Art for Healing

@gingerw @hopeful33250 Everything is holding steady for me. Although I was not placed on the active list until this summer, I was listed on UNOS last September so l have just about one year in on the transplant list. I have appointments with my local oncologist in September and my local nephrologist in October. I am thinking about getting in touch with Nebraska Medical. I contacted them a year ago. They wouldn't talk to me until I was cancer free for 5 years. I am there now. Mayo's wait time is 3 to 7 years. At Nebraska Medical, it is 1 to 5 years.

@marvinjsturing Your poor daughter, what a lot to go through, and what a lot for you too, given your own health problems.
I know about stem cell treatments for cancer, but a month in the hospital? That would be difficult for anyone but you do what you have to do.

If you haven’t checked other transplant hospitals it could be worth some more checking. At the time I was on the liver transplant list my home hospital was generally transplanting at MELDs in the low 30s but Mayo was fairly certain I would get transplanted at around 28. I was at 28 and about to get listed at Mayo, but my transplant came through at MGH. I know the wait for kidneys is longer, my niece’s husband has been waiting and on dialysis for about 5 years (not sure if he was on dialysis that whole time) and is pretty close to the top of the list at his chosen hospital now so hopefully I will get a call very soon that he’s been transplanted.
Is there for those waiting for kidneys comparable to MELD.

Prayers for your daughter and for you.
JK

@contentandwell For kidney patients, they measure the amount of creatinine in your blood. Then they use a formula that takes into consideration your creatinine level, you age, your gender, and your race to calculate your GFR. Your GFR has to be below 20 to qualify for a transplant. For the last 3 years, my GFR has been in the 10-17 range. My doctors are surprised that I am not on dialysis yet.

@marvinjsturing Once my husband found out about his kidney disease [due to high blood pressure], through medication and lifestyle he kept off dialysis for 5 years. His dr told him it was coming and readied him for PD dialysis, placing the graft at 13%. He went dialysis at 10%, was on PD dialysis for 5.5 years then got his transplant 1 Oct 2016, at his second transplant center. He had double-listed.
Ginger [my GFR is 32% right now]

@contentandwell For kidney patients, they measure the amount of creatinine in your blood. Then they use a formula that takes into consideration your creatinine level, you age, your gender, and your race to calculate your GFR. Your GFR has to be below 20 to qualify for a transplant. For the last 3 years, my GFR has been in the 10-17 range. My doctors are surprised that I am not on dialysis yet.

I love crafting, but unable to do now due to severe neck, shoulder and low back pain.

Here's another story about my story and recovery of my painting ability with a little help from a gifted surgeon. Country Magazine told my story in a feature article they named "Victorious". I have to say I love that title! I used the healing power of art to get myself through spine surgery and reclaim my ability to create my art work.

I made a little video to show the magazine spread and a closer look at my paintings they featured. The painting of the Native Americans herding horses in a river is the painting I took with me to Mayo when I went for my spine consult. I hung it on the wall so I could look at it during some painful nerve tests, and it gave me a familiar place for my mind to escape instead of focusing on the pain from those tests. When I met Dr. Fogelson the first time, I brought that painting with me to show him what I needed to be able to do again. I had been turned down by so many other surgeons who didn't understand how important it was for me to regain my art talent that I had worked so hard to achieve, and the injury was taking my ability to hold my arms up and control their movement.

Dr. Fogelson loved this painting and that is how we began our doctor/patient relationship, and I brought new paintings to follow up appointments which he enjoyed seeing. The most important painting of my life was the first one after my recovery; the portrait I did for him as a gift in gratitude for restoring my artistic gift, and I brought it to my one year post op follow up. He actually received it a year later after I was able to replace the special hand made frame that had been damaged in shipping and that photo is in my Sharing Mayo Clinic Story.

@jenniferhunter Beautiful painting You are a very gifted women .