Earlier this week I went to my center's nephrology follow-up clinic, on my 6-week anniversary, for a check up (I also had gone back to the transplant center 9 days after surgery, so they could remove my staples and take a quick look at the scar).
In preparation, I had a set of blood and urine tests performed, at the 4-week mark, along with a 24-hour Holter blood pressure test. Note: I was careful to leave enough time to schedule these tests--the first since I was discharged-- and get the results back in time for this appointment. My transplant center and I are affiliated with different health plans (systems), so the administrative side is pretty cumbersome. In fact, I showed up without the necessary authorization from my health plan that they'd pay the hospital for this visit. That could have been a real pain, but fortunately I'd arrived at the hospital several hours early, and a few phone calls and faxes, orchestrated by the clinic's helpful secretary, cleared the log jam. It's also good I came so early because, despite having been to the transplant center many, many times, it took me
an hour to find the nephrology clinic, in a different building. Part of the problem was that the same rich family donated a few different buildings in their name, which caused some confusion.
In any case, my key numbers, from the 4-week point, are as follows:
creatinine (serum?): 1.1 mg/dl (normal: 0.67-1.17)
eGFR: >60 (>60 is normal)
creatinine (24-hr urine): 1.4 g/24 hr (normal: 1-2)
Interestingly, in the hospital four weeks before these most recent labs, my (serum?) creatinine was 0.67 just before the surgery, and 1.04 afterwards (i.e., according to my newest, 4-week post-surgery labs, my creatinine seems to have risen slightly beyond what it was the morning
after the surgery). I assume that my creatinine did not really "deteriorate" up to 1.1 after my discharge, but that there may be some experimental error due to two different labs doing the testing, or something. I hope that's correct. Either way, though, even my current 1.1 is in the normal range. I don't know if that's normal for everybody, or whether it's adjusted for one-kidneyed folks.
Regarding the 24-hour urine, I just noticed that my three previous values from the same health system lab, from August and September, were actually higher, 1.5 or 1.6, than my most recent, post-surgery values.
I had been a bit worried about my newest 24-hour BP test, since the nurse made a clucking noise or two when she handed me the report to bring to the check-up. However, the follow-up clinic nephrologist called the test normal, and said--based on a very quick scan of my new labs--that I looked fine. He didn't examine me, or even look at my scar. All he did was tell me to lose weight, suggesting I get back down to what I weighed at my wedding, over 25 years ago. He didn't seem impressed that, at my current BMI, I am actually a few grams below "obese" for the first time in decades. I'm well aware that it's important to keep one's weight down, but he
could have been more impressed with what I've done till now!
(I'm about 21 kilos lighter than I was five years ago).
In response to my question, he also said that it could easily take a few more months until I stop feeling painful twinges whenever I lift anything that's not pretty light.
As for my personal experience, I'm fortunate to be in my fourth week back at work, and doing fine. Apart from the above-mentioned lifting issue, I'm hesitant about taking local buses--I don't want to get slammed around when going around corners, and the bumps cause pain not only on the bus, but my back and side ache for hours afterward. So, locally I try to take cabs or walk, but I have no trouble sitting on the bus for the longer, inter-city trips.
Overall, I've been blessed to have a relaxed, smooth recovery. To those still in the process, I hope your experiences turn out to be at least as smooth!
Finally, thanks yet again to all those who have answered my numerous questions, sent encouragement, and have become my friends during this process.
Be well, Snoopy
Topic: 4 week labs/6 week checkup (Read 6586 times)