Well, here’s the update on my testing day at the UCSF Kidney Transplant Center. I have to say that they are so organized and so nice there... The two different locations are right across the street from each other, and the parking garage is right below. Parking, incidentally, is validated by the Transplant Office, so it is no cost to the donor. And parking anywhere in SF is expensive.

I had actually previewed the drive from the motel to the Parnassus location, and I’m glad that I did. I left the motel about 6:30 in the morning and it was dark, with thick fog. It was very difficult to see the street signs - I was glad I knew exactly where I was going.

The lab was opened early, so no pressure to get the work done. They drew another eight tubes of blood. However, I ran into a problem with the 24-hour urine collection. Now, this is dismaying and amusing at the same time. I was sent one sample container. Should be OK, right? Well, my dearies, my trainer has me drinking three liters of water a day. What goes in is what comes out, right? So, I had my Pee Jug filled by 11 pm that night. From 6 am to 11 pm I filled that damn thing up.

For testing, it must be a full 24-hour collection. Otherwise, it screws up the creatine and protein results, making them look low, and therefore, look like kidney disease. So, it must be done over again, and they need to send this water-guzzling mama two containers.

Incidentally, after writing the posting about having to carry the PJ around to Home Depot, etc, guess what? The cosmic joke was on me. I did have to go to two Home Depots and to Orchard Supply to look for a plumbing part. And, no, I did not carry it with me.

The exercise treadmill test went very, very well. I was able to go to a 4.2 miles per hour at a 16% grade. They said it was excellent results with normal range heart rate and blood pressure readings. I was so pleased, and my treadmill training certainly paid off.... They also did the EKG there. Really nice, warm and welcoming bunch of folks there in that unit... Great gals.... Went over on the same floor for the chest x-ray. That involved quite a wait, but was done quickly after my name was called.

Then, Yippie - time to eat. UCSF has a great food plaza right across from the hospital, so I went over and finally ate. My Grandpa used to say, when he was hungry, that his stomach thought his throat was cut. Well, I could relate to that... But the food was very good, so I sat, ate slowly, relaxed and read the paper. I had about three hours to wait before my doctor appointment for my physical. So I wandered around and looked at all the buildings. Went up to the sixth floor of the Ambulatory Care Center and saw a fantastic view of the city, but somewhat foggy. Must be incredible on a sunny day.

The physical went well, except that my blood pressure seemed a bit high to them. Their protocol is that they must investigate anything that is even a tiny bit out of the “norm”. So I have to go back up again for another series of tests to rule out any potential harm in case I have high blood pressure. My resting BP while on the table getting hooked up for my treadmill test was 120/68, which they told me was good. But it had increased by afternoon.. (Hmm - wonder if my Starbucks had anything to do with that). I was actually squiggling around on a high stool and laughing and talking with the folks there while they were taking my BP, so maybe that has something to do with the increase, but who knows.... It has to be checked out for my safety, which is the focus of all the testing. They are total advocates for the donor, and it is a separate medical team from what the kidney recipient has.

I met with the Social Worker, who was a nice gal and did her job very thoroughly. She told me that their protocol for non-family donors is to have a second assessment with a psychiatrist, so another visit has to be scheduled. I was a bit surprised, because it was not on the protocol list that the care coordinator had given me, but then, neither was some of the other testing that I will be required to do...

Overall, a positive experience and another step toward the goal of giving my friend a shot a longer, healthier life... I am going to think positive about the upcoming testing...