Interested in islet transplant?

I got an email from someone asking where they can find information about islet transplants and Dave, since I don't know which of the many forums I frequent that you found me on, I'll put my reply here for the world to see. ;)

Anyone interested in islet transplants can check out The Chicago Project and The University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago's islet transplant program . If you have specific questions, I'm happy to answer them, but I have hard time with requests of "please tell me your experience", cause really, I started the process over three years ago. It's not easily summed up in one email.

If you happen to be on the dorkish side (no insult people, I include myself here) The Collaborative Islet Transplant Registry has more detailed information about the protocols, complications, side effects, stats and all the happy crap. There is also a map you can click on to find centers in North America, Europe and Australia if you want to contact a center closer to you.

so yeah, happy researching.

have I said YayIslets! yet today?

Vacation cure!

My transplant doctor says I need to take a vacation to the mountains. I'm anemic. (side effect of immuno-supression meds yay sirolimus!) Higher altitude = higher hemoglobin level but yeah, not gonna happen.

Anyone know of a medical insurance company that will foot the bill?

How I managed to get my medical insurance to pay for bird toys!

Green Bean is my parrotlet. If you're not already familiar with them parrotlets are related to amazons. They look just like them only they're minime verison with all of the personality and about 1/10th of the bite.

Green Bean thinks he's full sized. Don't tell him otherwise or you'll see that little giant temper of his. He's very vocal about his opinions!

Today, he was on the floor of the living room running around (literally) in circles until he found, you guessed it, a used test strip! He thinks they're the coolest toy around and the bottles??? wooo! fun! When empty they're light weight enough to kick around, and stable enough to balance on if he decides he needs a perch.

I tried to get a picture but he wouldn't sit still.

silly boy!

Labs Labs Labs Labs Labs

My latest A1c was 6.2. Not bad. It's higher then I'd like it but given the holidays and having been sick for the three weeks prior to my last blood draw I'll take it.

My cholesterol however is another story 269. Good lord! it went up 100 points since October. They've upped my Lipitor dose and maybe that will help. High cholesterol has been a constant battle for me since high school when it was first diagnosed. Heart disease runs in both sides of my family so time to nip the eating junk food trend in the bud before it gets out of control. I'm not so sure how much diet really effects my cholesterol at this point. Meds have always been my best option and I've never been much of a high fat food eater. That being said eating better won't cause harm and might actually be beneficial in other areas of my health. I"m trying to convince myself here people!!

Other lab results indicate I'm still anemic (no suprise given the amount of sleep I seem to need lately) and well everything else is normalish. :)

Have I said YayIslets today?

Crazy Birds!

There are geese flying north already! What's up with that? Crazy birds.

I handed out bread at the pond behind my home and counted carbs.

Sad for me. I still see every food item as a number, even if I'm not the one eating.