08/29/2016 - My 3 Month Anniversary

My liver just turned 3!  The 3 month liver birthday marker is significant for a number of reasons.  I have a meeting with my incredibly responsive nurse practitioner to discuss my progress and possibilities of drug reductions.

On the 29th, I was told that I could discontinue the following pills three pills:
1) Bactrim - 1 pill at 8am - antibiotics used to treat or prevent infections.
2) Valganciclovir - 1 pill at 8am - an antiviral medication used to treat cytomegalovirus infections.
3) Pantoprazole - 1 pill at 8am -  Treats gastroesophageal reflux disease and high levels of stomach acid.

Now, three pills might not sound like a lot however, that's 10% of the pills I take and reduced my morning 8am pill count from 14 to 11.  Now that's good progress (think baby steps).

08/08/2016 - First family vacation... in a long while

I'm really starting to completely feel like myself again.  I know it's been a while since I posted because the family and I had our first taste of real freedom and took about two weeks and spent it in rural Indiana.  It was fantastic for everyone.  We had been on a short leash, close to the hospital, always waiting for that fateful call.  After the operation, I was hanging close for follow-up appointments, and labwork.

My awesome nurse practitioner, told me that I was to come in every two weeks, with labs at a local lab on the off-weeks (so they still had weekly labs).  So, we took a looks to see if we'd be able to pull off a trip to visit my cousin about 45 mins North of Evansville and about 45 mins west of Louisville (Pronounce Loo-ah-vull for all you non-natives).  The specific area we were visiting was Gentryville, IN. I pulled up the lab companies website, and found a lab that was about 45 mins away from where we were staying, Owenbsboro KY!  Then off we went.

The kids were in free roam with the only worry poison ivy.  We spent time; driving and moving dirt on a T110 Bobcat,  mowing the grass with a Zero Turn Hydrostatic riding lawnmower, riding in an F350 pickup, driving a gas powered off road golf cart through the woods on trails, and I even got in some target practice when the tots were sleeping.  It was pretty much the best man-camp ever.

No real issues with getting to the lab or my bloodwork.  Most of the folks there were in for the pee tests for their jobs.  The ladies working the lab were so friendly...they told me "Hon, you don't need to make a reservation, you can just head on in and we'll take care of you".

It was Michelle's birthday, you all knew that she was staying with us for 1.5 months taking care of the kids while Tessa was looking after me.  Her fiance rented a houseboat and we all had a grand time on it, in Lake Patoka. The kids love being in the water and used it as a chance for multiple hours in the water each day.

This was a great trip and even worth it with the long car-ride with the Tots.  It was the first time I really felt like we all let our guard down and got to unwind.  It was great.