Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 13, is a very big day for me. I know some of you have been waiting to hear the results of the lab work that I had done over two weeks ago after 90+ days on a vegan diet. Tomorrow is the day I’ll more clearly know about many things regarding my health. Tomorrow is the day I’ll see my nephrologist, Dr. Raj Alappan. He’ll interpret those tests for us.
As you know, I’m doing well after my renal cell carcinoma surgery on June 11 of last year. I had a contest to name my remaining kidney and I’ve been living quite well with “Strainer” for about 10 months. The ASSURE clinical trial is well underway and next week I’ll begin round 7 of 9 rounds on what I and my oncologist, Dr. Andrew Pippas, feel is a placebo and not a therapeutic drug. What I’m hoping to hear is that I have a kidney and a new nutritional lifestyle that will fare me well for the rest of my long, remaining life. There are a few tests I had done a few weeks ago whose results will be revealed to me tomorrow. They relate to kidney function, such as glomerular filtration rate, or GFR. The other test was a nuclear medicine test that is also about kidney function. I’ll know tomorrow what Strainer’s prognosis will be for the long haul. I’m anxious.
What I do know from looking at my blood work is that my total cholesterol is around 145 and that most of the other indicators are in perfectly normal range. My blood pressure is really good and my body’s pH has been hanging around 6.5, which is much better than it was when I was eating meat. My creatinine level continues to drop and it is now below 2.0, which I’m so happy to see. I have lost just over 24 pounds and I feel indescribably better than I did on December 31, 2009. My nutritionist, Beth Bussey, is a superstar! I’m so grateful to her for all the good she has done in my life.
Another reason that tomorrow is a big day is that my son, Christopher Paul Riddle, will be 25 years old. Christopher is such a bright young man. He seems capable of fixing anything. I love the sparkle he gets in his eyes when he’s confronted with something that is not quite working right. He digs in to those conundrums. He is energized by them. He usually figures out the problem and is able to repair whatever it is that was broken. Thank God for him! He is, thankfully, fairly patient with Jill and me and our 5o-something views of all things technical.
I have written quite a bit about the rocky relationship Christopher and I have had since our beginning days together. The fact that we enjoy each other’s company and that we are finding so much common ground in our lives is a source of great joy for me. We’re getting ready to start play some golf at Maple Ridge and I’m looking forward to some “Guy Time” with my boy. Happy Birthday, son. We’re proud of you and we’re having fun watching you grow into the man we always knew you’d become.
I’ll post again tomorrow when I see what is going on with Strainer. Goodnight.
Patti Trotter says
Praying for you, Mike.