I'm a Bloody Good Blood Machine..........

You know it's a shame that they won't take my blood for just an outright blood donation because this is something that I'm really good at.
When the phlebotomists at the local annex take my blood, they always marvel at how good my veins are and at just how quick I fill the tubes.
This is good because this transplant business is all about blood tests.

• Each month the people at Pinnacle need a PRA (Leukocyte Ab Battery) Levels test.
• My nephrologist requires a Renal Function Panel which includes Alb, Ca, CO2, Cl, Cre, Glu, Phos, K, Na, BUN and CBC without Diff.
  Blood creatinine levels, just one of these tests, tell just how good your kidneys are functioning
  - the higher the number - the worse your kidneys are working.
• My endocrinologist, on a good day, only wants a Hemoglobin A1c - an average measure of my blood glucose levels over the past 3 months (as he gets to see the results of everyone elses' tests).

I am anxious to find out my latest numbers of all of these at my next appointments on February 28th.

So blood tests have been a marked part of my past, they are sure a big part of the present, and if things go as anticipated, they will be an even bigger bellwether in the future.
They tell me that post-transplant the "routine schedule" for blood draws are as follows:

• 0 - 6 months after transplant - blood draws are done twice a week.
• 6 - 12 months after transplant - blood draws are done once a week.
• 12 - 18 months after transplant - blood draws are done every other week.
• And after 18 months - blood draws are done once a month.

And so if it's true, what the poet Rainer Maria Rilke says, that
"All the soarings of my mind begin in my blood."
.....we better watch out 'cos there are a lot of  my "soarings" going around these days.