This has been a very busy and crazy month! I thought I was walking (almost prancing) down this beautiful, bright path to my new kidney when I ended up tripping over this huge heart-shaped stone that jumped right in front of me! This is starting to feel like a “thing”. It happened way too many times during my last transplant work-up 12 years ago, and it’s been pretty consistent this time around too.

A few weeks ago, I went in for a heart cath to make sure all was well with my heart as a part of the workup for the transplant (which is pretty normal for someone with my heart condition), and I was totally prepared to hear them tell me that all looked good. Instead, they told me that the damage has progressed so much, they found three more blockages and they were too big to fix with stents, so I’m going to have to have bypass surgery!

The docs have mentioned this before, but luckily, we were able to avoid it. Now, it’s a sure-thing. It was shocking, and of course, I was not ready/wanting to hear that, but I’ll do what I have to do. We are now in the process of prepping for THAT surgery. I’ll have to get an MRI with dye in it to evaluate the anatomy, and it wasn’t until my Nephrologist told me that the MRI will decide if I can even have a bypass that the depression hit me. I had never even considered the fact that I might not be able to HAVE a bypass! I just blindly assumed that anyone could get one and all would be good! Now, I was drowning in thoughts of what would happen if I couldn’t get this bypass…are there other ways of fixing my heart? Would I be stuck on dialysis forever? Would I have to get a HEART transplant now? The dialysis part was the one that scared me the most b/c I’ve read that the life expectancy of someone on dialysis is not long – about 5-7 years! Of course there are people who have survived much longer, but with my health-luck, I fear that I would not be one of them. I ended up going down a dark hole for a bit thinking of how short and miserable my life would be if that ended up being my new path in life. After meeting with my doctor, though, I felt much much better! She answered about 100 of my questions and was very optimistic about my chances of getting past this obstacle. Her confidence, knowledge, and empathy solidified my feeling that I’m with the exact team I need to get through this.

The timeline now has been extended about 6 months. She feels that that is the ideal amount of time for me to finalize the testing for my heart, have the bypass, and properly heal before they can attempt the kidney transplant. Not thrilled about having to spend another 6 months on dialysis, but if this ends up “fixing” me, I’ll take it!

Ironically, I haven’t heard a WORD from Medical City, so I’m thinking that Baylor Dallas is going to be my next home. I have to say, they have really been on top of things and very quick to act, so I feel VERY good about this. Wish me luck that all goes well!

Links to donate:

Baylor Dallas – https://www.livingdonordallas.org/

Medical City Dallas – https://www.onemedicalpassport.com/?fid=978

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Things I’m thankful for today:

1. I’m extremely thankful that I’m working with a very competent and experienced team at Baylor! The planner in me is also excited to finally have a plan in place. No more guessing games, or up-in-the-air suggestions. We’re finally on track.

2. While I’ve been saving some of my birthday gift cards to go shopping when I go back to work, I did go ahead and splurge on my favorite shampoo which can be a bit pricey. It smells sooooo good and takes me back to one of my fave vacations in California! It IS the small things in life…

3. I’m reading more and more about successful stem-cell surgeries where they have created kidneys (and even a heart!) for patients that have been able to live without all the immunosuppressant drugs! I even read a few where they have been able to reverse Type 1 diabetes! PLEASE keep these studies going! I would love to see this type of cure within my lifetime!

4. Two new foods I’ve fallen in love with: Garlic cheese curds and Twister Grape Punch. It might leave me with horrible breath and I can only drink the punch in 2-4 oz increments (to keep my sugars from soaring), but mmmmmm… might become staples in my fridge!