Day 77 in Minneapolis

I had my Day 75 visit at the clinic.  My mom and I drove to Minneapolis for this appointment which was scheduled over 2 days.

The first day, I had a test in which I was hooked up to two IVs, one in each arm.  One was to  deliver glucose and then insulin, and the other was to draw blood.  I was first given a large dose of glucose, so much that it actually made me feel flushed and light headed for a minute.  My blood was drawn every few minutes and the glucose level was measured. Then  at 20 minutes, I was given insulin (1.64 units) and my glucose was again checked every few minutes.  Then I was drawn every 10 minutes or so for about 2 more hours.  The goal was to see how the islet cells responded these two  events.  I haven't seen the actual data yet, but Dr. Bellin says it looks good.  The islets were able to handle the glucose and resist the insulin.

On the second day, I again went in fasting, and immediately had my blood drawn.  I was then given a calculated amount of a liquid (Boost) with a set amount of carbs.  I was drawn again after 90 minutes and my C-peptide was checked.

This was an important visit, because these  tests are designed to measure  how  effective the transplant is.  Because I am off of insulin, I feel certain that mine is considered a success, but it will be nice to see how the data reflects this.

We had a long rainy drive back home, but the trip was enjoyable.  My mom was able to connect with some of her old Minneapolis friends, and we had a nice dinner with one of her cousins on one of our nights there.

When I got home, I had an e-mail saying that the tests showed that my LDL was 127 which is high.  It was recommended that I start taking a statin to lower my cholesterol.  Since I really hated the thought of any more pills or  medication in general, I asked to speak with Dr. Bellin about it.  She says that changing my diet will help some, but that the  problem is probably being caused more by the rapamune.  So, I am attempting to cut some fat out of my diet.  I  never really worried about it before.  I thought watching my carbs and total calories  was  enough to worry about.  So I probably do have  some room for error.  And I am on a low dose of Lipitor.  My hope is to get my cholesterol back down with the Lipitor and keep it down with diet.