Status Update: Dec. 6, 2013

Medical stuff on-going, but a few things done:

So while trying to figure out my primary symptoms (high heart-rate on standing vs sitting, pressure on my neck/throat at times), my doc has set up several different tests and studies.  Some were covered before, but there have been two more since:

1. 24 hour Holter Monitor - done
2. Stress test/Echocardiogram - done

I haven't seen the results from the Holter monitor (which monitors heart function continuously - in this case for 24 hours), but I'm going to assume they're going to come back fine because I passed the stress test with flying colors.  The cardiologist said my heart looks beautiful.

See, it is what's inside that counts!

He said that hearts speed up under standing vs sitting conditions and that mine did to a greater extent than what was average (it got up to 166 during the test) but that it looked fine.  I do have to continue doing what I have been, which is choosing my work-out routine so that I don't let my heart-rate get too high (out of the fat-burning zone and into the anaerobic zone), which means slow pace/resistance and longer duration than for most people.

Which still leaves the question of the tightness on my throat.  It doesn't happen all the time.  Some days it hardly ever appears.  On the days it does, it's usually at its worst in the evening.  It's relieved when reclining or laying down.  Now that my heart doesn't appear to be an issue, I'm back to thinking it might be related to my lungs.  I suppose we'll be looking more closely at asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.  I'm not a smoker, and never have been, but if I do have a problem in this area it could either be genetic, or a side-effect of the transplant (chemo drugs can damage the delicate tissues of your lungs and bronchial passages).

The last issue to come up is from my most recent lab-work compared to the last two since April.  My creatinine numbers (kidney function) have never really fallen back into the normal range (but once) post-transplant, and the number for the last three tests have incrementally increased.  So I'm sure my doc will be looking at this.  Who knows, maybe it's causing the throat tightness.

That's it for now.  More coming when it's in.

Writing news: I finished the most recent drafts of books 1 and 2 of my 4-book series, and both are in now to a professional editor for analysis.  I may end up doing one more draft on each based on their feedback, but I think I'm going to be able to say they're DONE very soon now.  I'm about to start book 3 but am just finishing up a bit more plot detail in the outlines.  Writing is a great way to spend the winter in Minnesota!