weekly medical update

had yet another of the weekly doctor appointments yesterday. Dr H is still gallivanting around europe, so i saw one of the nurse practitioners again. here's the rundown:

xray is improved. after 3 weeks of antibiotics and the stent, the pneumonia seem to be cleared up and the pneumothorax has gotten a tiny bit smaller. and i've stopped the iv antibiotics, thought the picc line is still in.

all my drug/vitamin levels are within range, though the tac level is at the low end, so may bump the tac back up to 2.0mg.

with the blood sugars totally under control, i can reduce the blood sugar checks (read: finger sticks) to twice a day, down from four times a day. if things stay stable over the next couple weeks, i can abandon the pseudo-diabetes blood-sugar-check behavior altogether.

my lung function was up to 49% (from 45%). good to see it moving up again. let's hope it stays moving in that direction.

and, the biggest news of all, next week will mark the end of rehab. just a few more sessions and i'm out of there. i will have completed the prescribed number of rehab sessions, and i've pretty much peaked in terms of how much they can exercise me in their little gym, so i will be released out into the world to fend for myself. which means i have to come up with some sort of self-motivated exercise routine.

that's about it on the medical front. i'm not due for another check in with the doctor for two weeks, so the weekly medical update may become a bi-weekly medical update. or it may just be totally irregular.

in nonmedical news, i am home alone, shockingly surviving on my own once again. i've officially begun the period of my renewed independence, and what was formerly my parents' bedroom is now officially the guest bedroom. (sorry, mom and dad. but thanks for being here when you were. you are still allowed to come visit.) i have slipped pretty easily back into my living alone routine; it's nice to know that it still comes easily after all this time.

i hope you all have a lovely wednesday.