The Worst is Over

8/15/09 -

The worst is over and I am ready to face the 2^nd phase (2^nd month) of recovery. Pete and I celebrated yesterday by going out in our motor home and spent all day at the Filoli gardens and estate in Woodside (where the TV series “Dynasty” was filmed). It’s only 10 miles north of Los Altos and we recommend it to those who enjoy visiting botanical gardens. The mansion of 40+ rooms sits on 650 acres. The surroundings, the sunken garden, the rose garden, etc. are so beautiful, relaxing, and inspiring. We had lunch at the café – no matter where you sit you look out to the gardens and trees. There were a lot of volunteers who are there to help and answer all kinds of questions. I had my Mom’s wheelchair, so Pete wheeled me around part of the time. After lunch, I took a rest in the motor home while Pete went back to take pictures and walk the trail. What an enjoyable day!

Since my last blog, I had a slight set-back but am now back on track. First, I discovered I was taking lot less than the dose of the prednisone, a steroid hormone to prevent rejection by lowering the inflammatory response of the body. This was going on for more than two weeks since I was discharged from the hospital. I’m now on the correct dose. Sunday night, I had fever of over 100^o F and had flu-like symptoms (achiness throughout). My patient manual said these are some of the symptoms of rejection. Thank goodness I had an appointment with my doctors Monday morning. They immediately said I had an infection on my exit site where my dialysis catheter was placed through a hole in my abdominal area. During transplant, the surgeon had removed the dialysis catheter and closed up my exit site. It turned out that my scab came off too soon and I ended up with pus beneath the surface. The doctor had to squeeze out all that pus (no fun but better than cutting it open to remove the pus). Now, I’m on an antibiotic for a week. All in all, I survived the setbacks and feel a lot better.

Harry and Arline Fierstine from San Luis Obispo came up to have lunch with us on Wednesday. We had a nice visit and it’s good to see some familiar faces. I have received more cards and emails from many of you and they continue to give encouragement and support and cheer us up each day. We even received words of kindness and prayers from people we have never met, but those who have followed the blog. Our world is full of good, positive people even though there is so much negative energy around us.

Pete and I are starting to like this Los Altos community and its surroundings – the temperature is in the 70’s and 80’s every day, sunshine, and wonderful restaurants with reasonable prices. Within a few blocks, we have Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s plus all the international cuisine you might want to try. We also discovered the 150 shops downtown, but we only walked a few blocks.

Life without stress is the way to live. Since we haven’t had to deal with work, house chores, paying bills, constant phone calls, entertaining, etc., we’re adjusting to a routine of one-day-at-a-time. Other than hospital appointments, we have no obligations whatsoever. That’s what I need to have a speedy recovery, so thanks to all of you back home who are doing all that and more and taking all the stress from me. I owe you BIG TIME!

We will continue to use the Marriott Residence Inn as our home base, but we hope to take a couple nights here and there in our motor home to get away a little bit. It’s amazing how simple our lives have been and yet how happy and content we are – “less is more”.

Simplify and have less stress. Enjoy life each day!

Aloha, Addie