After 2 days of Lasix.....

I've been feeling pretty poorly lately, no doubt about it.  I feel full and swollen to an extent that I can't quite convey.  It feels like my lungs are getting squished under a bunch of water.  I feel swollen in my feet, ankles, lower legs, abdomen, chest, neck, nasal cavity and eyes.  Seriously, nearly everywhere.

I spoke with my doctor during plasmapheresis on Monday and voiced my concerns/symptoms.  I was thinking that this was caused from either the Cellcept (immunosuppressant) or the amlopidine (blood pressure), but my doctor could see that I was really swollen, and suggested we start up the Lasix (diuretic) again, and I could not have been more thrilled.

I started it yesterday as soon as I was done with plasmapheresis, and took another dose around 4:00pm.  When I woke up this morning, I felt like a new person.  I mean, I could BREATHE and I had energy and I wasn't so damn shaky and unsteady.  It was awesome!  So I totally took advantage of it and got my hair done, went to the grocery store and the dry cleaner, back to the grocery store (because I forgot my bags at the drive-up window...idiot move) and then the pharmacy and finally back home in time for our new treadmill to be delivered and assembled.

I'm sure people are wondering why I did all that, and the answer is because I COULD.  I know that the weather is going to make a MAJOR shift this weekend, and it's going to become extremely cold and extremely dry, which means people are going to get sicker and sicker as the week progresses, which means I'm probably going to end up being inside most of next week.  Of COURSE I'm worried about germs.  I'm ALWAYS worried about them, but I also want to live my life, and when an opportunity presented itself this morning in the form of me actually feeling human, I decided to live like I was one.

The tiny little problem here is that, when Joacim got home, he said that I looked swollen, and ever since then I've FELT swollen.  I've appreciated Joacim's honesty when it comes to the swelling because it was validating how I felt.  But today I wasn't feeling swollen when he said it, yet it totally affected how I physically felt after he said it, and I've been miserable ever since.  I had been wearing compression stockings since I got home because my ankles and feet were enormous, and those things work really well but tend to make me feel....well....full, for lack of a better description.  I just took them off and feel better, but my abdomen is still pretty puffy, so I don't know what's going on.

I feel like something's still not quite right.  I thought that 2 days of Lasix would put me back where I wanted to be and get my blood pressure under control.  My weight has lowered, but my blood pressure is still as high as before (160/100), and that's with 2 bp meds currently.  I have labs, plasmapheresis and an ultrasound scheduled tomorrow to see if anything is going on with the kidney (more fluid pockets????) so please keep your fingers crossed for a drama-free day and drama-free results.  Thanks all!