Troubles McSteans

About a month ago I went to see my cardiologist to hear the results of my nuclear stress test. My cardiologist is a nice guy and I respect his opinion, but he always looks at me with a twinge of pity like I'm going to keel over right there in his office. I was already not looking forward to this appointment for this reason, so I wasn't surprised when he solemnly advised it was time for me to look into getting a defibrillator . Feeling apprehensive about meeting with the electrophysiologist , I enlisted my mother to accompany me (Ryan would have gone with me had she not been available, but she really wanted to come). It sounds like my situation is not as dire as my cardiologist would have me believe. Yes, he has reason to be concerned, but the surgeon seemed to feel that 1) he's not entirely sure he can easily insert a defibrillator with my veins and small frame and 2) he's not even sure I need one right now. Apparently the next step is to go in for some testing t...

I'm a sucker for the Olympics and am looking forward to what has traditionally been exciting television. The games have admittedly had a rocky history, with politics occasionally interfering, but the idealist in me loves watching the world attempt to set aside differences for two weeks every two years. I was lucky enough when I was 12 to be able to attend the 88 Winter Olympics in Alberta, Canada. My Aunt and Uncle (hi Helen and Hans!) at the time lived in the host city, Calgary, and were gracious enough to invite the McBrides up for a visit. We went to a couple of hockey games, attempted to see skiing (which was postponed that day due to weather, but my brother and cousin and I still had fun sliding down the snowy mountain), and attended pairs and men's figure skating. The highlight for me was seeing the much advertised " Battle of the Brians " between Brian Boitano and Canadian Brian Orser from our nosebleed seats. What would Brian Boitano do? I will watch pre...

Tomorrow, July 27, is a very special day. It is the birthday of two classy ladies, my mother, and my good friend Nicole. I'm happy to say, my mom and I have a great relationship. I've detailed a little of my medical history here, but that didn't just affect me. My mother went through a lot of that with me, especially in the beginning. She took me to all of my nephrologist appointments which were an hour and a half away in Oklahoma City and was there when I was first diagnosed. I've been fine with all of this for years, but it was a scary day for a previously healthy 17 year old as words like "transplant" and "dialysis" were suddenly thrown around. We were so depressed that we took a detour to the mall on our way home for shopping and about a pound of chocolate each from the Godiva store. Mom took charge of my health, from altering our diets to doing her own research on kidney disease. She even took me to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN for a s...

Anyone that has been to my house when I'm not expecting company knows I'm not the tidiest of people. Honestly it's good for us to have folks over frequently as it forces us to do cleanups. I don't like being this way. I wish I was one of those people (the majority of the population) who are able to put things back after they use them. Simple enough, right? But sometimes I remember to do this and other times I space out. Then the spacing out overpowers the remembering and soon I've got a cluttered living room. Having animals doesn't help. About a year ago we gave up completely trying to keep the dogs off the couch, so there's dog and cat hair everywhere. The hair is only part of the problem. Our backyard has grass except for over by the fence where Lucy has dug a trench running back and forth to bark at the neighbor dogs. When it rains this turns into a mud pit. Then Miss Lucy and sometimes Mel will show up at the door wearing a nice set of mud bo...

If you have some time, go watch Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog . It stars Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion, is directed by Joss Whedon and is awesome. Update: I think this is only available the next 2 days, so see it while you can! Maybe only available for free? I'm not sure. Go watch!

As briefly mentioned in my first post, I have had two kidney transplants. I took the second semester off from my first year of college to have the first one and received that kidney from my dad (thanks, dad!!). Living donor transplants are preferential to cadaveric donation because you can more carefully schedule and prepare for them and there is a better chance of the kidney working right away. I couldn't believe how much better I felt post transplant. My first semester at college I'd earned the nickname "Sleepy" due to my proclivity for frequent napping, but with the new kidney I had newfound energy. Actual photo of my dad's kidney My dad's kidney worked for about 5 1/2 years. I didn't reject it but rather it succumbed to my original disease, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis that I still carry. After that I went on dialysis for almost 2 years. My doctor thought there might be less chance of disease recurrence if I didn't have a transplant ...

We've had our black lab Lucy since she was 2 months old, and her first year was the closest I'll ever come to raising kids (I don't dislike kids, it's just not in the cards for us). Her first two nights in our house in Arizona gave me sympathy for those who have ever lived with a newborn. We could hear her loudly crying ALL NIGHT in her kitchen crate from our adjacent bedroom. I don't know if you're familiar with labradors, but lab puppies are a little like fuzzy tornadoes. Lucy had (and still has but not to the same extreme) the crazy eyes. She ate every object in the backyard: lawn chairs, rocks, towels, all 13 of our sprinkler heads. I even once glanced out the back window to see her running by with the rake in tow. Training sessions with her were like pulling teeth - she was physically unable to focus on anything but Jeff the Cat inside the house, even when he was out of the room. Her eyes remained locked on his last known position throughout the le...