21 April 2011

The last few days have been up and down.

My appetite has improved slightly. While my overall snacking is still very poor, my once a day meal has increased from .75 cups to about 1.75 cups. It ain't a huge increase...but I'll take it!

The edema in my legs has been bad. On Monday I craved water. I drank nearly an entire gallon of water on Monday alone. I openly wondered what would happen as a result. Well, Tuesday morning I began feeling a lot of itching and swelling in my ankles. By the end of the day the edema had doubled the size of my ankles making them unrecognizable. The edema extended up my legs to above both knees. As of this AM, the edema has decreased; but only by about 20%.

Along with that, I have been colder than usual. I am bundled up in a 70 degree house. Not fun.

The pain over my mid-back continues to come and go. I haven't identified any triggers that increase the pain; it just happens.

My headache is constantly severe. Tuesday I felt TMD S/S's on top of it as well, making my headache even worse. However, I used my TMD-relieving occlusive devices on Tuesday night, and when I awoke Wednesday, the TMD symptoms were gone. As of this morning, the TMD S/S's are nowhere to be found leaving only the headache associated with the PCKD.
(*Remember, I dealt with TMD headaches for 15 years before finding relief, so I know quite intimately what they feel and taste like. The normal (and constant) headache associated with the PCKD is totally unlike the TMD headaches, and should not be assumed to be the TMD induced headaches.)

As you might guess based on my recent posts, the constant exhaustion I feel has been unrelieved. The daily naps continue to range from 30 minutes to several hours in total, and I still sleep every night a minimum of six hours. I have yet to find anything that gives me more energy.

Speaking of sleep--my dreams (at least, what I can remember of them) have been a mix of things that clearly illustrate my current physical condition. An inability to control my dreams illustrates the helplessness of my current physical condition. However, I do NOT feel that way in my conscious mind. I remain strong (mentally), positive, and looking towards a healthy, productive post-transplant life. As long as I continue to consciously think this way, I'll leave it to my subconscious to sort the rest out.

The past 5 days or so I have been feeling (in general) really yucky. Besides to obvious lack of energy, I've felt as if I have a constant stomach ache; like having the flu; that I also feel over the rest of my body. I don't know how else to describe this. It's a very subjective thing.

I've got my next nephrology appointment on Monday, 25 April. I'm going to do my labs this afternoon. So, I'll update you with the latest numbers early next week.

My L arm continues to heal up nicely from the AV Fistula surgery. I'm still not using it a lot; just allowing everything to heal properly. With every passing day I do a little more with the arm; but strictly avoid overuse when the arm begins to hurt. I'll start doing exercises tomorrow that will help the fistula to grow and strengthen.

That's all I can think of today.

Good Health to All!

ScottW

**The labs I had drawn today are CBC, Renal Panel and PTH. This is the second month in a row I have not done a urinalysis or liver panel.