By Bill Peckham
I joined twitter in March and haven't really taken to it but I've seen its utility. It's another way to say something to anyone who is interested (like blogging only shorter and it can be done through phones as primitive as mine). I tried some travel and gardening updates, some tweets, but ran out of energy sometime in April and Twitter was one of the first things to be cast aside.
Now it's back. I'll use Twitter to pass on updates over the next couple of days of medical care. My Twitter feed is embedded in the left hand column of my blog and tweets simultaneously update my Facebook status - just as most blog posts are automatically reposted to Facebook (this one wasn't, not sure why). If you're reading this at Billpeckham.com in July 2009 - look to the bottom of the left column for updates and news.
Since my last post my medical situation is about the same - tomorrow the plan is to check into Swedish hospital about 1PM and have my left native kidney removed - it's the one being measured in the picture to the right. In the image the tumor is at the bottom of the kidney - the green line is going right through it. There is a darker circle off to left but here dark means less mass - white is solid. That darker circle is a cyst. Like the cyst you might see in someone with PKD, the difference is that in my case it is acquired and is something that just effects my kidneys vs PKD which is hereditary and can impact other areas and organs. You can see there are cysts on the right kidney too but they're not much of a problem (unless they rupture or grow too large).
After the surgery my Mom is here in Seattle determined to take care of me (or pay me back) for my caregiving for her last year. A turkey will be cooked. Debbie, who puts my Mom up when she is in town and is the friend who drove with me to Chicago last year, will be sitting with my Mom and will tweet my progress. It will be her first experience with tweeting. I'm sure it's going to be great but I take no responsibility for content until further notice.
I've been very touched by all the expressions of support that I have received. I appreciate all the shoulders that have been offered; it is a comfort to know people are there. I haven't wanted to spend time thinking or talking about illness and the possibilities, my way to deal with illness has always been to get absorbed in the moment. That's left a lot of unanswered emails and notes. If I don't respond immediately things can get lost quickly. My inbox has never been empty, but lately I've really let things go.
Sorry for all that but I'm hopeful that I'll be back to my normal in a matter of weeks. Back to tracking dialysis industry news and trends, in advocacy, reimbursement, politics and the provision of renal replacement (maybe I should edit the DSEN tag line?). And back to enjoying Seattle's all too short summer.
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