Sometimes it is hard to believe that we are approaching the second anniversary of the failure of my kidneys. Yet, that is where we are. So many people ask

Are you on the transplant list yet?

And every time thus far the answer has to be,

No. Not yet. We’ve still got some of the transplant work up to do. We were getting to it when COVID-19 hit so who knows what will happen and when.

Today, we have made a little more progress towards getting on the list.

What happened today?

Well, my consultant saw me today and in a couple of weeks we will be starting the trial of one of the transplant drugs to see how my body reacts to it. It will be taken at 10 am and 10 pm each day for six days, and the levels will be checked by a blood test during dialysis. To prepare for this test, the old Jelly Bean test will be revived — even at the original time of 10 am and 10 pm. First of course, will have to find some Jelly Beans.

And the other medication changes?

Cardural XL

Blood pressure readings have been consistently high for a couple of weeks. Though it does look this afternoon’s dialysis has been more normal. So might get away without having an additional dose of Amlopidine before leaving the unit. But the consultant wants me to start on Cardura XL 4 mg, once a day to take at night when home from dialysis. Hopefully, that will start to bring my BP down.

Renagel

Also, while we were reviewing meds, I requested a change if possible to my phosphate binders as I don’t like the chalkiness of the Calcium Acetate ones. So that has been done. The new ones are Renagel 800 mg, with meals. And we will review after a month to see how things are going.

The next monthly bloods are due on 12 October, so that should be time to see if the Renagel is working.