General
Labs
October 27, 2023
in General
Do you have the same anticipatory feeling I do after you do labs? One of both excitement and worry? I love seeing the numbers come in on my portal but I am also anxious that something would be wrong…
I did labs yesterday and luckily they came back a few hrs ago as great - so my weekend is saved!
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Hi Karin, I am the same way but getting them done and getting good results is kinda like my safety blanket. I actually take them more often than my teams requires. I too get a rush from the comfort of a good report. I'm not a lot of fun if they not really good. Luckily I gave been blessed with mostly great labs.
Karin, Coach so glad you both had good results , I just had mine to, my liver doing great kidneys not so good but I am staying positive next labs r going to be great.
I to get anxious to tho.
I was just thinking about posting this! I need to have labs done on Monday. You have it exactly right @Karin. I'm always nervous, and yet excited to see good results.
Transplant Patient
@ole_ball_coach l do them more often too!
I think as a TP patient we r always going to be anxious and nervous about getting our labs especially when they start decreasing our meds.
Happy weekend everyone 😊💚
I’m right with all of you. I get excited but then the fear kicks in. I am thankful my team has me do labs often because in June my doctor caught my liver failing and he caught it early. He put me meds quickly and now things are slowly getting better. I’m due for repeat labs on Nov 6 wishing everyone good reports, and a blessed weekend.
Yep same with me. Everyone’s body seems to tolerate the immunosuppressants different, some of us r on such small doses and others higher. So strange to me, I think if I would not have had the rejection things would different.
Transplant Patient
@Melsamm and @Deb - it is always a balance for me to try to reduce my Tacrolimus while my dr is cautious and wants to keep higher / I just know how it causes brain fog and kidney/pancreas damage so I want it as low as possible… he won again this time ((
karin Thank you, I know the tacrolimus is doing a number on my kidneys and brain fog, I know my Drs. know what’s best, the rejection just set me back. 💕
Transplant Patient
I usually get my labs done every month, unless something pops up and my team wants them done sooner, and I've made a little ritual out of it. I actually find myself looking forward to it because of the vibe I've created around it. I drive to the lab (the drive is gorgeous, and usually I'm going right around sunrise) and have my playlist, drink my coffee. I also know I tend to be a little hyperaware until my results come back in, which luckily I usually get them back on my health app within a few hours, so I try to schedule something comforting for myself when I get home rather than forcing myself to hop into another task that requires my full attention.
At this point I'm also learning more of what my normal is vs. what's normal for another person, which helps even if things look a bit wonky, and my team is always really good about contacting me shortly after I get my labs done, even if everything looks great, which is helpful.
I to get my labs monthly, I like that on clinic day I get my results right away. On the other monthly labs I get them thru my portal within 2days and I feel a little apprehensive when I open the email but when things are stable I jump to joy.😊
Transplant Patient
@Melsamm i personally can’t wait for the results so I keep refreshing the portal and 9/10 I have the data before my drs and I send them a message asking if they have any comments )
Hi Karin, did not know about that. When I get the results I review, TP team tells me if we don’t call all is good, I know I can call but I have never have ask if they may have any comments.
Thanks🎃
I get a message stating that my labs have been reviewed and are stable from a liver transplant perpective. For the first 90 days they called and we have a 2-3 minute chat. Nothing much but it was nice.
Transplant Patient
Indeed, @Karin - waiting for lab results can invoke some anxiety. I get my routine labs done every 2 weeks & I closely monitor all my numbers/levels. Typically, I'll get a one-liner text message from my Dr. (Unless something is off).
Finally had my labs done today. I needed to do them last week and for some reason anxiety got the best of me and I avoided them. Finally forced myself to go and have them today. All is well and I was freaked out for nothing. I’ve got to be better about not freaking out.
TServold Yay so happy all is well. I know since I had my first rejection last year and have ckd I am anxious also, I think now I worry more about my kidneys versus my liver now. We just have to stay positive that it’s all going to work out🍁💪
I’m anxiously waiting on my lab results and update from doctor today!!
Deb, I am sending you positive energy and praying you get good news like Tservold. 💚🙏🏻
@Karin I have felt this way for many years, ever since I was a little kid I knew if we were doing labs in the early morning, I knew something was up. But it was always good news when the doctor wouldn’t change a prescription. When a doctor doesn’t change a prescription it’s a reinsurance that you are on the right track. But when he or she would raise or lower the value of the immunosuppressants, you think; “Oh shoot! What did I eat? What did I drink?” Or even worse “Did I take my pills?” or “did I take too much?” still that isn’t always the case, if you’re only couple weeks out of transplant your numbers are up and down all the time. I would freak out when my creatinine would be 2.19 then the following month be 2.22, I’d have to remind myself kidney is still waking up and these things take time specially for cadaver kidney’s. All these things run through your head as the lab tech draws your morning labs, and it is completely normal, I think.
I had labs done today. These were for a clinical study I am on so for some reason I wasn't as nervous about them. Just a basic metabolic panel. I was however irritated that I couldn't use my normal lab and the tech didn't wrap the poke with coban to keep it from bruising. By the time I walked out the door the bandaid had fallen off and it had bled and now I'll have a bruise. While that it so minimal, and I'm still so lucky, today it's irritating me.