A day at the doctor's

Mom and I went to Dr. Zimrin's office on 5/23/08 for a hematology consult. Dr. Zimrin is mom's regular hematologist. The transplant surgeon wanted her advice about mom's anticoagulation pre-op/post-op. It was a pretty fun day. First we stopped by Hopkins (my work) so I could check on an experiment in lab and get my annual TB test read.

Then we motored over to UMMS. We parked in the Redwood garage, and mom walked all the way to the Weinberg cancer center. Then mom had vital signs and we went to an exam room. Much to my surprise, my friend from medical school, Amy K. was our fellow. I was completely reassured. Amy is a very intelligent, but also very kind woman. Going with the small world theme, she knows Bev, a nurse in the NICU where I work. Pretty funny. We talked with Dr. Z and Amy about our concerns regarding the MRI, and they recommended we talk to the transplant people. I'm working on a letter to email them, because that seems to be the most reliable method of communication. I'm going to finish it by this weekend.


After our appointment, we went to Donna's for lunch. Much to our surprise, mom's friend Amy is now the manager of the UMMS Donna's. They were really happy to see each other. Mom met Amy 5 years ago, when she worked at the Donna's in Columbia. We were glad to hear she delivered a healthy (but ornery :) ) baby boy, who is now 13 months old. Very kindly, she made our lunch complimentary.

Next we dashed back to my house to wait for the stove repairman, who fixed the electrical part of my *new* stove. We got the stove back in October, and about a month ago the electrical element caught fire. I quickly turned of the electricity to the gas stove, worried that the gas line could explode, and the fire went out. Apparently the position of the knobs on our fancy stainless gas stove allows water in, which shorts out the electric. Next time, buy a stove with knobs on the front. Live and learn.

Mom got to spend time with her grand-dogs, and work on her knitting. Then Nathan came home and we had Indian food leftovers for dinner (yum!). All in all, a very nice day.

Sarah

Weekend update

laurapreston2005 said... Today is Saturday, 5/17 and for the first time this week I have the energy to do the exercise video I use as part of my wgt. loss program. I have a list of things to do but am purposefully only going to do the most needed items (like tackling 2 days of dishes). I am trying to learn the "pace myself" mantra so I don't get to the point I was at on Wed. night where I didn't have the energy to even cry (as those of you who know me, I am an easy crier). Any way, Sarah has started the Preston/Skelton countdawn to 7/2-in my case 7/1-it's about 7 wks. away. Today I am in a good place and am looking forward to ditching the exhaustion the seems to be my nemesis.
Laura/Laurie/Lori/Mom

Happy 32nd Birthday to Sarah a day late!!

Posted by Laura on May 16, 2008 11:55 AM




We started celebrating on Mother's Day and wrapped (a movie term from Matt) yesterday. Fun was had by all. Sarah received lots of lovely gifts and Nathan surprised her with a video camera-She wants to film the kidney saga-however I'm undecided about that at the moment.




Laura

PS.. Sarah is modeling a Laura Preston original scarf.

Our Surgery Date

Is July 2, 2008 at 7:15 am.

Still no news

Well, we don't know anything new this morning. Apparently the possible cancellation on Friday is still up in the air. Wish we knew more.

Moving forward with the transplant

Greetings blog readers--

Dr. Phelan consulted with some other specialists, and after reviewing my results, has given the go-ahead for a donor nephrectomy.

Now, Mom and I are waiting for an official OR date. It may be as soon as this Friday, May 9, 2008. We'll know more this week.

Take care,
Sarah

no news is ???? news

Theoretically, the transplant folks met 2 days ago, but we still don't have a decision about whether or not I'm healthy enough to donate my kidney (a problem with my history of kidney stone and my urine calcium level). I'll let you know when we hear...
-sarah