Well, we’ve had our week of Texas spring, and boy was it beautiful! I seriously wish that Texas had longer Spring and Fall seasons, but outside of summer, the rest of the seasons fall short (if you’re a Texan, you know what I’m talking about!) It definitely has me itching to work out in the yard again, and I’m planning on a few small projects that will allow me to do so before it gets too hot. Oh yeah, and for those keeping up, my DIY experiment below the kitchen sink? We had some guys working on another project in our house, so I asked them simply to help me get the old board out from under the sink so I could put the new one in… well, they ended up switching out the boards, adding new trim, and then sealing and painting the new board, so there wasn’t anything left for me to do! So much for DIY. LOL! Guess I need to find another project…

In the meantime, I’ve been called in to start my transplant process again! Last week, I had my transplant work-up at Baylor. Since I was not able to progress last year after my work-up (due to my heart), I have to start all over again this year. Which means I had to go in for a full day of evaluation with a class (that I feel I can teach myself now that I’ve taken it about 4 times!), meetings with doctors, the surgeon, a social work/therapist, tons of bloodwork, sonograms, etc. It seems that they were all very positive about my outlook/attitude and our discussions, so now they just need to present all this to the committee who decides if I’m a good candidate for the new kidney. I did see that the lead doctor of this transplant team was the lead doctor of my last transplant team, so hopefully he remembers me and can vouch for the fact that I’m good for this! Please pray that the committee accepts me so I can get my kidney soon!

I learned a few things this time around. One was that most kidney patients have their nights/days turned around and naturally sleep more during the day than at night. I thought all this time that I was so tired because my dialysis appts are all at 5am! He said that after getting a new kidney, most patients go back to sleeping well at night again vs. day, which is good to hear. Another thing, when I was meeting with the social worker, I joked that I couldn’t remember something because of my “old lady brain”, and she stopped everything she was talking about to inform me that my brain fog was NOT due to age, but that it was 100% due to my kidney failure. Huh. Who knew?! So, on top of everything else, I’ll be getting my intelligence back post-transplant! Yay!!! I can’t tell you how relieved I truly was to hear that, though. I hate the idea that I might be seeing the effects of old age creeping up on me so soon.

Speaking of age, a hard reality of it is that not everyone wins their battles. Not to get all “Negative Nellie” on you, but in the past few months, several of my friends have passed due to their individual health issues. One, in particular, died most likely because of his complications with diabetes and lack of an immune system (he was also a fellow kidney transplant recipient). He was a very passionate guy, with lots of love to give, but he had a hard fight, so it’s a tad comforting knowing that he’s no longer in pain. It is really humbling to realize how quickly life can be taken from you, no matter how hard you fight to hold on to it. It’s been a bitter pill to swallow knowing that I’m completely a part of this unfortunate “community” of death (for lack of a MUCH better term) being surrounded by those who’ve been passing at the dialysis clinic and now within my diabetes friends. I hate that I’m getting to that age where this starts becoming a more frequent occasion. I’m not a fan! Can we cut it out? Can we ‘normalize’ long, happy lives? hahaha… Seriously, though. It makes me that much more hopeful that someday soon, there will be a miracle that gives us the cure to cancer or diabetes or whatever medical issues that are killing so many of our friends and family. The best thing we can do, as cliche as it sounds, is to live our best lives and love those around us as much as we can before it’s our time to go. I don’t want anyone to think that I didn’t give it my all, or didn’t live out my dreams as much as I could, or that I didn’t love every single person in my “circle” of friends and family. There’s a quote from the movie “My Best Friend’s Wedding” that if you love someone, you should just say it out loud, otherwise the moment could pass you by. For the most part, I’ve tried to do just that by letting everyone know how much I love or appreciate them any chance I can. If I haven’t said it to you yet, know it now. I love you. Don’t let the moment pass by where you can say the same!

Link to donate:

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

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Things I’m thankful for today:

1. I have nails again!! Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve struggled with biting my nails since I pretty much grew teeth. Once I started getting my nails done professionally, I was able to quit my habit for the first time, and I was very proud of my progress! I had even gotten to the point of getting rid of the fake nails so that I could use my natural nails. Well, once I received the news that I was going to have to have heart surgery last year, I think stress took over and I ended up chewing them all off. UUUUUGGGHHH! Well, I ended up setting up an appointment this week to get that taken care of, and now I’m back to starting at square one with the fakes. Hey, whatever works! If it makes me feel “pretty” again, I’m all for some self-love!

2. Having wavy/curly hair. Since my doctor started me on Mounjaro (a tirzepatide), I’ve lost about half of my hair. I feel as if I literally have three strands of hair on my head. I’ve talked to my doctor about it, and he has solutions, but doesn’t want me to start them until I’m off of dialysis (because the dialysis would just wash away any meds he’d put me on). What’s helping, though, is that when my hair is done all curly/wavy, you can’t tell! So, I’m lucky no one can see my half-balding head!

3. Midi-length dresses. (ok, so this has turned into the Girly-vanity-thankful list this time! LOL!) Since I’m on blood thinners, I bruise. Since I’m very pale, you can see every bruise. Since midi-length dresses fall below the knees, the bruises are mostly hidden! Yay midi-length dresses!