June's Here!

K and I went to her appointment at the transplant clinic on Friday, talked to an MSW and an MD about the "next steps" in the process of trying to qualify for, and how to deal with, a kidney transplant. I've been wondering about this for some time, so I finally asked straight out about a pancreas transplant, and though the doc was a little hesitant because of her age, he didn't rule out the possibility. Next, our HMO will have to decide what they want to pay for. Right now, her only kidney transplant possibility would be from a cadaver, since everyone who's volunteered as a donor so far, doesn't qualify for various reasons. This doc mentioned something interesting: a surprising number of people are living with only one usable kidney, but don't know it, I guess the point being that two healthy kidneys are truly redundant. If Kaiser decides to go for a dual Pancreas/Kidney transplant, then the only option would be a cadaver, and we're off to Chicago at some point, for an evaluation. The doc says the good news is, they only like to take a dual organ transplant from young cadavers, in which case both organs would be likely to last longer. However, he recommended jumping at the opportunity of a live kidney transplant, since they generally last far longer. Somewhat unpleasant considerations, but necessary for us.

I went bike riding Thursday afternoon to Chatfield Dam, Saturday morning around the Lee Gulch loop, and Sunday to Bear Creek Dam. The little flying bugs are really out, this time of year, and the Cottonwood trees are all dropping their big fluffy seeds, too. The air is full of stuff. We feel like the personification of that old joke about how you can tell a happy biker by the bugs in his teeth. It's interesting, collecting heart rate data for each ride, with my new exercise watch. K and I were at Costco this week, and picked up a specialized biking backpack for $19.95 that has a water bladder inside, with a little nozzle that goes over the shoulder. The main idea was to get all the biking support junk (rain jacket, tools, snacks, etc) off the bike, but the water thing is pretty cool too. I tried it out today, and it works pretty well.

K and I took a walk along the Platte River Sunday afternoon, from the Nature Center down to the wildlife preserve, round trip almost a mile. The bugs and cottonwood seeds had a real presence. I don't remember either of them being such a big deal. But the walk was fun and the sunset was very peaceful. We even saw a beaver swimming in the reeds in a shallow spot.