Category Archives: Personal

Just Checking In For A Moment!

I have been off the grid since my last post. It has been a very busy week and this weekend is going to fly by! We hosted the District UIL met at our school this weekend and while my part is small, it was fun with lots of payback. I coach Computer Applications (my first year) and my student took fifth place which I think is wonderful considering this was her first year to compete. My own kids attend school in the next district – a weird think I know but we are a small area geographically but have three school districts. My daughter placed second in Computer Applications and My son placed third in Extemp (I hope I have that right or I will never hear the end of it!)

A friend is at WordCamp Dallas 2008 this weekend and I hope learns some great stuff to share. I would love to have gone but too many conflicts this weekend! I will have to be content with searching for posts to read to live vicariously!

We have joined a small group bible study and we meet on Tuesday nights so that is one night we are busy, and then we are trying to attend two different churches right now which is confusing but we are trying to work out some things. One place has incredible teaching. the other has definite issues but we went there for years and many of the people there are like extended family. We have gotten involved with a small Sunday night praise service and tomorrow morning there will be a youth led service and then in the evening we will continue that theme but I AM TO GIVE THE MESSAGE. I have been struggling with this all week. I would have preferred a skit but they are doing one with the kids in the morning.

I’m relying on Luke 15 and the parable of the Prodigal Son but I’m concentrating on the eldest son. I would really like it to have meaning and bear fruit and I don’t want it to be about me. If you are a praying person I would ask for your prayers for this service that I would disappear and the Word would do whatever God needs it to do in this place and at this time.

There will be very little rest this weekend so I’m going to crash and burn early. I still need to do some more writing and tweaking. This is the first and maybe the last time I will ever do this – it is such a huge responsibility. I can’t imagine what it would be like to do this week after week. I AM looking forward to the kids’ skit. They will be goofy and cute and forget stuff but isn’t the way it always is?

For now world, goodnight! I will try to get some more tutorials up in the next few weeks.

Spring Break Update And A Little Mac Tip

It has been an “unbusy” week. Spring Break means no school so we have enjoyed family time. There has also been sleeping-inage which has been great!. We went for a drive up in Arkansas (which is becoming a major luxury considering the ridiculous pride of gas these days) , had a family shopping day and did a little closet cleaning and catching up on housekeeping chores. The firewood has been moved out to the back fence and the back porch has been polished up and we ate supper out there tonight.

I helped the praise band at church set up a blog – they now have a name: “The Damascus Road Experience”. I get to sing a little harmony with them but if they ever get a bus I am relegating myself to “roadie” and resident geek.
I will get back to tips and hints for the Mac and PowerPoint tutorials soon. A short hint for tonight: If you have a Word document and want to open it in Pages just drag the document onto the Pages icon in the dock. It will open in pages. If there is much in the way of formatting you may lose the formatting but you will have the basic document. I have already learned that automatic page numbering in the header does some weird things. You can do the same thing with Excel and Numbers or Keynote and PowerPoint. Again this is only a good idea if there is no fancy formatting going on.

Interesting and Scary Article – Outsourcing Patients

What I’m reading – The Last Book In The Universe by Rodman Philbrick

Best TV show ever? The Big Bang Theory (I’m so glad the writer’s strike is over)

Best movie I’ve seen lately – August Rush (yes it is a little corny and some of it is a bit of a rip off on Oliver Twist but Freddie Highmore has the most enchanting smile I have ever seen and you just feel good at the end of the movie – which is becoming rare.)

Happy Resurrection Day tomorrow everyone!

Friends and Family and Healing

From Derricks and Diamonds, the philanthropic organization supported by Schlumberger and National Oilwell Varco has an article about a member of Dale’s family (Dale’s check-up went fine by the way!)

Here is the article:

Sage Martin – Update

March 10th, 2008 by Sean McCoy in News | Many of you have read about Sage Martin on our Our Inspiration page. We received an update from his father Gary today.He is still in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit with the possibility of two more weeks of treatment. While the chemotherapy has caused him to loose his hair he took it in stride with the understanding and calm of a person far exceeding 10 years of age.

He is showing improvement in two vital areas after receiving the bone marrow transplant. His total white blood cell count is at 240 per micro/liter up from the 10 per micro/liter he had when he checked in. The normal white blood cell count is 5000.

His Absolute Neutrophil Count was 0 for 5 days and went to 10 on his 10th birthday (Friday March 7th) but as of today has raised to 170. Normal is 1500 or more and a count of less than 500 is considered severe neutropenia.

The good news is heâ€™s getting better and responding well to the treatment. Gary and the rest of Sageâ€™s family appreciate the kind words, concerns and prayers for them during this time.

_____________________________________________

My good friend is spending time saying goodbye to his family dog of twelve years this weekend. She is going down so quickly and is not able to eat or do much of anything and I know the whole family is hurting.

_____________________________________________

Last night I went to the church where we watched The Passion Of The Christ in the gym. There were just a few of us but that’s okay. I worked on the computer on the PowerPoint for this Sunday evening – not out of disrespect for the subject matter but because I knew there were parts of the movie that I would not watch. I closed my eyes for some of them when I saw the movie at the theater when it first came out.

I guess if the intent was to get people to understand the magnitude of the sacrifice that was made for us then that point was certainly ahem…hammered home. Today in most mainstream churches we tend to shy away from talking about THE BLOOD. We may say it fast as in “thebloodoftheLamb” which takes away the sin of the world. We might sing about it in hymns – “What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus”

I like to hear about grace. I’m not so fond of hearing about how it was bought. Jesus sacrifice was painful, messy, and bloody. But throughout the Old Testament we see that it was blood sacrifice for atonement of sins that cleansed God’s people and made a way for them to come into His presence. I thank God for Jesus sacrifice. I thank God for His healing grace. As much as I like you Mel – I think you stopped the movie at the wrong place.

I’d like to see the movie go on to tell, as Paul Harvey would say – the rest of the story. We leave the movie with images of pain and how horrible we humans can be. If we weren’t vile there would be no need for the sacrifice. There would be no need for a savior. But we have God’s love anyway. The sacrifice Jesus made was not just for “nice” folks. It was for the very people who beat Him, mocked Him, and nailed Him on that cross. If He could do what He did for them – then surely He did it for you and I, and if He did it for us, then surely we can try to forgive and love others as He did. Surely we can believe that there is a resurrection for us too? Good Fridays and Easter Sundays – they come all our lives.
We all go through these seasons of sacrifice and pain and thankfully they are often followed by seasons of healing and grace. I pray that this Easter season is one of healing and grace for you and yours. If it isn’t, then I hope you will take strength and comfort in knowing that it will come. It may not take the form we wish but God WILL bring healing.

“On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand”

Friday Update (Life In General)

I have been really busy at work lately. I had one day where I was able to spend a large chunk of time on some spreadsheets, but I spend more time on interruptions lately than anything else. I have a hard time recapturing a train of thought that’s been derailed – I need a better system. I seem to spend a lot of time starting things and even more trying to get back to them to get them finished. It’s making me crazy and the piles on my desk just keep getting taller.

Dale had his appointment at the transplant clinic today. He drove himself and went to the Whole Foods Market before he came home. He is doing great. The took him off two medications and lowered another one. He will go back in two weeks and if all is still well they will switch him to every four weeks. All good news.

We are going to a debate meet tomorrow. The kids on the debate team that qualified for Nationals (including my son) made the front page of the paper. I bought multiple copies and showed them to everyone I saw. I’m proud of him, he has worked very hard.

QuarterLife

I watched Quarterlife on television tonight. I had already seen it on MySpace and the Debut episode was the same as what had already been online. I think I liked it better when it was just online. I could put on my ear buds and work on a blog post while I watched a show online told front he point of view of a blogger.

It really is just a soap opera – same old story, different venue. Young people, angst with blogging thrown in. Yada yada yada. I had hoped for a little more. I’ll watch a few more times and give it a fighting chance

The narrator/blogger claims at first to be honest and driven to blog about what moves her which is really just her self-justification for telling her friends secrets online. She is not as open about herself and at the point in the plot where she makes the decision to put herself out there something happens that makes that piece of film end up in the trash bin.

I have often wanted to blog about something that happened during my day and couldn’t because it might hurt someone or cause problems at my job. I have for some time thought about starting a blog somewhere and being completely anonymous and telling stories that usually only get told in my head. I would disguise names and places.

Do you think it would be freeing? I think so. The things that happen in my life that are interesting or funny or sad, are usually things I can’t tell about here because most of the VERY SMALL group of people who read this blog would know immediately who I was writing about.

I don’t know that I will actually start a new blog but I will enjoy thinking about the personalities. I may try to write the debut post just to see if I can write something worthy of ‘blogging around”.

T.G.I.F

Today is going to be a journal kind of entry – it has been a long day and I am so very glad it is FRIDAY!

Dale went to his appointment at the transplant center by himself today for the first time and everything went well. Two of his meds have been lessened which is always a wonderful thing and he had gained two pounds. We are two and a half months out from transplant and he has just been maintaining his weight for the last month and a half so this is a great thing. All his levels looked good except they want him to eat more phosphorus (beans, nut, cheese, milk, chocolate) because it is still a bit low, though better than last time.

My day was completely devoured by favors for other people, as was most of yesterday. The worst part is that those favors caused me to ask for help from others. It’s bad enough that I am unable to say no to people but when my inability spills over and becomes problematic for others then I truly start to wonder if I need therapy. There were some things I really needed to get done that were left hanging.
I have personally been guilty of asking for free computer work and I truly like to help people but today and yesterday were just insane and I really don’t know what to do about it. The worst was that someone was just plain rude when I was unable to complete work on a personal computer because I was having complications on work computers. I was angry when I left, got angry again as I thought about it on the way home.

I feel a bit better since I have banished that person from the earth. They now live in another dimension where they cannot be seen or heard except as though they are deep under water. Everything is distorted and difficult to understand which is how I prefer it. I think there were speech bubbles over my head that said what I was thinking (and couldn’t say out loud!) but only my friend could see them.
Maybe after the weekend the banishment can end but maybe not. I wonder if time is different there. Maybe a two day weekend here seems like a thousand years there……(insert immature evil laugh)

I need to work on priorities and saying NO but for now I think I will just enjoy my weekend – after all, it will go by quickly!

Commercial Break – Eating in Austin

I have more TCEA notes to post but thought it would be fun to take a little time out to tell you about some great places to eat in Austin. I’ve been fortunate to travel there with a friend and colleague who lived in Austin and ever meal is an adventure!

Here are some of my favorites!

**** Flip Happy Crepes

Serving delicious hand-made savory crepes, sweet crepes, and Saturday breakfast crepes. To compliment we serve fresh French pressed coffee and other assorted beverages.

Location:
400 Jessie Street
Austin, TX 78704

Hours:
Wed – Fri 10:30am – 2:30pm
Saturday 9am – 3:00

I had roasted chicken, mushrooms, gruyere, carmelized onions and my friend and I shared a dessert that was crepes with Nutella and bananas. They also have veggie crepes if you like.
Flip Happy is a little Airstream trailer where you place your order, retrieve your beverage from a cooler sitting in front, and sit at a picnic table under the trees to eat.

The food is incredible and it is located right next to the trailer park where Matthew Mcconaughey keeps his trailer. Who knows – you might get a peek!

**** If you are “rumbly in your tumbly” there is a wonderful place to satisfy the growlies – freddie’s. There is a playground outside for the kids and dogs are welcome.

I ordered the texitarian portabellas – 2 large portabella mushroom caps handbreaded and deep fried to a golden brown with cream gravy. Add to that garlic smashed potatoes and spinach-artichoke casserole and it was heaven! The portions are huge, the atmosphere definitely South Austin. WWFD (What Would Freddie Do) – whatever his wife tells him to do!

**** Another great place is the Magnolia Cafe. The specialties are omelets and pancakes. There are all kinds – they are all good, the portions are huge and come with cottage fries – yum!

**** After you have filled your tummy with Austin goodness you can stop and have coffee at Mozart’s (and dessert if you have room left) There is a plethora of wonderful desserts to choose from including cheesecakes, cobbler, tiramisu and enough chocolate to make you want to cry.If they are roasting beans when you arrive there the aroma will greet you in parking lot. If the weather is nice you can sit out on the deck with your coffee and enjoy the weather and view of the lake. There is free wireless and often entertainment. Mozart’s is one of my very favorite places in Austin.
3825 Lake Austin Blvd.
Austin TX 78703
512 477 2900

Arrival In Austin

We have arrived in Austin after a deluge near Sulphur Springs. We made a potty and Starbucks stop and ate supper at Freebird’s.

We got to the Omni and there was a mistake so they didn’t have a double occupancy room and they ended up putting us in a suite. This room is a smoking room so there is a bit of a smell (the ex-smoker said a bit sarcastically) but it has two full bedrooms, three baths, two walk-in closets, a spa tub, a kitchen, two balconies, a bar, and three tv’s. We had to use our room key just to get on the right elevator. Not too shabby for a couple of country girls. They are supposed to move us tomorrow but we wouldn’t complain if they just left us alone.
We took a walk down on Sixth Street just to see what it’s like on Fat Tuesday. We found Mardi Gras beads, tons of people, a group of drummers in a circle playing in the street, music pouring out of the doorways and children dressed like grown-ups. There were grown-ups acting like children, a street artist using spray paint to create fantasy spacescapes, an Irish pub where a man was playing and singing country music, police on foot, horseback, and bicycle and an atmosphere of friendly fun. I don’t know if that atmosphere remained later in the night because we headed back up to our hotel to rest up for our first morning at the conference.

Addendum – First day was fun – I learned a lot and as soon as I get notes typed I will start adding them to the blog so keep checking back!!

Remembering

Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
You know, I just looked around and he’s gone.

Anybody here seen my old friend John?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked around and he’s gone.

Anybody here seen my old friend Martin?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked ’round and he’s gone.

Didn’t you love the things that they stood for?
Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?
And we’ll be free
Some day soon, and it’s a-gonna be one day …

Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I thought I saw him walk up over the hill,
With Abraham, Martin and John.

Wikipedia Article

You Tube Video

JFK Library and Museum Online

Abraham Lincoln Library Of Congress

Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Prize Autobigraphy

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial

There was a time when I thought these men were more than human. I have grown up and they have become men of clay with faults, warts, and sins like everyone else. But even the great people of the bible, used by God to do great things were “warty”. Moses murdered a man to save his own life, David had an affair, and Jacob was a liar. They still managed to do great things.

What might have happened had these men lived? Where might we be as a country? I think I would like to have seen that country.

Weekend Report

Friday Dale had a great report – his labs looked fine and the new medicine is wonderful – no stomach cramps! He goes back next week just for labs, will see the doc the week after and then he will go on an every other week schedule so he has graduated to a new level!

We managed to get back from Dallas by lunch and I went back to work for the afternoon. We both felt so good about the day and it had been a long time of worrying and not feeling good at all!

It has been a busy weekend so far and as usual I am trying to catch up with laundry in between working the tab room at my son’s debate meet, getting ready for but then not actually attending the UIL Computer Apps event because my only student got the flu, and attending the concert for the band clinic in Mt Pleasant.

I didn’t have to do as much in the tab room as I have in the past – they have a new helper learning the ropes since I won’t have a debater there next year. I mainly kept paper organized. I will more than likely still help next year just because it is fun!

Dale just threw some more wood on the fire and I am heading for my book and blanket. Stay warm everyone!

Medicine Makes a Difference

I have waited to post to see how this new medicine was going to work and so far it is wonderful.Â The labs Friday will tell us if it is doing the job as far as anti-rejection but there have been NO stomach cramps in two days.Â Dale has been staying busy, cooking and eating supper and sleeping all night.Â What a difference not being in constant pain makes for a person!

New Years Goals for 2008 And Dale’s Lab Update

First for those of you that have been keeping up – Dale’s labs continue to be good. His white count was a little high which can be an indication of infection but it could also be a false reading so they will recheck and we will watch for fever. He has no other signs and everything else looked good except his cholesterol so they will start him back on his cholesterol medicine. They are finally listening to him about the stomach pain and trying him on a different medicine. The cellcept has been a problem for him all along and even with a daily pepcid he has had almost constant problems. It turns out that there is a newer alternative with less side effects. The hospital automatically puts you on the cellcept right now because they have a contract. When that contract runs out they will most likely switch to the Myfortic. The pharmacy has it ordered and unfortunately won’t have it till Monday afternoon so he will have to hang in there for the weekend. Myfortic basically does the same thing but is coated so it won’t be so hard on your tummy.

__________________

I’m thinking a lot about goals for the new year. I realize I may be a little late as most people try to make resolutions on the actual first of the year but things have been a bit busy here and I have never really been able to keep a resolution. After reading a few posts that talked about setting goals instead of making resolutions I decided that was the better path to take. I can work towards a goal and even if I don’t reach it I can at least see some progress so here goes.

I resolved last year to become more organized and therefore more productive. I read books and articles on GTD and bought file folders and tried setting up contexts in files on my computer. I just couldn’t seem to fit what I do into they system or for that matter take the time to get it set up and then keep up with it. I think that GTD sold books (it did to me) and ads and entire communities have grown up around the principles, organizers, templates and software but it just seems too labor intensive without the labor saving outcome for me.
I find myself spending more time trying to figure out how to be more productive than it takes me to actually be uh…productive. The best things for me seem to be:

a large spiral notebook I keep on my desk near my phone and every morning I start with the days date. I copy anything unfinished from the previous day to the new day’s list and then check email and add anything appropriate to my list. I add to the list throughout the day and cross things off as they are completed. I store old notebooks so I can refer back to them if I need to.
a small notebook I can carry in my pocket to write things down when I am away from my desk. (I have started being intentional about putting the dates in them as well so I can refer back) If it is important it can be transferred to the big spiral or a 4×6 card when I get back to my desk.
my 4×6 card file. I have a small coupon keeper for portablility, a wooden box for permanent storage, and a small wooden easel for working cards. I created a template in Word that creates two cards on a page so I can copy and paste or type whatever I want on the cards. I keep a stack of cardstock in my drawer to print these homemade cards on and I also have a supply of colored cards to hand write on when I need to.

I use Mail.app for email and a plugin lets me tag posts with keywords. I also have a mail folder just named “done” so I can drag things that are completed into the folder and get them out of my inbox. My goal is to find ways to get everything ELSE out of my inbox. I am not entirely happy with Mail.app and not sure if it would be worth the trouble to make a switch or for that matter what I would switch to.
It was progress for me to get to this point so the resolution from last year hasn’t been a total bust. The things I still need to work on are organization of files on my computer and a system for deleting things that I no longer need instead of letting them pile up and clutter up and become a nagging problem. The same problem exists for my desk drawers and my closet. I really want to simplify and so those are the areas I have set as goals for the next year. There are a lot of keepsakes and pictures that I want to go through and distribute to other family members and get them off my mind and out of my home.

Dale and I stayed at a small apartment in Dallas for a month and I had the bare minimum as far as clothing, makeup, books, and kitchen tools. The only place I ever really missed something was in the kitchen. In every other area it was actually very freeing which was an important lesson. The problem for me now is finding the time and figuring out what to let go of and what to do with it so it will not be wasted. I managed in the week we were home during the holiday to clean out several junk drawers and baskets of paperwork.

My first goal is to continue to whittle down the piles, both in real life and virtually. This year has been more stressful than normal and unfinished tasks and clutter add to stress which adds to health problems which starts a cycle I want to break.
My second goal is something I have already started on. My brother was recently diagnosed with diabetes and while we were still in Dallas I checked mine a few times with Dales meter just to see since my brother is about ten years younger than me. My sugar was kind of high both times so I went to the doctor last week and she gave me my own glucometer and I will be checking for the next two weeks. So far it has been ok and it may have just been stress and not eating or exercising. It was a wake-up call though so I have been eating better and trying to squeeze some exercise in too. I had already made a lot of adjustments in my diet because Dale has to check his sugar right now and occasionally give himself insulin so I was just eating what he was eating.

I have discovered that you can get a “skinny” Cinnamon Dulce Latte at Starbucks so I think I can survive. I’m not sure what I’ll do about chocolate though. I have already been taking my lunch this year instead of buying cafeteria food and it has saved me money. Now it will help me make better choices as to what I eat. This may not be an organizational goal but I know if I work on a healthier lifestyle I will feel better and that will make me more productive.

I “gifted” myself with a good Wolfgang Puck saucepan with steamer insert (via ebay) and every trip to the doctor in Dallas means a stop at the Wholefoods Market. I’m switching us over to whole grains and brown rice and we are eating a lot more fruits and vegetables. I stopped drinking anything carbonated at the beginning of the school year and haven’t missed it at all. We have started taking re-usable bags with us and another goal for this year is to take those bags to more stores and to encourage those stores to start selling their own. Our local Krogers already does this and by using these bags you can cut down on clutter (all those thousands of plastic bags!) as well as be nice to the earth.

These are a few of my goals for the year – what are you working on?

Good To Be Back At Work

Dale just kind of piddled around the house and stayed warm today. I think he enjoyed having some peace and quiet with all of us gone. My first day back was wonderful. I missed the place and the FOLKS! There were hugs and laughter and everything was just as I left it. I had emails about fixing some minor problems and in general just felt like I was back home.

Overheard in the hall today:

He said: something…

She said: “Your New Years Resolution should have been to stop acting so immature.”

Yes – it’s good to be back!

Labs Update!

Creatinine down to 1.3, potassium – good, sugar – good, calcium and vitamin D – coming up.Â All looking good so we are to just keep doing what we are doing (except Dale needs to drink more!)

We go back next Friday but hopefully there won’t be any changes in meds between now and then. There are a couple of tests that don’t come back right away but the main ones are all looking good.

Winter Wonderland

It is chilly here and we have the fireplace insert working overtime but it is nothing compared to where I grew up. I ran across a news/weather flash the other day about the New Years winter storm in Southeast Michigan and had to go looking for pictures of the 16 inch snowfall.

I remember the quiet muffled peaceful atmosphere when winter snow would cover everything – softening the lines and slowing everyone and everything down.

We lived with Lake St. Clair in our front yard and a canal similar to this one in our back yard. We spent the summers in the water and the winters on the ice. In the winter it was often much quicker to get from one place to another by cutting across the ice.

I remember the fun when we were kids. School closings were very infrequent – you might be late but you got there. The salt trucks would be out on the main roads but those of us who lived on little side roads had to work together to dig ourselves out. As an adult I remember what a lot of work and trouble it was to deal with the roads, the cars, and the slushy muddy mess when it all melted.

These images were from the Detroit Free Press and the Port Huron Press Herald.

Stay warm and safe everyone!

We have a doctor appointment for labs tomorrow morning (yes I had hoped to be back at work tomorrow but it will have to wait til Friday) and I will post about our results tomorrow evening. We know that Dale’s vitamin D and calcium levels are low and they are going to be addressing that. If you are a transplant patient you are supposed to protect yourself from exposure to the sun which is one source of vitamin D and because your potassium levels can be affected but the anti-rejection drugs you are restricted in what you can eat. Milk is high in in vitamin D (fortified) but also high in potassium.

The medications also can cause problems with your bones so Calcium and Vitamin D are important. Dale feels a little like a chemistry experiment gone awry but it is slowly getting better.

See you all very soon!

Happy 2008!

Dale just “first footed” the house. He had a piece of wood, some money, and a bit of food in his hands when he came in – this for the old Scottish Hogmanay tradition. It helped that he is tall and dark haired too. When the tradition started, it was not good luck if a blond-haired man came to your door at night – these were the days of the Vikings after all! It is superstition but I honor my grandmother be keeping it up.

We are thankful for the blessings of this past year and pray that 2008 will just be calm. I also pray that all of you have enough for the next year. Enough money, enough food to eat, and enough fuel to warm your homes. I also wish you enough hope, enough humor, enough faith, and enough joy for the new year.

Happy New Year everyone, and God Bless you!

MySpace Layout

My daughter has been learning Photoshop and has been playing with creating MySpace layouts. I like what she has done so far and thought I would post an example here.

These are screenshots. She hasn’t learned the preview trick yet.

If you would like to try it out here is the text file containing the code to copy into your profile.

JMdance.txt

Give us a comment if you like it or have a problem – we’d love to hear from you.

One Month Kidney Transplant Anniversary!

In kidney transplant you have several milestones. Dale reached his first one today – the one month mark. The next one is the three month, then 6 month, and from then on it is measured in years. His labs still are not perfect but they are better every time. His creatinine was 1.4 and his potassium was 4.7 (they shoot for less than one on creatinine and 4 on potassium) so we are looking good.

The bad part of the day was having to be there at 7:00 A.M. for the glofil which entails drinking 10 glasses of water in 45 minutes and blood work and then repeats (in all he drank 17 glasses) which made him sick. The sheet of instructions they handed us when we got there said you need to start a few days before the test making sure you are well hydrated – unfortunately that is a piece of information we should have had several days ago. The problem is they are spread out between several buildings because of major remodeling and sometimes there is a communication issue.

He has to take this test every milestone so he will have plenty of time to practice but you can bet your gallon jug that he will start drinking a LOT the days before the tests!