Tag: New Year

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Kidney Transplant Donor Testing



Yesterday was a long and tiring day at the Foothills hospital in Calgary for me as I started the Kidney transplant donor testing in earnest

The journey for Michelle and I to become transplant donors started a few months back as we know that our daughter will need a new kidney sometime in the new year. A few weeks ago the kidney transplant staff here in Calgary sent us each a health questionnaire and had us take a blood test. The questionnaire was just about 15 minutes to fill out and the blood test was just testing our blood type to see if it was a match for Taylor’s blood type.

After checking through everything the transplant crew decided that they would start with me as the donor and if I fail at any point then my wife would do the same testing.

Once the decision was made I met with our transplant doctor (actually one of three for kidney transplants) and he asked me a couple of questions about my health and was available to answer some questions for me. The only real questions that I had were wondering what the chance of being selected were (good but based on health and tissue typing), and what the recovery will be like for me (fast if laproscopic and longer if open surgery is needed). And after meeting with the doctor the adult transplant department got me a date for testing

Health Testing for Kidney Donor

Yesterday was a long day getting lots of tests. At this point we know that I am a blood type match and that I am willing to donate a kidney to my daughter but yesterday they started assessing my health and the viability of both of my kidneys so that I could have a strong kidney and also be able to give a strong kidney to my daughter.

I started by having eight vials of blood taken so that I could be tested for many diseases, if I was a carrier for any diseases this would make it difficult for my daughter to fight anything since she will be on antirejection drugs after transplant.

Next I had an ECG. An electrocardiogram takes just a minute to do but is critical. It shows the medical staff how good my circulation is as well as testing heart function.

After this quick test I had a diagnostic imaging test. This was actually the longest test that I had and involved a dye being injected into me and at the same time there were pictures taken of it running through my kidneys. This test took about 30 minutes and after that I had to come after two, three, and four hours to have blood taken to see how quickly the dye was being pushed out through my kidneys. This will help the doctors find out the clearing rate of my kidneys.

Finally after this was all done I had a CT scan to see the blood vessels and tissues of my kidneys to see how tough it would be to extract and how healthy they are as well. And quickly after that I had a couple chest X-Rays and I was let go to come home.

Long day to say the least but the staff at Foothills hospital were all fantastic, helpful, and really confident in what they were doing shuttling me through the different parts of the hospital and making sure that I knew what each test was for and what to expect.

Last night I have to admit I was feeling a little beat up. Mostly I think that all of the poking and prodding was bothering me but mostly all the chemicals that were put into me were just working their way through my system. Feeling great today though.

What’s Next for Kidney Transplant Testing?

So now that I had this massive day of testing I am not done yet. I still have to get a Tuberculosis test. I need to do a 24 hour urine collection to see how well my kidneys are clearing over a whole day. I also need to get another blood test done 2 hours after eating breakfast one day as well.

After this is all done, maybe before though Taylor and I will need to do a tissue typing test. This seemed complicated to me but in fact it is pretty easy. I give some blood and Taylor gives some blood and then they mix it all together and see if there are any antibodies from either of us fighting the others blood. I was explained that this mainly happens in people that have had a transplant or blood transfusion before but it is of course important to do anyway.

This whole process for us seems to be long and drawn out but it is important. The last thing we would want to do is a transplant that is not going to have the best chance of success. Actually we should have the results for all tests down withing the next 4 to 6 weeks so not to much longer to wait to find out what our next step will be.

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Kidney Transplant Donor Testing, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

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General Weight Loss Tips

Brain Over Binge: Part 1

I never thought, in a million years, that words from any book would ever help me to stop overeating or binge eating for good.  I wanted to believe they would and it never stopped me from buying them. I read many thousands of words telling me that I was an emotional eater, a stress eater, an addict, disordered and diseased. I read many more thousands of words telling me that I had deep seated issues and until I resolved them I would never stop eating too much. And I read even more thousands of words telling me to cut out flour, sugar, salt, potatoes, honey, red meat, beans, to count calories, to cut carbs, to calculate points, or to cut the fat. I was told moderation and lifestyle change more times than I care to say. Two words that I never truly got.

And then Beth came along and left this comment:

Hello! First time commenter!

I’m not sure if anyone has suggested this book, or if you have read it. Brain over Binge by Kathryn Hansen.

I’ve been a binge eater most of my adult life, and after reading this book, I stopped. I’m not sure how or why, but I did. Dieting and restricting causes bingeing, that I know.

Take care good luck to you in the new year!

I was intrigued and went over to Amazon to read the reviews. Within five minutes I was already into the first chapter on my Kindle. I couldn’t wait to buy the book, the reviews peeked my interest and I was ready to dive in. The words used to describe the book mention bulimia, which I do not relate to in any sort of way. So I want to say first, that if you have struggled with any form of eating to the excess, please consider reading this book. Whatever you call it, overeating, binge eating, bulimia, etc., if you suffer for the urge to eat beyond being full, if you’ve had moments of autopilot eating, if yeou’ve eaten on numerous occasions to the point of being uncomfortably or painfully full, if you have moments of being able to consume large amounts of food- this book is for you.

Every journey is personal and individual, binge eating is not black and white. As I read Kathryn’s words, a women who has never been obese or even overweight I can honestly say I’ve never eaten to the excess that she describes in Brain Over Binge. I’ve also never exercised for hours on end to burn the calories I’ve consumed. This is her form of purging and why she calls herself bulimic.

But I am obese, and it’s not because of moderate or “normal” eating. It never has been. I’ve been thinking about my weight since I was eight years old and dieting for so long  that I’ve never really known what normal eating looks or feels like. I’ve never known what it wa

I’ve had glimmers of hope, mainly with intuitive eating, but my urges to eat more always took over. I’ve been saying tomorrow I’ll be better for so long, it’s become my default response when things became too much.

Since reading Brain Over Binge, I’ve debated how I’d approach presenting this information on my blog. And after much debate I decided that I could only best explain how I’ve changed as a result. The book is too in depth and I fear I would do Kathryn and her research much disservice to explain it in any other way. You can read more about her and purchase the book on her website here: Brain Over Binge.

I would love to discuss this book more in depth with those that have read the book or plan to read the book and would like to open my comments up for that.

I was in no way compensated for my opinion. I’ve linked directly to Kathryn’s site, not Amazon, for those interested in purchasing it. 

Thursday morning after reading the first few pages of Brain Over Binge I decided that I wanted to eat a biscuit while reading the book. I rarely eat fast food biscuits, but this morning all I wanted to do was eat while reading a book about eating. I can’t make this stuff up.

Normally, a day that starts with a 900 calories biscuit meal doesn’t end well. Because I wasn’t “perfect” at breakfast I would normally use that as an excuse to eat what I wanted for the rest of the day and start over tomorrow.

But something changed in those next three hours. I learned that I am not all of the horrible things I always believed I was because of my binge eating. I learned that I am not an emotional eater or addicted to sugar like I always thought. I learned that when I changed my career, hair, or bought something new, I was trying to change my life. I was trying to fulfill and fill ever corner of my life with events and stuff in a desperate attempt to recover.

I believed that somehow, changing any part of my life would make me complete so that I could stop overeating once and for all. I’ve searched in vain for over ten years for ways to make me whole. To fix me. To dull the desire to keep eating. I believed that I just hadn’t found the right program to tell me how to be better. The right experience, job, relationship, or outfit. I believed that I had to turn my life upside down to make real changes. That I’d have to give up ever food that I ever binged to be better, to stop slowly killing myself and to gain control once and for all. On some level, I already knew all of this, I just couldn’t believe it was that easy.

After those three hours of reading I said to Josh “I finally get it”. And then I started to sob, mostly because I felt like three thousand pounds had been lifted from my shoulders. All I could say was “There’s nothing wrong with me! Why didn’t anyone ever tell me?! I’m not crazy, lazy, stupid, diseased or suffering.”.

And Thursday, for the first time in my life I learned how to almost effortlessly calm myself and take control. In just a few hours my day had turned around. It wasn’t perfect, I hadn’t solved my life’s problems- I just ate and moved on and I felt normal. Instead of stuffing or fighting my urges to eat, I just sat with them and reminded myself that those thoughts are not me. I am not every thought or urge that I have.

Friday I played with fire. I made cookies. I ate two and put the rest away. And these weren’t just any cookie, I declared them my favorite cookie. They were amazing. I made a lovely dinner or salad and lentil soup. Nourishing and healthful food that I truly craved and then had two cookies and moved on. Even as I type this, there are a bowl of cookies on the counter and that all too familiar voice to eat all of them and start over tomorrow, is dull. It’s almost nonexistent. And for that, I am grateful.

I realize that this post is full of hyperbole, as is my fashion when I get excited about something, but I can honestly say to you that I will never binge again. I will never hide or sneak food. Eat in the car or give myself the promises of tomorrow. And as they say, the proof is in the pudding, I so look forward to sharing this journey with you.

 

 

 

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More or Less

I hope you all had a lovely holiday and are gearing up for a new year tomorrow. I had a very spoiled Christmas, filled to the brim with good food, good company and more gifts than I deserved.

I’m ready for 2012, are you?  It seems there are two sets of people on new years, those that diligently create resolutions and goals, and those that are violently against it. I’m a resolution person, but if you’ve been reading any amount of time, you already knew that. Mostly, I just think it’s fun to create a spread sheet of what I want more of and what I want less of.

Right off the top of my head, I want more contentment in the small things in my life. This past year, I was not content with contentment. I spent the year worrying that if I wasn’t piling on the projects and giving light to all of my ideas that I wasn’t moving forward. I was eager to skip steps and make things happen unnaturally for the sake of making something, anything, happen. That was a huge lesson.

I believe my health suffered because of this. Most notably that I’ve had a cold and now getting over a stomach virus in just two weeks.

As I sit here in my safe and quiet house, I realize how important this stability is to me. What I do is wonderful, I love passion, but I love knowing that I’m doing all that I can to maintain a happy home life for myself and my husband. That I’m doing what I can to keep myself healthy. And in this I find myself retreating, a lot. This year, I see myself saying no and passing on projects. I see myself riding the waves as they come. Taking the long road to my goals, rather than the “Let’s make this happen now!” insanity that I put myself through last year. I see myself going with the flow and trusting that I can grow and move forward just while, and especially so, taking care of my home, health and happiness.

This year, I will be narrowing my projects down to one. business. which is my design/art/creative business. And working on my blogs. Other than that, I will be cooking more and eating more vegetables, and taking time to dance and have fun and most importantly, to just be.

I want more fresh fruit and vegetable juices.  I believe in juicing and how good it makes me feel.

I want  to complain and worry less.

I want more exercise.

I want to take the long road and be okay with the journey.

I want to stop worrying, finally, about what other people think.

I want more sewing, painting and illustrating.

I want less social media.

I want more cooking.

I want less driving.

I want to make realistic and attainable goals.

Happy New Year!

 

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