Re: athan

[Guest guest]

Barb Henshaw wrote:

>

> Garden – I thought people couldn’t work in the dirt for quite a while

> after surgery, has that changed?

>

I don't really know! I guess I'd heard that, but the transplant docs

here never mentioned it, and it isn't in the post tx instructions in the

book they gave me. I did wear a mask when I was doing anything that

kicked up dust etc. I'll ask them about it when I go in this Wednesday!

Your garden sounds really nice! We've been eating a few things from ours

but between a late frost and my transplant, most of the stuff is a

little late... we missed the asparagus almost entirely. I picked the

first three or four shoots a day or two before my transplant, and when I

got back home they were all fully grown!

athan

PSC 1992 UC 2001 Tx 2007

[Guest guest]

Garden – I thought people couldn't work in

the dirt for quite a while after surgery, has that changed?

The danger is from bacteria in soil (originating with bird and animal

droppings, in particular), which can enter the bloodstream through

minor cuts in your hands. Keep in mind that the biggest problem

post-tx is infection (not, as you might suspect, rejection). I recall

being cautioned to always wear gloves (preferably rubber or latex)

when gardening, and I was very good about that for about a year. After

that, not so much. My current leather gardening gloves have a few holes.

Rich in KC

Crohn's, cryptogenic cirrhosis, liver txs 5/2001

[Guest guest]

Barb Henshaw wrote:

>

> It’s been awful quite over there. How are you doing?

>

I'm doing really well. Just been too busy to get online much the last

few days!

I'm participating in a study at Vandy, so I have to go over once a week

for the next few weeks, and that's been taking a lot of time. The study

is on the use of Sirolimus for prevention of rejection. It's a drug

that's similar to prograf, except it's supposed to be less damaging to

kidneys. I just was " randomized " yesterday, and ended up in the control

group, so I'll stay on Prograf. That's a good thing in ways... I'm doing

well, on Prograf and there have been problems with Sirolimus in other

studies. This study is designed to avoid those problems, but you never

know. I would like to be on something that wasn't as hard on my kidneys,

so maybe when the study is done (each patient is followed for a year,

and I was the last non Hep C patient enrolled... They've met their goal)

they'll be able to switch me to it!

In other news, my latest labs look " perfect " (in the words of my

transplant nurse) and they're lowering my prednisone to 2.5mg per day.

If the labs still look good next week, they'll take me off it altogether.

I finally got started tiling my floor. I decided to build some shelves

first, so I could get some of the stuff off the floor, and then my Dad

came for a visit. I'm about 1/4 done with the tiling... Hopefully, I'll

get some more done today. I also went t my brothers house and helped him

tile his bathroom... then the next week he helped me repair my

trailer... I was afraid I'd have a hernia after lifting it! I think I

probably had to lift about 200lbs (we had to flip it over to replace the

springs, and we each lifted one corner)! I was OK though... my doctor

told my I could do anything I wanted last time I saw him, but I'm not

sure he expected me to lift a trailer.

Thanks for asking about me! You and Ken (and all the other people who

are waiting for (or have just received) transplants) are in my prayers!

athan