Tuesday: Day 3

Today set the tone for the next several, I think. Woke up taking handsful of pills. Then over to the OTU Clinic for vitals, blood tests, visit with CRNP and transplant doctor. My platelets were less than 10, so that means I needed a transfusion. They really want my low number to be 20, but we're having trouble getting it there. To get HLA matched platelets, they have to come from the Red Cross. They said that would take a couple of hours, but actually it was over 3. And today I got my first platelets from an A person. No reactions, thankfully. I also have to increase CellCept (one of the anti-rejection drugs) to increase my blood levels of that. So we spent the morning at the clinic mostly just waiting. My blood pressure also went up pretty high (150/90), but they let me leave with the promise to call if I didn't feel well.

I am allowed to eat restaurant food if the kitchen has a 95+ health department rating. We went to Blackstones' Brewery to get lunch. I had fish & chips and Mike had chicken with black beans and wild rice pilaf. They really do make good fish.

When we got home we sat out in the apartment courtyard for awhile. Then came up to the apartment to rest. I was going to take a nap, but my Mom called. She is in the hospital in Huntsville. Mostly as a precaution, but she has bronchitis and was having a lot of trouble breathing, so no one wanted to take any chances on it turning into pneumonia. Hopefully she will get to go home in the next day or two.

More pills during the afternoon. Then Mike and I cooked dinner. No platelets really does mean no playing with knives. We collaborated on a chicken noodle casserole. Mike chopped the onion and bell pepper and together we put it together. Also had the rest of the tomato crumble. I cannot have leftovers that are over 24 hours old, so we are trying to cook accordingly. And we have plenty of unsweetened tea!

I am feeling better tonight. Hopefully every day I'll continue to get stronger. I've taken all my meds for today and haven't felt nauseous since this morning, so that is a good thing.