460) Annual Update

February 10, 2020
Monday

Update: Since our last update on the 10th anniversary of my transplant, a number of events have transpired to make the last year one of change; somewhat similar to a carnival ride that mixes thrills and nauseousness.  

Highlighting the ups and downs of the last year comes to me now as a list, so I am listing the events:

• We find out Dr. Richard Lewis is gone from the Transplant Center and I am to be transferred back to Austin Kidney Associates for followups (assigned to Dr. Ashvin Baru).
• I go to my primary care clinic for ankle swelling and get some lab work and an ultrasound from Austin Regional Clinic that shows "elevated liver function tests" (LFTs) and "small hypervasular foci scattered throughout the liver" and am referred to Texas Liver Institute for exam related to  inflammatory liver disease.
• I meet with Dr. Jennifer Wells who orders an MRI of my abdomen and diagnoses me with Cirrhosis, non-alcoholic (HCC): results that have been forwarded to Southwestern Hospital's (Dallas) HHT Center for review by their liver docs.

 These are the downs, by the way.  Some of the ups include,

• Katie & James wedding and their restoring the Forest Hill house
• My leaving TNOYS in January, 2018 and settling into my new private counseling/consulting practice office near downtown.
• Liz getting a raise at The University and buying a new car.
• My realizing there is a need for a personal patient's blog about HHT [Jack's HHT Adventure] since very few people (or doctors) know much about this autosomal dominant disease ~ thus the need for my shifting my blogging over to addressing and sharing about HHT.

My plan: At this point I am thinking that most of my blogging about my current medical adventures will probably be related to my liver & HHT issues, so I will put those posts in the other blog.

I intend to continue to use this Kidney adventure blog to write about issues and updates related to my kidney transplant, polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and items of interest to the dialysis, transplant, and CKD audience.