@rosemarya My transplant team has never been too worked up about my anemia, and it's never been to the point of needing a transfusion. But I can feel it, so I had my iron and B-12 checked, and they were just fine. I completely forgot to get folate checked, and hope to get that done this month. I know changes to RBC count & hemoglobin take time based on the production/lifecycle of RBCs. So, hopefully, the reduction in mycophenolate to 250mg 2x/day, combined with a little bit of patience, will do the trick.

The best part of my new life is pretty soft and squishy. It's the realization that I need to make sure I'm happy. To do that, I have to feel good. So the basic things like eating right, hydrating, exercising and sleeping are my priorities. And the short-term result has been that I feel great, and though far from perfect, I'm a better husband, father and friend.

Looking back, it's easy to see just how stupid I was. I was in decent health, relatively successful at work, but I drank way too much, ate horrible food, didn't exercise, and was an overall a crappy person to those that mattered most. At the root of it, I wasn't very happy with myself. It took at severe slap upside the head for me to see this. But I'm not one to cry over spilled milk. I control what I can control and work to simply be a better person.