Saturday, January 15, 2011

Sometimes I Get Depressed

Please pardon my absence. The past three months have been busy, but enough of that - it's time to blog again.
As of my last post, I'd experienced a rejection episode and was working with my docs to recover from that. Although I expected to have all that behind me by now, some of the challenges continue today. My blood work results are finally beginning to show real improvement, except that my bilirubin level still is not in the normal range.

It's taken a mountain of medication to get to this point. I've stopped, started and adjusted more meds than I care to count. Although I was initially expected to have discontinued the prednisone by now, I continue to take a small dose daily. I'm also taking CellCept. Additionally, my potassium and magnesium levels are low and I'm taking meds for that. In a nutshell, taking meds is like eating a small meal. And then there are the 4 or 5 insulin injections daily...

This frustrating regimen, which has been VERY slow to work, combined with the stress of the holidays has left me blue. I'm depressed. I hate feeling like this: In fact, last week I was in tears for several days. What the... ?! This week I was determined to turn the corner, so I created a "to do" list each day. Every item I crossed off was an accomplishment (something I had control over!) and the sense of satisfaction has been very helpful. Tomorrow I'm going to get a pedicure as a reward. I'm also going to try to get a little exercise.

I'm also going to do more blogging. A number of interesting research projects have recently been published and as I read up on them, I'll share what I learn.

Photo by Mattox

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jay,

I have just stumbled on your post tonight after frequently looking for stories of other people's experience through liver Transplant. I am 28 months from transplant following a viral infection that quickly led to fulminant liver failure.

I have not had a chance to read through all of your posts, but from those that I have scanned I can see that you have had a rough time of it. And inspite of it, you write with a wonderful sense of humour.

I look forward to reading your past blogs, and I hope that things are going well for you at the moment.

Di