As Irving / Bob endures a late evening dialysis session after our Thanksgiving getaway, I will share the latest developments in his journey towards a transplant. Of all the doctor appointments last week, the one with his vascular surgeon on Monday packed the biggest punch: Bob has been having increasing leg pain while walking in the past few months, and the doc informed us that the bypass done in early 2007 appears to be closing back up. So we had to cancel some of the scheduled Tuesday appts last week so that we could spend all day at UCSF doing pre-op tests and paperwork, and will report back there at 7 am sharp on Nov. 30 so the surgeon can get a closer look at the offending leg. The hope is to repair it with a stent, but the procedure is happening in the OR with full anesthesia, just to be ready for more involved intervention. It's awfully soon from the last stay, but is certainly needed.
Knowing this was coming up made us more grateful than ever that he was well enough to spend the 3 nights with lots of family members in Capitola this week - 18 of us enjoyed hours of eating, talking, game playing, eating, walking, bike riding ( my brother and sister-in-law, not us!) and more eating. Irv was very content but extremely sleepy much of the time; the plus side of that being less exposure to all the food and drink available!He was very good, and limited his dining to very small amounts food, avoiding especially the dangers of too much sodium, potassium and phosporus (ie everything, potatoes, legumes, dairy products, etc). While the rest of us enjoyed all manner of beverages every day and evening, he kept his consumption of water to pill-taking and only small amounts of "recreational" drinking with his meals, indulging in a bit of his favorite, Coke Zero, only on Friday. Even with all his caution, his body retained nearly 5 liters of fluid since his last dialysis treatment on Wednesday morning.
We are most grateful for our fantastic friends and family, who give us support, laughter and stability when we get a little shaky. And of course, we are very thankful that his condition is not worse than it is, and very hopeful that he will receive new organs before next Thanksgiving rolls around.
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