hormone, Erythropoietin, that stimulates the bone marrow to produce red blood cells (RBC), as a result of end stage renal disease, anemia is common.  According to Wikipedia this hormone also "plays an important role in the brain's response to neuronal injury.[1] EPO is also involved in the wound healing process.[2]"  

The dialysis center would shoot Jackie up with big doses of a hormone precursor that jacked her bone marrow into production, so she wouldn't collapse on the street and me, an NREMT Certified Emergency Responder, having to call 911, or at school collapsing on the stairs with all the kids around her, real life events Folks, and so she could walk a block without having to rest. 

Terry's kidney is producing the hormone, but Jackie has to get used to the smaller amounts on a constant basis that will provided a sustained stimulus to her bone marrow for a normal RBC count, hemoglobin and oxygen profusion. She still takes some medicine to help her out and this week has shown a marked difference in energy and stamina and wakefulness time, and Jackie credits the iron rich foods she's been including, like clams. 

Wednesday we went to Pescadero in the car, walked around a little and had some lunch in Duarte's, pronounced DO-Arts.  One of their specialties is cream of artichoke soup, for you out-of-towners, the coastline up here and all the way down to Monterey especially, is artichoke country, brussels sprouts too, I might add.  They blend cream of (green) chili with the artichoke for a tasty soup.  And don't neglect to order the fried smelt, delicious little crispy rascals fried whole, I guess they gut them but I never asked looked or cared.  

All the Guide Books talk about Duarte's soup, the olallieberry pie and the Bloody Marys. I've seen the people fresh from SFO, just driven over SR 92 in a rented Mustang, sitting there at the bar with their guide books, Bloody Mary, soup and pie in front of them. Personally I don't like the pie, too many seeds, don't like any of that kind of pie or jam made from berries beginning with dew, rasp, young, logan, olallie, black, and marionberries, not to be confused with Marion Barry, "Mayor For Life" of the Washington District of Crime.  If there's anything I have against GMO berries is that they all have too many seeds, yes that's right, most of those tasty berries are GMO varieties, so do me a solid, strain the seeds and take your GMO screed somewhere else.  Thanks for that, I feel MUCH better now.  

Anyway, Jackie had the energy and stamina for all that and the car ride. Yesterday we had an early light breakfast at home then to UCSF for another blood draw and lab analysis. Both latest blood tests BTW elicited no critical remarks from her NP and the last one actually showed an increase in her RBC, hemoglobin and hematocrit, look it up.  UCSF is just a few blocks from GG Park, so we went down to the SF Botanical Garden and Strybing Arboretum and spent a few hours wandering through the various mini environments.  If you've never been there, which is impossible for me to imagine if you've ever visited the Park, go there as soon as possible.   

The morning is such a special time, it's cool, green, shaded, moist, inviting, quiet, uncrowded and enormously refreshing for your soul.  The golden sunlight reflects off the green and gives a pleasing combination color to the eye, Oakland As fans would delight. Jackie wandered up and down the paved, barkwood and dirt trails like she does it every day. And somewhere around the Mesoamerican Cloud Forest and the California Native Garden we saw Marie Cerda on the trail, sort of where you would expect to find Marie don't you think ? So happy to see a real friend in such a beautiful place.

Had to return home for medicine but Jackie's energy level was sustained and she gives all the credit to the new Beverly Hills Braunschweiger and Clam diet, the new cuisine that's all the rage sweeping the internet and women's magazines and coming to a supermarket check out stand near you.  Yesterday I went out for a bit and Jackie went for a walk and when I came home she told me one of the local hoods hit the wolf whistle on his car and actually slowed down to look back to see if she was looking, "Must have been the Vera Wang" she said.

One order of sand dabs and Jackie's clams linguini.

Today Jackie wanted to walk around North Beach, so we walked from the Embarcadero MUNI station as far at Gigi's Sotto Mare, 'Under The Sea' for you Italian culturally deprived, for some delicious seafood as only they can prepare it.  Open from 11 until makes it easy if you can wait to have a late lunch.  Jackie wanted fresh clams and linguini, and she ate 16 clams which she calculated gave her twice over 100% of her daily requirement of iron, and brought home a lot of noodles in a light cream sauce and another 8 or so clams.  

We walked back to MUNI and picked up the car on 24th Street near Church, in NoWay Valley. Jackie took no nap in lieu of a short walk and we're gonna have a light late supper with more clams for her and some greens so you know she's rockin that iron, she looks great and really feels good so it must be workin'!  

Day 35 - Wednesday, Sep. 16, 2015

It's been a little over a month since Jackie was released from UCSF and Jackie's strength and stamina are increasing.  Seems like all that hospital and surgery stuff brings an acute sense of what's going on to one's consciousness.  Now there's no drama, no breathlessness, but the crisis is not over, and NP Elizabeth gave us some interesting info I'll tell ya about in a bit.  

724 Brazil Avenue from The Princess Diaries

On Saturday we went over to West Portal and walked around, then later Jackie walked to Mission Street from home, that's 10 short blocks downhill, a block = 200 feet or 8 - 25 foot standard SF lot/house widths, plus the street and sidewalks, and walked about halfway back then got on a bus that was arriving, so that's a very good walk.  

The car failed to start this weekend, I called our friends Jack and Paulann to give Jackie a rescue ride from Kaiser on Geary where we went to renew prescriptions, thanks J&P. What's the deal with those vicissitudes of life, those exigencies when you are or feel least capable to deal with them ? Taking MUNI around will sure make you appreciate your motor vehicle.  

The 10 year old battery failed and the front brake rotors were so worn down, below tolerance so I got that fixed, and a brake light that I was gonna do but let Mr. Sang, and I let him pull the nail from the tire too, I've been a little busy.  U&I Auto is the best place I've found to take my car for repairs, Mr. Sang only does what's needed and he'll tell ya when you're throwing away money on an old car.  After dropping off the car I hoofed it from 5th and Bryant up to Market and caught the 38R Geary Rapid and rode it out to the VA for my appointment just in time, then took the 38R, 24 Divisadero, J Church and 52 Excelsior to home, wow.       

Since Jackie is starting her second month of recovery only one blood test a week is required so we rode the 52 Excelsior and the 43 Masonic to UCSF and the lab analysis showed those millionth of a drop numbers increasing in the good direction.  The diet changes worked to increase the iron but I found out that there are other influences on those blood cell counts. UCSF sends her medical and lab info so she can see her progress at home and study it.   
     

Jackie's immune system sees Terry's kidney as a ginormous germ that needs to be taken out, rejection, of course, that would take Jackie out, so NP Elizabeth makes sure Jackie has the right of amount and type of immunosuppressive drugs.  Now this medicine works in the bone marrow to limit the production of those white blood cells that rush to the body's defense, but the medicine also limits production of red blood cells you need to carry oxygen around to all your body. So the immunosuppressors are two edged swords and even with all the iron rich food Jackie still needs some oxygenation help.  

So here Elizabeth tries to balance the immune drugs with hormonal boosters and specific

minerals like magnesium so you have a combo that allows bone marrow, kidney, heart and circulatory and other muscle to work together as best they can, a very critical equation, a symphony of medication. So it's back to the pharmacy, for more and different drugs then some seeds and nuts and other foods for that mineral input.  But, Jackie did get off three medicines, one is now a pill, and the others are history.  

 We had big bowls of pho on 9th Avenue then after getting home on the bus Mr. Sang called to say the car was ready, so it was down to 5th & Bryant for me, and Jackie's prescriptions were ready so it was to 2238 Geary Kaiser for Jackie, yeah MUNI.

Today is the first chance to start the new drug combo, and adjust to the new schedule and mealtime routines, so of course it's the right time for the water heater to fail.  We are getting a super hit on all the important stuff that we take for granted, and it had to rain too.       

I also want to put some 'downdates' in here with the 'updates'.  A couple people have asked me how this kidney disease started, how do you get it, how do you know you have it, and can you put updates up front.  I thought I would provide a little back story, a prequel, I said so in the first paragraph of this story, kind of like how Star Wars was released.  

So pretty soon you'll be able to return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver. The Lone Ranger rides ... whoops, I was plagiarizing from the wrong site  

Look for 'downdates' at the top of the Blog, some indications of what is to come, of course I'll continue to tell the story down here, put the updates down at the bottom, yeah, that makes sense, it is a story after all, a chronicle, we follow Jackie on a daily basis, and her car, and water heater, and Colleen and Edward's car, whoops ! 

Month 2 - Day 5, September 18, 2015

Terry checks in with us frequently to see how Jackie is doing, and we get to find out how he is. Terry feels great and he's back to work, and he understands all the microbiology, so I have to give him the details and hope I got it right.  We're learning the periodic table of the elements with all the adjustments to Jackie's diet and medication to balance her blood chemistry.  

Magnesium is still the mineral of the week (I'm writing this late) all the medicine to help the kidney and the body to retain the kidney can use up magnesium, and even though you can get magnesium many foods, if the diet is limited then you need a supplement for muscle tissue health, the heart is a muscle, and so you don't get cramps. When people ask if Jackie's getting better the technical and true answer is yes but sometimes she doesn't feel better. Changing medicines, dosages and schedules might require mealtime adjustments, every change causes intended and unintended results, and can influence anxiety and digestion, really complicated.  But now in this second month, she has only one blood draw and appointment a week. 

Month 2 - Day 8, Monday, Sep. 21 2015 

UCSF foto

Monday morning we went over to UCSF for another blood draw and lab analysis.  Man, don't go to UCSF for any routine stuff on a Monday morning, it looked like a mass disaster, every kind of emergency vehicle, fire trucks, police cars, all the ambulance companies, limousines, taxis, private cars, and all the trucks delivering stuff, even still, I found a parking place while Jackie had her appointment.  Maybe they were all doing equipment checks or something, hard to imagine that they were all transporting medical or trauma patients. 

Drove out to Lands end and walked the trail, lots of people dogs, bikes, not the place for a peaceful walk, but the Golden Gate view is the full ticket, people all over the world pay big bucks to see that Bridge, and to me it seemed all the French speakers felt their ticket allowed them to walk five abreast forcing oncoming walkers to the brink of the bluff, I don't move out of people's way, and I didn't understand what they said when they looked back at me and tossed their idioms over their shoulder in my direction, hah !  

There was a low and slow flyover of aircraft with Breitling lettered on the underside. They made four passes I think, soaring along The Headlands and Lands End leaving some vapor trails, turning at The Bridge and finally flying North out The Gate and I can't find a single news item about it. 

We walked back to the Lands End Visitor Center and drove down to Safeway @ The Beach for some picnic food to take to Queen Wilhelmina's Tulip Garden, where there are no tulips (right now), still a very pretty pretty place to eat a sandwich, or have a wedding.  All this 'Dear Diary' stuff is only to show that Jackie is progressing through this recovery and approaching a normal life, isn't that the goal ? She doesn't have a jacket, belong to a support group, wear a ribbon or a hat or have any visible identifying marks that shout that she is alive because of Terry's kidney, only you know what her situation is five weeks after the transplant surgery, as well as I can reveal it.  Thanks for taking a look today.

Month 2 - Day 9, Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2015  

So after the lab analysis yesterday Elizabeth, Jackie's NP, sent us to the pharmacy again, got there just before closing time, it seems after a month just as a precaution, the Kidney Team prescribes another antibiotic, Jackie already takes antiviral medicine, but as I mentioned above, Elizabeth already took her off a steroid, another preventive prescription, she hasn't needed pain medication amost since she was released, no more insulin either, or high blood pressure medicine, so this repetitive re-balancing is trending positive.  I wish the regular rebalancing of my financial portfolio would go in a positive direction.  I've never seen a bigger wheelchair, Jackie looks like a Lilliputian in that thing.

Month 2- Day 10, Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2015

Had a little business in Brisbane so we drove down there at noontime on Wednesday, very nice little town.  I had a couple friends living there back in the 80s and 90s, then just lost track. Before then I worked for Sony Corporation in the 70s, the factory authorized service center was in the Brisbane Industrial Park all the way up at the end of Valley Drive. Sony was a great company to work for then, bonuses, Christmas parties and gifts, huge discounts on electronics, the technology got away from me though.  We used to go to De Marco's Club 23 for lunch, don't think I've ever had a better Reuben.  They used to have a Western Days Rodeo there and roast whole bulls on a gigantic spit, and hundreds of chickens, they had the Guinness World Record for their barbecue.

De Marco's is closed now, so I got a cup of coffee at some little deli, the Lady asked me if I wanted a sandwich, and I replied: "No Ma'am, I just want to drink my coffee."  I felt like looking around and squinting into the sun before I whipped my serape over my shoulder to reveal a Navy Colt to any desperados and bandidos that might be waitin for me to turn my back.  

Lucky Chances

Moving on, we headed back toward the City along Hillside and before long we were in Colma, San Francisco's Cemetery City and up ahead was a red light.  Go straight and maybe buy some time, turn right into Cypress Lawns Hillside Gardens and buy the farm, turn left on Serramonte Boulevard Auto Row and buy a car, or make a quick left into Lucky Chances Casino and buy some lunch.  

The Missus and me in front of the Ming 'vah-zez'.

Lucky Chances ranks right up there, or down there with River Rock, the two bit casino in a tent with the billion dollar Alexander Valley View, without the view. But at least most of the patrons were not in wheel chairs, or eating plastic wrapped boiled sweet potatoes brought from home on the free bus, like they were at River Rock.  At Lucky Chances you can get pancit palabok and beef mechado.  The waitress explained everything then took our order and I had the vague feeling I had just bought a time share condo on an alligator infested swamp in Bubba County, Florida.  I kept thinking, "You've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"  We exited and kept driving through the graveyards to home, thinking all the time: "It's great to be alive in Colma."  

Month 2 - Day 11, Thursday, Sep. 24, 2015

A warm sunny and leisurely morning, Jackie took her time with a light breakfast then got all dressed up ... to go to a funeral. Family and Friends of Daisy M. (Stone) Turner, from Jackie's school, celebrated her life today and remembered her 'Sunset' at the New Providence Baptist Church on Granada Avenue in the Ingleside District, just off Ocean.  

Her family produced a beautiful brochure with stories and pictures of her life, I've never seen anything like this at a private funeral, it described Daisy as living a long and full life for God, her family and community.  I dropped Jackie off outside the Church around 10:45 am, and picked her up about 2:45 pm, wow, long service.  Jackie spent a lot of time seeing her school friends and some of the Bayview Community that had gathered for Daisy.  

I brought some water because I thought Jackie would be exhausted from the long service and the heat but she seemed buoyed by the people that were glad to see her, a pretty good indicator of how far she has recovered from the surgery six weeks ago. Jackie's been a part of the Drew community for over 20 years and can't wait to get back to teaching as soon as she finishes this recuperation from the transplant surgery. There's nothing like having a career you love and a community that loves you back. Go Miss Jackie! 

TripAdvisor foto

After resting up a bit, Jackie walked down to Mission St. and Persia and got some pupusas and tamales para llevar, from the little restaurant, the highly rated Los Planes de Renderos,   People say they are the best, you would never guess it to see the place from the street, but they are, you can watch your pupusas being made and their Salvadorean tamales have no equal.  The 29 stops right there, just around the corner from Yick's Liquors so Jackie took the bus back up so the food would stay hot, really good, I haven't had a pupusa in a long while.

Month 2 - Day 12, Friday, September 25, 2013 

Internet foto

Got out of the house early and took the car down to Santa Cruz, the beach was almost empty, real clean, no kelp, clear, bright, sunny, warm, I loved it.  Not much was open on the Boardwalk, we had a cooler, water, juice, soda, beer, sandwiches, sushi and a huge apple fritter, so who cares ?  For some reason all the medicine Jackie takes makes her more sensitive to the damaging rays of the sun, so she had a big hat, sunblock, and I put up the beach umbrella and the folding chair so she didn't have to get up and down off the blanket, a little bit easier on her cuts.  

Jackie worked on some crochet and walked the quiet boardwalk and I jumped in the water a couple times, real gentle baby safe surf, but it feels good to plunge under a swell. Somebody told me cold water helps people that have impairments along the autism spectrum to feel better and more well defined, well, it really helps me, and it feels good to fall asleep in the sun too.  

We stayed all day and rode home under the bright moon, real clear, no fog or wind, been a lot of resurfacing on the Coast highway so it's a pretty smooth ride.

Month 2 - Day 13, Saturday, Sep. 26, 2015

24 Hour Fitness, Sacramento & Davis

First time back to the gym, a little aerobics like the treadmill, elliptical, recumbent bike, a couple machines, nothing to strain those abdominal muscles. Jackie's NP cleared her for and recommended a few exercises, I'm not a physical trainer.  The gym is just one more step toward a normal life, normal activities, a healthy lifestyle, nothing new, we were doing a lot of this before the surgery.  I guess I am becoming something like a life coach, thinking ahead to when Jackie resumes teaching and can be doing what she wants, with her kids and friends every day, going places by herself, doing everything on her own, I'm just following her NP's suggestions, trying to give her all the help she needs to be be able to do everything she wants, that's my job, yep.  

Month 2 - Day 14, Sunday, Sep. 27, 2015

Internet foto

Replay of Friday, drove back down the coast to see what the off summer weekend is like. Lots of folks at Waddell Creek, the windsurfing beach, and there was some kind of camping gathering a little South, below the bluff, lots of tents and cars parked along that uphill stretch of the road. There was a Triathlon in Santa Cruz, Cliff Drive was closed, but we knew how to get around it. 

Main beach was full of families, not really crowded like summer, got cool in the PM. Starting to like Staff Of Life on Soquel for food stuffs, haven't been to Shopper's Corner. Coming back up the coast hiway thru Pacifica there was the hint of fog, but at the top of 280 where it meets Skyline, in the dark there was the usual zero visibility, it's bad enough in a car, I hate that part on my motorcycle, you can not see a thing, well, I guess you could if there were taillights in front of you.  

Month 2 - Day 15, Monday, Sep. 28, 2015

Big News, the representative from Fresenius arrived and removed Jackie's peritoneal dialysis cycler machine and all the unopened boxes of fluids, tubes and associated equipment. "Fresenius is a global health care group with products and services for dialysis, the hospital and the medical care of patients at home." from their website. You may remember a brief discussion of this from the first entry of this blog.  This is really a fundamental parting of the ways regarding her medical treatment and future life.  I mentioned way back there in comments about the surgery that she was at a fail safe point because the Doctor was removing the plastic tubes (catheter) that were surgically inserted into her abdomen for the peritoneal dialysis Jackie did every night for eight months.  Some people do this for years, she was blessed that Terry was qualified and selected and agreed to donate his kidney, it was just a little over a year since her Doctor told her she couldn't wait years for a kidney from the donor registry, she would die before then, so here we are now.  

A bonus is that room is almost empty right now, it was the kids' room for a few years when we first moved in, then eventually it became Colleen's room and Conner had his own 'suite', so now we have a little extra space, not really because we moved everything out of there last year so we have a bit of stuff piled up cluttering other spaces that needs a permanent disposition. A basket of laundry, clean towels, got shoved in the corner and the cat promptly took up residence in that basket.  I really need to make a fort for him, there's been heavy equipment digging up the street outside for blocks, City sewer project, the noise starts at 7 am and continues all day and it's a little bothersome, but he really doesn't like it. Anyway maybe we can finally get to modifying the living space in this old house, who knows ?    

Month 2 - Day 16, Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2015

Tuesday is lab and appointment day at UCSF with Elizabeth, Jackie's Nurse Practitioner.  I don't know how many times she used 'fantastic' in describing the blood test lab results and Jackie's progress and overall condition.  Elizabeth is concerned about anemia in Jackie, the lack of oxygen carrying hemoglobin rich red blood cells.  To combat this Jackie increased the iron in her diet since iron is a major component of hemoglobin.  Jackie's new (Terry's) kidney is secreting a hormone called Erythropoietin that stimulates the bone marrow to produce red blood cells and she takes Procrit, a protein that acts on the bone marrow in the same way.  All of this good stuff is increasing Jackie's hemoglobin, fantastico!       

Jackie also takes Prograf, an immunosuppression drug that limits the bone marrow's creation of white blood cells, lowering the immune response to a foreign body, Terry's kidney, but it also lowers the production of those oxygen carrying red blood cells and can raise blood pressure, sugar and potassium levels and lower magnesium.  The latest blood test reveals that the concentration of Prograf in the blood has increased, this is good, not exactly sure why, maybe it's not being all used up, maybe it could mean that the dosage could be lowered.

Less immunosuppression drug means better blood, better health, more resistance to disease and infection and more oxygen rich red blood cells, these are good things. I know I talked about this before before but the rejection/infection balance and everything that affects it is the ongoing critical process, the NP thinks it is going well, in the right direction.  

We walked around for a while and had some lunch, then we went to the Millbrae Blood Center to donate platelets, I went to Millbrae because they had a Tuesday appointment open. Jackie waited for me, she can sit by herself for hours, never saying a word, doing needlework.  I watched 'The Interview' with Seth Rogan and James Franco and Randall Park was hilarious as Kim Jong-un, the movie was juvenile and gross, but I laffed all the way through it and learned a lot of new words.  

Two bags o' platelets, to go please

Platelets, pictured here, enable the blood to clot, lots of people need this.  They take blood out, spin it around so the components separate by specific gravity, then pull off the platelets and red blood cells separately and return the rest to your vein.  The problem is the sodium citrate anti coagulant that they return to your blood system reduces blood calcium and makes you risky for tingling, numbness, cramps, muscle spasms, seizures and even convulsions, it's like a 220 volt buzz from head to toe and a sick hangover like feeling, forgot all about that, or I was used to it. They took two units of platelets and a unit of red cells, I got plenty, and my BP was 98 over 60, which is kinda low.     

Month 2 - Day ? Thursday, Oct. 14, 2015

Been a few weeks since I made an update, I guess we've been kind of busy, that's a good thing, not that we've been ignoring you, just had some stuff to do.  Two months have passed since Terry and Jackie's surgery, that's about two billion years in Internet time, a long time to hang in there for you faithful.  Jackie is healing, no incision pictures, sorry surgery nerds, her blood draws / lab tests are only once a week now, medical discussions with her Nurse Practitioner are every two weeks, but the next appointment will make it a month since Jackie saw her.

I don't know how many times Elizabeth used 'fantastic' in describing the blood test lab results and her progress and overall condition, just so you know.  Elizabeth was waiting for one other result that takes a long time to analyze, but the thing she was really concerned about was the Hemoglobin,and that's why the iron rich diet, but it went up on its own.  The kidney creates a hormone that is a bone marrow trigger to create red blood cells. 

Hostess Sno Ball White Blood Cells

One immunosuppression drug limits the bone marrow's creation of white blood cells, and another drug disables the white blood cells from killing off the alien blood invaders, so they lower the body's immune response to a foreign body, a kidney, and it also lowers the production of the red blood cells, so Jackie takes another bunch of medicines for all that, but going up is good.  I did make a mistake in that last entry though, it's CellCept that limits white cell production, Prograf has a component that disables the white blood cell's ability to neutralize a blood invader.

Jackie's been taking a magnesium supplement to help with the electrolyte balance and muscle health, and blood pressure.  It's all on the microbiological level but the signs are good and she has a lot more energy, strength, stamina and general sense of well being these days.  Jackie is going to the gym, taking challenging walks and doing all the things that people do, so relax, take a breath.  

Russian Hacker Group Energetic Bear

Google Blogger provides statistics for this story like number of page views, the audience stats include page views by browser, OS, country, and traffic sources, that's like referrals, how a viewer got there, from where.  Don't worry, there's nothing about you, however I noticed that some page views were coming from Russia, I don't know anybody in Russia but I blather all this stuff all over the internets, and that's everywhere. Then the paranoia kicked in, if the Reds were watching me, then who else, probably the ChiComs.  

But life goes on, we dine on the finest food in the most elegant restaurants, visit the most exclusive resorts, mingle with the most powerful people and attend their most private top tier soirees.  Last week was Jackie's birthday and I grilled some boneless short ribs, they looked like Kobe beef steaks, the fat marbling was so fine with a little teriyaki sauce.  Conner showed me the wiggle technique to see how done they were.  We put some asparagus on the grill, and I don't know what else, and we had a CostCo pumpkin birthday pie too, try and beat that. 

Colleen came over the Sunday before Jackie's birthday with a whole buffet of Hawai'an food, lau lau, chopped cabbage salad, macaroni and pineapple coconut bread pudding, wow, really authentic home made aloha and mahalo goodness. 

I put some old used and abused bikes out and some homeless guy took a look at 'em, no doubt remembering that Christmas when Santa brought a shiny new Shelby Flyer and that summer when he rode it all day every day.   

Just the other day I bought two chickens at Food Source in Sacramento and marinated them all night and grilled them for a couple hours over mesquite, turning them frequently resulting in huli huli chicken as good as it gets.  We visited and feasted with Conner and Janna, Mom Jessie, Tim, Julie and April.  

Neptune, Lord Of The Deep

After Jackie's blood draw we just drove to Santa Cruz without planning, Jackie had no sandals or shorts, so we bought some on the wharf, she looked really cute in her micro mini red Santa Cruz Lifeguard (printed on the butt) shorts and purple "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me" tank top.  Luckily my gym bag was in the car so I had some swim shorts. Jackie roamed the mostly shut down Boardwalk and came back with a bamboo beach mat, she laid down on it and fell asleep and I did too, both of us totally oblivious to the world, asleep on the beach while Neptune, Lord Of The Deep watched over us.  

I don't have a whole lot more folks, my short term memory is dissolving away, I'll give it to ya when I get it.  

Month 3, Day ?, October 23, 2015

And now the news, Jackie's hemoglobin is 'at goal', normal, where it should be. Yay !  Still some diet requirements, restrictions, regulations, that's the hard part, I'd like her to be a little fatter, maybe I gotta go back to being chief cook and bottle washer. Here's a pic for ya, more later.  The cat is nudging my mouse hand, ha ha, get it, 'mouse' hand ?  He just left Jackie and wants some attention, I think he's telling me it's time to go to sleep, lights out. Here's a pic of him, he established a listening post out front and was on duty doing a day watch for any intruders.  
    

Month 5 - Day ??, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016 

Back in November we rolled up to Jackie's school and as she got out of the car a bunch of kids ran up to the playground fence to see her and I heard a kid say: "MizzMacDonal, you still work here ?"  "I hope so." Jackie answered.  And indeed she did and started getting her science room ready for the kids. That marked the third month since her transplant and she was ready to resume her normal life.  The Monday after Thanksgiving the classroom teachers were asking when they could schedule a lesson, hard to say who wanted to get all up in some science more, the kids or the teachers or Jackie.  And Jackie's brother and donor Terry is back to work, resuming his fitness routine and all his family, church and community activities (he's a busy guy) that make this season worth it all.  

Since that last post Jackie's been keeping up on her own exercise routine, she walks a lot and we made lots of trips to the gym, since her half time schedule allows for a bit more recreational time.  We were all prepared for trick or treaters, but I guess the early dusk and the drizzle kept a lot of kids away, it couldn't have been any scary people hanging around our doorway. 

We visited Jackie's Mom around Veteran's Day and spent some time with some relatives that were visiting.  I cooked some clams and garlic one night, pretty good, but I made shrimp and grits the next night, used chicken stock and half and half for the grits, I thought that was way better.

When Jackie asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, I said go swimming in the ocean so we took another trip down the coast and we were the only people on the beach and I was the only fool in the ocean.  When I got out of the water my hands and feet ached and were just about numb, and this time the beach was clean so I didn't make myself a kelp crown.  

All the cooking shows were talking about preparing the turkey with Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, the powder, so we did, and grilled it outside using the indirect method with mesquite charcoal, really good and easy preparation.  Put a pan underneath the turkey with some water in it and catch all that juice and fat.  I put another envelope of that dressing mix in it and Jackie made the best gravy out of it that I ever tasted. Most of the holiday food we like is okay for Jackie's diet, but NO pumpkin pie or mashed potatoes.  

I don't know why, but I can hardly watch a movie all the way through, I get totally involved, I lose my objectivity, so we see about one movie a year, this year it was Spectre, I've been 
following James Bond since I was a teenaged kid, through all his incarnations, and I like 
Daniel Craig.  I can't remember all the details from the books, and I don't know if it was ever 
revealed how he grew up, but I laughed when I thought about James Bond, Austin Powers, 
Dr. Evil and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and Michael Caine too.       

Jackie's diet is not real complicated but has a few strict guidelines because of the medication, but as long as she sticks to her exercise routine and medication she can do most everything.  Her lab tests become less frequent as time goes on and her medical team is really happy with the results of the analysis, and her medical team cleared her for long distance travel, but international is still out.  

We were with Conner and Janna for Christmas, Colleen joined us, it was a turn around and a lot of fun. They had a beautiful tree and what a present to have some great food that I didn't have to cook ! 

The cold has been killing me and Jackie looked like she could do with a warm up so I started looking for someplace to go so we took a hop to Palm Springs. We've never been there, drove through a little while back on the interstate on the way to Borrego Springs and the state park there, but I've always been intrigued by the place, especially the street names, Gene Autry, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Gerald Ford, even Fred Waring.  

I don't know what to think about Virgin America, their cartoon like web site, the Valentine Card looking boarding pass, the ultra hip communications or the hip hop safety video, but they were friendly, on time, roomier than some planes I've been on, comfortable and easy to get along with, I guess I liked it.  

We stayed in a really swank joint on Dinah Shore Drive in Rancho Mirage, lots of those classy looking older people in this place with that really fit, tanned, silver blonde look and quiet but serious bling. The staff welcomed us and and treated us like millionaires.  It warmed up enough to lay out there in the sun like lizards, get a little color, swim in their heated outdoor pool, and use the really hot spa, even in the cold night with a million stars above. 

Spent one day in Joshua Tree NP, bright sunny and cold, but it's a dry cold.  We camped out there decades ago and drove over to the campground and were surprised that it was full even in the cold.  All the popular spots were crowded with visitors and parking was scarce.  Up at the mile high Keys view where the Mojave drops off the scarp down to the San Andreas fault, the Colorado Desert and the Coachella Valley, it was frozen and windy.  

It was great to get back to the resort and the hot water spa for NYE.  There was a big party but we didn't bring any dress clothes and didn't want to send out the Concierge to shop for us.  Instead of 'watching the ball drop', Palm Springs had an artist design this gigantic aluminum all lit up palm tree where the ball went up ! so we watched that.  

So we left there with that rested hi pro glo, ready for whatever 2016 brings.