Living Kidney Donation

10th Kidneversary!

Posted by ookgirl on January 31, 2022
Posted in: Living Kidney Donation. Tagged: , , , . 2 Comments
Dec. 9, 2021, was the 10th anniversary of my kidney donation.

Worth Noting

According to this article from Ohio State University, the kidney I donated to my stepdad is likely to last at least 10-13 years, while a kidney from a deceased donor might have survived only 7-9 years. So, I wanted to drop this post in here to mark the fact that as of this past December, it has been 10 years since my donation! I figured I should take stock of that and look back over this past decade.

First of all, the most important thing to say is that my stepdad is doing really well! Although his anti-rejection drugs have had the side effect of giving him skin cancer, he has remained otherwise healthy. It has been a remarkable thing to witness and makes me feel so good that I was able to donate to him.

And, in addition to 2021 being the 10th year since my donation to my stepdad, I believe it’s also been just over 10 years since my dad underwent surgery for colorectal cancer, which left him with a colostomy bag. Both my stepdad and my dad have done amazingly well since 2011! They are both in their 80s now and still very active. I’m truly grateful for how well they have done and amazed by them both!

Things

Here are some things I’d like to take stock of and acknowledge about my life and what I’ve done over this 10-year period:

  • I did three Ironman triathlons, the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon, and several shorter triathlons. (I almost can’t believe I did this – as I look back now… I was sort of a badass at one time … I don’t do tri’s anymore, but I appreciate that I got to do them. They gave me a lot of joy!)
  • I successfully completed the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim of 4.4 miles with my friend Terese.
  • I successfully completed the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon with my husband.
  • I hiked the Maryland portion of the Appalachian Trail with my husband.
  • I changed jobs/careers three times (!) — moving from a technical writer/trainer position, to a product owner/manager position, back to the training realm, as a course manager and instructional designer.
  • I was a “donor buddy” for four other donors, and – most especially – was able to give advice and support to my niece, who donated to my nephew! (Out of everything on this list, I’m most grateful for this last one.)

In recent years, I’ve slowed down some. But that is mainly due to getting a bit older and having different priorities. I think if I’d really wanted to keep doing triathlons, I could have. I’ve also ended up having high blood pressure. But I can’t say for sure whether my kidney donation had anything to do with that. Recently, I’ve realized that I am way too high-strung and just need to chill out!

I definitely want to stop and appreciate the moment more these days. Wouldn’t it be cool if–after the next 10 years–I could write another post where I told you that I focused on stopping and appreciating all the moments as they passed by?

I recently saw a sweet little movie called The Map of Tiny Perfect Things. It made me reflect on the tiny, perfect moments that can pass by unnoticed and the people you can forget to reach out to even though you love them dearly. You can care about people deeply but forget to tell them or even ask how they are doing. I don’t want to look back and regret that I missed such opportunities.

Ookbiquitous

Posted by ookgirl on May 2, 2021
Posted in: Living Kidney Donation. Tagged: . 1 Comment
One, two, three, four… I wonder how many more…

A friend of ours used to joke that he thought trailer parks actually cause tornadoes… You know, because whenever you’d hear about a tornado touching down, it seemed like a trailer park was always part of the destruction.

Lately, I’ve started to wonder if a similar type of ridiculous causality is surrounding me. More and more people in my circle keep turning out to be what I call “ooksters,” or people with only one (functioning) kidney.

You already know about me and my stepdad. He’s the reason I started this OOK blog. Both of his kidneys failed, so I gave him one of mine. Two ooksters. Then, there’s my mom, whom I wrote about in this post. Her peripheral arterial disease caused one of her kidneys to shut down. So, that’s three of us.

Then, I changed jobs. And it turns out that my new boss has also donated a kidney. How crazy. Another ookster! And now, as if it’s some kind of weird fad, two of my favorite people are preparing to join the club…

As I talked about in my last post, my nephew Daniel ended up with an illness that caused his kidneys to fail. For a while we didn’t know exactly what condition led to his kidney failure. But now, we know that he has Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). We still don’t know exactly what caused the FSGS. But the good news is that the doctors don’t think it is hereditary. And the even better news is that my dear niece Stephanie (his sister) has offered to donate one of her kidneys to him!

Daniel & Stephanie

She’s gone through all the testing, which has taken longer than usual during the pandemic. And, they have both now had their COVID-19 vaccines. So, assuming all goes well, in a few days, my oddly growing club of ooksters will grow by two more.

Although I’m sort of making light of things, the truth is that I have giant butterflies flying around inside me. Daniel and Stephanie are in the prime of their lives. Only good things are allowed to happen to them, in my opinion.

They are very close, as siblings go. And they are both artists at heart. Artists give away parts of themselves all the time. But the beauty of this gift is so stirring. It touches me deeper than when I went through it myself. I imagine they will have an even stronger bond as a result of this experience. And every time I think of their pending kidney hand-off and the magic of modern medicine that makes it possible… It still stops me in my tracks, as if I hadn’t gone through it myself.

I’m nervous about their surgeries. But my personal experience suggests all will go well. I’m grateful that we’ll have this special thing in common. I hope it draws us closer still.

I’ll have to come up with a special shirt or handshake for all the people in my ookster club. And maybe a warning sticker to wear for those just getting to know me… Beware: if you hang out with me, you may find yourself giving away, or receiving, a kidney… or some other part of yourself. It seems to happen to the best of us.

If I was dying on my knees
You would be the one to rescue me
And if you were drowned at sea
I’d give you my lungs so you could breathe
I’ve got you brother

Kodaline

Songlist:

  • Three More Days – Ray LaMontagne
  • Brother – Kodaline
  • Lean on Me – Bill Withers
  • You’ve Got a Friend – James Taylor
  • In My Life – The Beatles
  • Count on Me – Bruno Mars
  • The Mother We Share – CHVRCHES
  • Orange Sky – Alexi Murdoch
  • My Big Sister – Bare Naked Ladies 🙂
  • Brothers and Sisters – Coldplay
  • Garden Song – Phoebe Bridgers
  • Murder in the City – Avett Brothers
  • I wonder what other songs Daniel and Stephanie are thinking of?

Post Script
A few hours after I wrote this post, my husband was talking to someone we recently met in our little town. She said she’s also a kidney donor! I’m telling you: it’s a thing!

Have You A Kidney to Spare?

Posted by ookgirl on March 19, 2020
Posted in: giving, Living Kidney Donation. Tagged: , , , , , . 5 Comments
Contemplation

When I donated a kidney to my stepfather almost 10 years ago, I was, well, almost 10 years younger. At that time, even though I wasn’t super young, I was younger-enough than my stepfather — that my kidney seemed like a nice, shall we say, upgrade for him. Some people who get donated kidneys end up needing more than one over the course of their lives… And, so far, knock on wood, my kidney still seems to be supporting my stepfather pretty well. I’m very grateful for that.

But, when you’re a person who would be willing to donate an organ, and you find out, as I have, that another person in your family… a person who is dear to you, a person who has their whole life ahead of them, a person who deserves to have the healthiest, most vibrant life possible, now also needs a kidney … it’s a little gut-wrenching to realize that, not only are you no longer a spring chicken, in possession of a nice upgrade kidney, but you only have one left and cannot give it away.

This is my current situation. I recently learned that that my super-amazing nephew, 25 years old, a producer on a morning tv show, a music-lover, musician, actor, extremely bright, pensive, introspective, humorous, lovely person… finds himself in kidney failure. And I – the only-one-kidney girl –must accept that I have … Only. One.

It’s just not fair.

From left to right: me, my husband, my nephew, Daniel, my mom, and my stepdad

After I spoke to my sister (his mother) the other day, when she gave me the news, I felt a little bad that I didn’t cry and freak out and get exasperated over the reality of the situation. But I guess I was just focusing on what the solution might be. (I tend to be able to do this when it’s someone else’s problem. When I have a problem of my own, I tend to just focus on the problem, not the solution. I should learn from myself!)

Anyway…

I remember when my stepfather first got sick many years ago. It was really hard for my mom, and she was at her wit’s end a lot of the time. And I remember telling her not to freak out, that it would be okay. I look back on it now and wonder if I seemed really callous or something. I should have *worried with her.* But I wanted to see the practical side of the situation. It was way before we got to the point that he needed a kidney transplant. So, I had no idea that I would eventually help in the way that I did. But I felt sure that he would come through it okay.

Now, when talking to my sister, I also feel optimistic and practical… confident that someone will come forward and donate a kidney to my nephew. Even if I had one to give, I would prefer that someone younger would do it. He doesn’t deserve a thoroughly used kidney. He deserves a fabulous, vivacious, energetic, enthusiastic kidney.

Maybe I am naïve or weird to think that it will be so automatic for someone else to do this. I should realize that everyone doesn’t see this type of thing the way I do. But I wish so hard that someone will.

Perhaps my role now, as a slightly older ookgirl, is to share my experience with whomever that is, so they know it can be such a gift to give of oneself. And so they know they can have a wonderful, normal life afterward.

I’m here for you, whoever you are. I’m waiting. I’m praying. I’m hoping you’ll hear this call I’m sending out. Maybe you are someone I know or someone he knows. Maybe you are a stranger. Maybe we will never meet you. But I feel you are there.

His life is so worth it. Your life will be worth more for it. Trust me.

“Strangers passing in the street. By chance two separate glances meet, and I am you and what I see is me.” –Pink Floyd

Not Impervious

Posted by ookgirl on August 27, 2018
Posted in: diet, exercise, Living Kidney Donation. Tagged: , , , . 6 Comments

IMG_9713

I didn’t want to write this blog post, but I felt obligated to level with you and let you know about something that happened to me… It’s not a huge thing, but it’s not a small thing. I’m not sure of the proper way to describe it. But if you’re a fellow ookster (i.e., an only-one-kidney -ster), it’s only fair for me to let you know that I’m not completely impervious. Yes, I’ve been going along with just one kidney — happy as a clam, no complaints. But recently, I had a bit of a health scare that I thought I should share.

Impervious means, “not allowing fluid to pass through.” But it also means “insusceptible.” I think those two meanings are interesting here, since the kidney is meant to filter the blood from its impurities, while also regulating the blood pressure, the pressure of the blood as it flows through the body. It turns out that my lone kidney… the one I should be thinking of always, and protecting, since I gave away its partner and asked it to soldier on alone… is not insusceptible… and it suffered a little recently.

Just over a month ago, I got a bladder infection, which was treated with antibiotics and–supposedly– went away. But then,  two weeks ago, I ended up in the emergency room with severe “flank pain” on my right side. As you may recall, it was my left kidney that I gave away. So, I was pretty sure the pain was from my lone, right kidney. I wasn’t sure if it might be a kidney stone or something else. But it was p r e t t y   d a r n   p a i n f u l !!

They did a CT scan and did not see any kidney stones. But they did see inflammation and some other indications that I probably had a kidney infection. It’s not clear if this was a progression of the bladder infection or a new infection. But I think it was the former.

Kidney infections (or any infections in the urinary tract) can be quite common. For most people, it is a minor inconvenience. You go to your doctor, get your antibiotics, and go on your merry way. But for an ookster, it can be a little scary, because you don’t want to damage the only kidney you have.

They kept me in the hospital for two nights and ran intravenous fluids through me at a swift pace, as well as intravenous antibiotics. Then, they sent me home with more antibiotics and probiotics. (I had all the biotics, people!) … After a few days, I was back to normal … for the most part. (Hey, was I ever normal?)

My consolation prize from all this (besides a renewed desire to take friggin’ better care of my kidney!) was high blood pressure. We aren’t sure if it was just caused by the original infection (my blood pressure had always been normal before then.) But it has stayed high since that first infection, and my primary care physician finally decided to put me on medication for it.

In fairness, it’s worth noting that high blood pressure runs in my family, and –by personality– I’m pretty high-strung. So, I probably had the makings of this condition, ookster status notwithstanding. Still, it makes me feel a little defeated. My doctor says we will see how I do on the medication. And with my healthy lifestyle (exercising, avoiding alcohol*, avoiding salt, drinking lots of water, etc.) – perhaps I can get off the medication down the line.

So, let this be a lesson from your Auntie Jenn… If you only have one kidney, and you think you might have an infection anywhere in your urinary tract – run, don’t walk, to your doctor’s office and get checked out. It’s not worth taking a chance on this small, but big, thing.

*Oh yeah, avoiding alcohol… I’ve been doing that for the most part since we returned from Vermont. It was something I wanted to do anyway. And now, I have an even better reason to. All that craft beer and the occasional glass of wine or margarita will just need to be enjoyed by other folks, preferably those with strong livers and two kidneys 🙂

I'm breathing in 
the oxygen
I'm holding it 
through hard times
I'm breathing out 
in the ultrasound
Things come around 
in hard times

Ten thousand miles of the new prescriptions
So we open our mouths
And take 'em all inside
One pill at a time
--Guster

Inspire-ometer

Posted by ookgirl on August 30, 2017
Posted in: inspiration, Living Kidney Donation. Tagged: , , , , , . 3 Comments

IMG_7814

“No Free Water” said the hand-written sign taped to the wall in the hospital room. It seemed like such a funny thing to say, but then you see the “Gatorade only” written beneath it and you figure out that it just means, “no plain water.”

Here I was again, sitting in a hospital room in Atlanta, GA. But it was a different hospital, and I wasn’t here to donate a kidney, even though I wished desperately that I could spare another.

My mother just had by-pass surgery to unblock some arteries leading to her heart. Her electrolytes were running low, so they wanted to make sure she didn’t flush any more out by drinking plain water. This surgery only came about because the doctors finally (FINALLY) realized that she has Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) in her legs and the arteries leading to her kidneys. One kidney is already non-functioning, and the other one is at risk. In about six weeks, she’ll have another surgery to unblock those arteries.

Now, her mission is to get stronger so she is ready for that surgery, which she is keen to have sooner rather than later. After caring for my step-dad while he was on dialysis, I suspect she doesn’t want to go through that herself. She’s already had what must have been the most distressing several months ever, where doctors thought the pain she felt in her legs was caused by sciatica. She even had what turns out to have been a totally unnecessary back surgery that, needless to say, did nothing to relieve the pain. She must have thought she was going crazy… or that the doctors thought she was.

I’m so grateful she is finally getting the treatment she needs, and not a second too soon! One thing that was throwing off the doctors was that her heart is still quite healthy, and nothing was pointing them in a vascular direction. I always knew my mom had a strong, beautiful heart!

As we sat for many hours in her recovery room, we got to hear the doctors, nurses, and physical therapists encourage her to breathe into her inspirometer and do at least three walks per day around the ICU corridors. Only by getting stronger, they said, could she go home and start the road to full recovery… and then prepare for the next major surgery. The message was clear: She still had a long way to go.

That sort of threw me into “coach mode” and I became a little overbearing with my mother. I was asking her over and over if she was ready to go for a walk. And, as you would expect from someone feeling nauseous, weak, and in pain, she was apprehensive and wanting to rest ‘just a little while more’ before getting up to scoot her walker around the nurses’ station. Inside, I knew she deserved a break after all she had been through. But on the outside, for some reason, I felt the need to play the tough-love card.

It made me wonder why I wanted to push her so much. I’ve thought a lot about it. And, I guess that when you’ve trained for an Ironman, you have a different perspective. You’re constantly looking at the goal and thinking, “I won’t ever be able to go that distance if I can’t first go half that distance…” I knew that if my mom only walked once yesterday, trying to do it three times today was going to be hard. And not just physically, but mentally. It’s almost more about what you *think* you can do. And, proving to yourself that you can go to one limit, allows you to think you can reach the next.

Another thing that occurred to me was that in a race, you know where the finish line is and you know what the time cutoff is. It’s just a natural motivator. Either you’re going to reach that finish line and make it within the cutoff, or you’re not. If you haven’t trained for it, you can sort of guess what the outcome might be. But, in life, we don’t know where the ultimate finish line is. Or if we’ve done enough to get there. Is it next year? Next week?

If we knew, would we be more motivated to do those things that we know we need to do? Right now? Without waiting a while longer?  Lose weight, quit our vices, exercise more, relax more, enjoy our family more.. What kind of inspire-ometer would that be … to breathe life into us and put wind in our sails?

Hello my old heart
How have you been?
How is it, being locked away?
Well don't you worry
In there, you're safe
And it's true, you'll never beat
But you'll never break
--The Oh Hellos

 

Pentakidneyversary!

Posted by ookgirl on December 12, 2016
Posted in: aquabike, giving, Living Kidney Donation, motivation, music, new years. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

According to WordPress, I haven’t posted in 8 months. Yikes!

Well, I wanted to at least check in and celebrate the fact that on Friday, Dec. 9, 2016 – it was my and my stepdad’s pentakidneyversary! Five years ago that day, it worked out that I was able to donate my kidney to my stepdad, and I’m thankful to say that he is still doing well, and so am I!

gary-and-me

A lot of stuff has happened this year that I’m not too happy about. But that right there is one thing to celebrate! Through this blog, I met another kidney donor and her recipient. We met in the months leading up to their donation. I wanted to be encouraging but not too pushy about it, because donating is really a personal choice. So, I kept my distance a little. Although her donation was ultimately successful, she did encounter some complications in the days after the surgery. It shook me up a bit. She’s fine now and doing many fantastic athletic things. So, I’m really happy that things worked out well for them! But, I also wanted to step back and realize how lucky my stepdad and I were, and that you can’t take anything for granted!

It’s also worth noting for the record that I was successful in my attempt this past June to complete the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim. I’m including a picture of me and my friend, Terese, who faced down the challenge along with me! We had big swells and a lot of wind. But even though it felt like a washing machine much of the time, the wind was going in our favor. And I ended up swimming it 20 minutes faster than I expected!

gcbs2016

It was my last notable athletic achievement for a while. Unfortunately, while trying to do more longer runs later in the summer, I ended up breaking a metatarsal in my right foot (where I previously had had a stress fracture). And, now I’m fighting a losing battle at trying to make a big black orthopedic boot look fashionable. I am honestly not sure if I will return to long-distance running after this. Maybe I will become an aquabike girl. There are more races these days that offer aquabike (swim-bike) as an option. It’s not as prestigious, but at least you’re doing something! I’ve always said that ‘the run is the thing’. After all that swimming and biking, it’s on the run that people really show what they’re made of. But, alas, maybe it’s not my thing. We shall see…

In closing, I just want to say one thing… In 2016, I felt like I lost myself a little bit. But I hope to find myself again in 2017. Some crazy things happened in 2016, and I feel like life has been out of control. I’m glad the Cubs won, and I’m happy for my Army friends that Army finally beat Navy. But other things were topsy turvy, and I was no exception. I’m turning that around, though!

I leave you with a jumbled mix of old, melancholy, sad, new, upbeat, happy, emphatic songs. Reflective of my moods lately. Maybe I should rename this post moodygirl  🙂

—————————————————————-

  • Sweetest Decline – Beth Orton
  • Older Chests – Damien Rice
  • Georgia – Vance Joy
  • Sad Eyes – Josh Rouse
  • Gepetto – Belly
  • The World Ender – Lord Huron
  • Love Like This – Kodaline
  • Holy Commotion – The Pretenders
  • Dark Necessities – Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • Gone – JR JR
  • Turn it Around – The Head and the Heart

 

It’s World Kidney Day!

Posted by ookgirl on March 10, 2016
Posted in: giving, Living Kidney Donation, team in training. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

WKD_Logo_2016_400px

I only just realized that there is such a thing as World Kidney Day. And it’s today!

As I’ve mentioned before, you tend to forget that you’re a kidney donor after a while… Okay, so, “forget” is not the right word. But you just don’t have it in mind that often.

Recently, I was reminded when someone found my name on an online list of willing “living donor buddies” on the living donors online web site.

I have to thank that person, because it made me think back to what the donation was like and all that I am grateful for now. I remember thinking through my decision to donate and all the “what ifs”. What if my body can’t handle it? What if my recipient’s body rejects the kidney? What if something goes wrong with one of the surgeries? The list goes on. You have to think through these things, because they are real. And, in the end, it’s a personal decision that only you can make.

But you know what is indisputable? It feels good to give. It just does. I challenge you to give of yourself and not feel good.

In fact, I will even offer you a way to give! … I am once again raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) through a program called Team in Training (TNT). It has nothing to do with my kidney donation. It’s just an organization that is dear to my heart. Since I was lucky enough to get selected in the lottery for the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim (4.4 miles from one side of the bay to the other), I decided to raise money for LLS while I train. LLS funds important research that will help blood cancer patients in the future, and a lot of the research actually has implications for other types of cancers. If you can find it in yourself to give, please visit my donation page.

I am only one,

But still I am one.

I cannot do everything,

But still I can do something.

And because I cannot do everything

I will not refuse to do

The something that I can do.  ~Edward Everett Hale~

————————————————————————-

Early Spring Playlist

  • 10,000 Emerald Pools – BORNS
  • What You Call Love – Guster
  • Every Time Katie – David Wax Museum
  • Second Chance – Peter Bjorn and John
  • Genghis Khan – Miike Snow
  • Northern Highway – Martin Courtney
  • Return to the Moon – EL VY
  • Electric Love – BORNS
  • Mojave Phone Booth – David Mead
  • Breathe In – Frou Frou
  • Better – Regina Spektor
  • Birds and Stars – Elephant Revival

Assertion

Posted by ookgirl on September 7, 2015
Posted in: Ironman, Ironman Lake Placid, Ironman Maryland, Living Kidney Donation, music, triathlon. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

“Something’s wrong when you regret

Things that haven’t happened yet.

It’s a glorious day when morning comes

Without the feeling of alarm.

So rise

And shine

Now’s the time to be alive

To stay awake with me awhile.

(And smile.)”

–The Submarines

assertion

(əˈsɜːʃən)

n

  1. A declaration that is made emphatically (as if no supporting evidence were necessary).
  2. In computer programming – an expression which, if false, indicates an error.

1105_088703

In one of my long-ago, previous posts, I wrote about my decision to try an Ironman-distance triathlon and how I wanted it to be something I had decided to do emphatically. None of this ‘maybe I will,’ or ‘it might be cool.’ … No. I wanted it to be an absolute, resolute, unwavering, ‘yes, I’m going to do that [exclamation point!]’ But that’s not really how it happened. Unlike my almost automatic decision to donate a kidney to a loved one, the Ironman idea had to be pondered and realized over time.

The truth is, I’m not really an assertive person, in general. I’m very much on the subtle side of things.

Those who have been following this bog might wonder how my last foray into Ironman-itude went. It’s true, I didn’t rush back here to write a race report for you. I guess you can guess that it wasn’t my best race. But I did finish it!!! It took me a while to be happy with that result. As much as I don’t want to tell anyone my finish time, I’m really happy I can tell people that I did that race.

1105_019215

Ironman Lake Placid is no joke. The funny thing is, its difficulty seems to be just as subtle as I am. The swim is gorgeous and luxurious. The bike is beautiful and challenging. You love it and can’t wait to do the loop again… until you do it again. Then, it sneaks up on you, and you’re on the run, and you can’t understand why you have no legs and your stomach is upset. At least, that’s how it was for me. It’s so hard to tell how hard it is, that you don’t even know until it’s too late.

1105_034618

So it was that, and I didn’t train enough. But mostly that.

Now, I once again find myself in a position where I wish I could be assertive, …emphatic, …automatic. Some decisions feel like they should be that way, and yet they’re not. I don’t know why.

I’m such an incredibly lucky and blessed person. I have everything I could possibly need, and more. My cup is totally spilling all over the ground with opportunity, and love, and good fortune. How can a person know what to do in such a ridiculous situation?!

In the meantime, my husband and I are still planning (and training) to do Ironman Maryland in a few weeks (Oct. 3, to be exact).

At this point, Ironman training is just a way to keep my mind off things. So, while I’m avoiding assertions, I’ll provide a schizophrenic playlist for you. It’s starts out bold and brash and booming, and ends slower, subtler, …more like me, but less like I want to be. Try listening to the first and last song just for fun, and you’ll see what I mean.

“Hey, Dark Eyes

Rest with me awhile as I drift closer to sleep…

But still cannot…

Still cannot find no peace.”

–Half Moon Run

  • 1940 (AmpLive Remix) – The Submarines
  • A Taste of Silver – Until the Ribbon Breaks
  • Gooey – Glass Animals
  • Baby, What’s Wrong? – Whitehorse
  • Got It – Marian Hill
  • Inside Out – Imelda May
  • When You’re Falling – Afro Celt Sound System (and Peter Gabriel, too 😉 )
  • Half Moon – Blind Pilot
  • Silver Coin – Angus & Julia Stone
  • Train Song – Benjamin Gibbard & Feist
  • Carolina – Benjamin Gibbard
  • In the Aeroplane Over… – Matt Pond PA
  • Fire Escape – Half Moon Run

Three Bananas

Posted by ookgirl on February 11, 2015
Posted in: Cycling, diet, Living Kidney Donation, music, triathlon. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

bananas

When I think of bananas, three things come to mind:

1. The “bananaaaaaa!” cheer that you can send to an athlete during a race if you’re using our friends’ race-tracking app RaceJoy. I mean, what runner or triathlete doesn’t want to think about bananas while they’re racing? 🙂

2. The fact that as a kidney donor, I can’t eat too many bananas at a time.

3. The banana stretch that chiropractor and physical therapist John Michie prescribed for me.

Allow me to elaborate on these… The first banana: RaceJoy is a super-fun and useful app for athletes and their supporters. It tracks you while you’re racing and shows your spectators where you are on the course in real-time. It also allows them to send you cheers during the race, and helps you all meet up afterward. Our friends left their corporate jobs to start this company… just two people working day and night… and they made it happen. I’m so proud of them. They embody “start-up” in every way. Plus, they’re just good people and they deserve to be wildly successful!!!!

The second banana:  Ok, this is all about how I shouldn’t really have a second banana. A kidney donor’s ideal diet is sort of askew from the latest dietary trends. You don’t want to eat super-concentrated protein, and while you don’t need to cut out anything completely, you should also watch your sodium, potassium, and phosphorus. So, as healthy as things like protein, bananas, broccoli, oranges, milk, and beans are… you shouldn’t binge on them. Don’t get me wrong, I still have protein after a workout to help my muscles recover. I just don’t have *concentrated protein*. This also means I try to limit myself to one banana a day. (I haven’t always been good about this, but I’m trying to be better.) It can be tricky if you like to have smoothies, because bananas make smoothies so good! The reason I thought I’d write about this is because one of my fellow kidney-donor-friends recently asked me about creatinine levels and how diet can affect them. I’m not a medical professional; so I can’t really advise anyone. But I did find this helpful article for people with concerns about high creatinine levels. I’ve been fortunate – in that my creatinine level has gone down steadily since my donation. Year on year, it has dropped from 1.1 in 2012, to 1.04 in 2013, and it was 0.91 at the end of 2014. I was once a vegetarian, though. So, I think that makes it easier for me to avoid tons of protein. On the other hand, I also tend to be anemic, and that is a drag when it means they turn me away from donating blood, which happened to me recently. Time to buy some more Floradix iron supplement!

Finally, to the best banana of them all… the Banana Stretch!  I mentioned in this post that I ended up with some minor nerve damage after my kidney donation surgery. Well, the good news is that I no longer notice that pain along the side of my left thigh. But I do continue to have a tightness in my left-lower back that I only started noticing after I donated. It gets worse when I do long bike rides or bike-run bricks. If you are a cyclist/triathlete who has this issue – or maybe if you are a kidney donor and your body reacted to the surgery by tightening up on that side – perhaps this stretch will help you as well. You do the stretch on a medicine ball, and it stretches out the entire side of your body. It’s called the banana stretch because you make a banana shape with your body. I was always thinking I needed to stretch forwards, to stretch my lower back. But it turns out that I need to stretch sideways. Dr. Michie prescribed this stretch for me last year, and it is simply amazing! So worth the money I paid for that appointment! Here is an article that describes the stretch. I hope someone else finds this helpful!

Well, that does it for this banana mash-up. It’s been a while since I shared a playlist, so I’ll include one below. Enjoy!

  • Do You – Spoon
  • Long Night – Guster
  • Breaking it Down – Ben’s Bones
  • Let Go – Frou Frou
  • Bait and Switch – The Shins
  • Endlessly – Guster
  • Circles – Dan Haas
  • Little Red Light – Fountains of Wayne
  • Apology – SafetySuit
  • Make You Better – The Decemberists
  • Black Sun – Death Cab for Cutie
  • Waiting All Night – Phish
  • I Don’t Believe It’s Through – Greg Laswell
  • Fool for Love – Lord Huron

I Have a Hamstring (and a Kidney)

Posted by ookgirl on December 10, 2014
Posted in: Ironman, Living Kidney Donation. Tagged: , , , , , , . 4 Comments

In sports like American football, when a player is injured, the commentators often say something like, “[Player-X] has a hamstring.” … or “[So-in-so] is out with a hamstring.”  I always find it funny when they leave off the word “injury” — as if human beings don’t normally have a hamstring (two, even!)  You can do this with any part of the body… “PlayerX has an ankle” …. “PlayerY is out with a wrist.”  It makes me laugh… Until now, that is. Because now … I myself have a hamstring!

My friend Shelly likes to call it a hammy, which I think is cute. For some reason, it makes me think of a person running around with a big ham tied to the back of their leg, like in a cartoon. But this, my friends, is no laughing matter. Sure, I’ve had a strained/pulled hamstring before, and I would generally feel it whenever I started running. It would ache at first and then warm up and be okay. I could always think back to the moment I over-stretched it … maybe in a yoga class or while stretching after a run. But this time, it’s much worse. Sharp, searing pain, and not always when I’m running. I might just be walking into a store and YOWZA! An extreme burst of pain in my right hamstring — like it’s about to rip off. I hate it, and I’m embarrassed by it.

It also hurts when I’m driving. What’s with that? Somehow, they designed driver’s seats to put you exactly in the worst position for a hamstring injury. It takes me about an hour to commute to work (sometimes longer), and occasionally, I think I might have to pull over and take a rest because my hammy hurts so bad. It’s crazy.

I found this really great article that explains what’s going on with hamstrings and why they get injured. The problem is that they are actually over-stretched all the time, and the quads are stronger, so the quads just pull the hamstrings even more. Then, we feel like we need to stretch the hammies, but they’re over-stretched already. So, it’s like a vicious cycle. (The article explains it much better, but that’s the gist). My latest frustration is that I’ve been doing more strength training lately — which is what you are supposed to do to strengthen the hamstring so it doesn’t get injured. And yet! … The strength training seems to be aggravating my injury! That’s probably because I should have been doing more of it *before* I injured it. I know I need to ice it and rest it. I’ve been mostly swimming lately, so that’s good. (Swimming is awesome, because you can almost always swim – even when you’re injured.) But my work schedule this week has not made it easy to ice it. I will have to do better. And I may even have to break down and get an MRI.

I wouldn’t freak out over an injury like this normally. But this next year, I have two (yes, TWO) Ironman races on my schedule (Lake Placid & Maryland). So, I can’t afford to go into the training season with a big fat hammy. I just can’t. As much as I’ve been in denial over this injury, I’m going to have to face the facts and do the right thing with this one.

In other news, yesterday was my 3rd kidneyversary!  That’s right, three years since I donated my left kidney to my stepdad. I spoke to my stepdad yesterday, and he is still doing great! And, hammy aside, I’m still doing great also. I think about my little right kidney down there working away to keep me healthy, and I just have to thank that kidney for stepping up and taking on the full load! At the time of my donation, I had only done my first half-Ironman, and I wasn’t sure if I could ever do that again. I found it to be so hard. At that time, I couldn’t imagine doing an Ironman, much less scheduling two in one year! Ironman Arizona was so amazing, and I know that we trained diligently for it. I’m going to have to be even more disciplined this time. I have to think that I’ve put that lone kidney through a lot! Thank you so much, little kidney!!! This has been quite a journey!

It seems funny to worry that having a hamstring could derail my triathlon plans, whereas having a kidney (only one, that is) doesn’t seem to be a problem at all.