More Results from One Year Checkup

 Results of Glucose and Insulin Tolerance Testing from one year check-up

This chart is the results of some of the testing that was performed at my one year check up.  If you click on it, it expands and is easier to read.  For this test, I was hooked up to one IV for drawing my blood at all of these intervals, and another IV to deliver the glucose and insulin boluses.  This shows how the C-peptide rises when the glucose rises and returns to baseline.  It also shows how the insulin level rises with the glucose and also returns to normal.  This chart looks a lot like the chart from my 75 day visit.  The C-peptides for this test were a little higher.  At 75 days, the highest was 2.1.

Gary is back from his trip to Scotland.  His mom has always wanted to go to Scotland and see where her family had lived, so she and Gary and some friends went this summer.  They had a wonderful time.  I hardly slept while he was away.  I am still trying to decide whether it was due to his absence or the Valcyte.

C-peptide results updated and results from 1 year visit

This is a chart imported from an earlier blog and used for comparison here. There is not a big difference between the 120 day visit and the more recent results. I would assume that is a good thing.

C-peptide values- recent

---------Pre-breakfast-- Post-breakfast

Day 180---1.17---------------3.92

Day 270 ---------------------5.29

Day 356---1.27--------------5.64

The C-peptide is a measure of how well the islet cells are working. At day 0 which would have been pre-transplant, I was at 0. Now I have readings that show that the islets are working both before a meal and at a higher level after a meal.

Other interesting labs from my one year visit include:

Cholesterol of 132 which is good but.... HDL of 49 which is not good and explains why the total is lower now.

A1C of 5.7 which is good. Previous was 5.6. Increase probably due to CMV.

CBC about the same as previous. WBC is 3.7

Liver enzymes slightly increased which is the same and normal.

EBV and CMV both negative.

A battery of tests were performed to test kidney function. They all are normal.

My glucose meter that I do my daily checks of my blood sugars has a feature that does 7,14, and 30 day averages. My current 7 day average is 95. My average at the peak of my CMV troubles was about 125. It is so nice to be back to normal.

Feeling better

Things have changed immensely since my last post. My list of complaints is about empty now.

The cotton wool spot in my eye was looked at by a retina specialist and it was determined that it was not due to the CMV. It is there because "I am no longer a teenager". It will have to be followed, but no need for immediate concern.

The CMV is about out of my system. I still get a little more tired than I should, but not often anymore. The infection control doctor said that I should be back to normal in about 2 weeks. He said this 2 weeks ago and I think he was right. I will be on medication for this for awhile and it will be followed for a long time. But for now, no worry.

The diarrhea is almost gone. I still take one immodium most days and that seems to keep it in check. I don't miss that at all. Taking my immunosuppressent meds with my meals is what caused it to become better. My last drug level test was within range, so hopefully I can continue doing this.

My blood sugars are almost back to where they were before the CMV. I was afraid to even hope for this at my worst point, so I am extremely pleased and relieved to see this. Dr. Hering said that he thought it would happen like this. I am glad to be wrong. I think the recovery of my blood sugars is paralleling the recovery from the CMV.

I am still waiting for the results of all my labwork from my one year visit to Minneapolis. My A1C was 5.7 which is 0.1 higher than at my 9 mos. visit, but the increase was due to the CMV I would assume. And it is still excellent.

The only bad thing to report is that all of my summer vacations are over. The last one was to Daytona Beach, FLA. My entire family was there, except for Cassie. Even Gary and Heather flew in from California. It was a great week and a perfect place to recoup. My only complaint was that my shins hurt from too much beach walking. Here are a few pics. At one point, we had 31 people present, and had about that the whole time. The weather was good and the games were fun.