Health update #611
This keeping track of my health thing is starting to get old. lol. But little else going on around here, so WTH … I made some graphs that I’ll show you later. 
Had a visit with my Liver Specialist last Thursday. He lowered my Prednisone dose to 40mg/day to help with ‘the shakes’. It’s been 4 days now, and they’re still there. Guess I’m just going to have to live with them for a while because the more I lower the meds, the longer it’s going to take for my system to get back into working order. The long term plan is stil to get rid of, or severely limit the Prednisone and go with the Imuran only. Apparently, as bad as Imuran is with it’s side effects, Prednisone is worse. And wow, doc just slipped this one in during our meeting - “and you’ll be on Imuran for the next 20 years or more … or until something better comes along”. Sucks. He had a look at my liver biopsy again, no enrichment in copper as one would expect with Wilson’s disease. Still waiting on the 24hr urine sample analysis for copper, but in the meantime he wants me to get a second opinion on the K-F rings in my eyes. So another trip to the Ophthalmologist, Fun Fun. Oh, and I had a bone density scan last wednesday … something to compare too later on in case the meds start to reduce my bone mass.
Anyway, onto the blood results. Overall, things are going in right direction, but they’ve really slowed down their progress. My billirubin and INR (blood clotting) are doing really well … getting close to normal values. Rest of stuff is still way above normal. Weight loss has slowed to a almost nothing. 
Apparently the Imuran I started on works against the diuretics, causing more fluid swelling. I’ve noticed my legs swelling up again if I sit or stand too long. But I’ve been eating more too, so I’ll try and cut back some more .. mostly eating out of depression/boredom I think. Here’s some info on how to read the blood results - medicinenet.com and liverdisease.com My Graphs:
All Blood results
Zoom in of lower part of graph
So those are the results since after leaving the hospital, missing a couple tests that I took at the local CLSC .. which they can’t seem to fax to my doctor for some reason (i.e. incompetent fools). I haven’t been able to get a hold of the results while I was in the hospital, but I’d really like to get a few of those early blood tests for comparison. I’ll have to fill out a request and send it to the Transplant team at the RVH .. would be easier if I had a fax machine. doh!
In other news, I’m feeling a bit challenged mentally of late. Can’t seem to concentrate on more than one thing for the entire day … and if I happen to get distracted, have a real hard time getting the task completed. Chalk it up to being stuck in a rut I guess. Need to get out and find something to do or I’ll go crazy pretty soon. Had a nice evening on Friday, was invited out to my Sister’s Friends place for supper with the kids. Was good to see them again, haven’t really socialized with them for 8 years. We had a good long chat before dinner about the goings-on in the Eastern Townships. From the drug dealers, to the affairs, to the silly work-related craziness. It’s a lot more fun to hear about now that I don’t live there. 
Then we had some BBQ venicine and turkey … hunted and raised by my sister’s friends. They raise giant turkeys .. up to 45 lbs! That’s bigger than most ovens can handle! Taste is great though .. we ordered one form them for next christmas. We’ll have the butcher cut it in half and make turkey steaks and kabobs with one of the halves. Looking forward to that already and it’s 10 months away! lol
That’s about it … tomorrow is my sisters birthday. Going to go out and get a nice cake for her. Would like to do more, but no $$$ to spend. Mom’s birthday is on Saturday … I guess I’ll charge up some gas for the car and go pay her a visit … maybe go out for lunch somewhere.
