Tuesday, June 02, 2020

Kidney Saga part 107

Tomorrow is infusion day. Hopefully the last one.

Yesterday I had a blood draw. There was something happening in the Emergency Room at the Prosser Hospital when I got there that was occupying pretty much all the attention of the lab. One of the folks who knows me as a regular quickly walked by on her way to the ER and said, "We may be awhile, sorry." I got out my phone and started reading a magazine while I waited.

Eventually the fantastic nurse - who can draw blood without any pain and never leaves a mark - came in, saw me, and said she would take care of me. It only took about five minutes once she was there, so life was great. I love that woman. I wish she was in charge of all my blood draws. She saw the huge purple bruise from my last infusion and just shook her head in dismay. "They shouldn't do that," she said.

I've started my tapering off the Prednisone for the month, and I'm impatient to see if it results in less facial swelling. So far, nothing, but it's been - oh - two days. Yeah. I'm being a bit silly.

Health-wise I seem to be doing as fine as possible. I'm hoping to hear from the nephrologist soon about the latest blood tests, and then I'll know more. I'm also seeing the rheumatologist tomorrow, so we'll get more information then. It'll still be August before I'm off the Prednisone, and I have no idea when I'll be able to drop other drugs, if I am ever able to drop them. Time will tell.

As for my mental health... not so good.

There is a large part of me that wants to be out and in the streets with my fellow citizens, but I can barely stand at the moment. I watch the news, and find myself shaking and crying with anger and frustration. I want to comment, but I find myself mute because so many others are saying what I want to say with more authority and eloquence. Also, the color of my skin means that I will never truly understand the sheer horror that other people with different skin colors are going through and have gone through their entire lives. My viewpoint is not needed at this time, but I wish I could do more to help.

Understand that I am here and I care, but my ability to do anything at all is severely limited thanks to my illness. And that is driving me crazy.

Enough. There are other voices you should go listen to today. Mine is not important. I've updated, I'll probably update again Thursday morning. Let's hope we still have a country by then.

Full Kidney Saga --- Start Here --- Kidney Wish List --- GoFundMe

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