Check ups today

All went well today. We stopped at lab first. They took 6 vials of blood. Rece always keeps track. Then we checked into the Heart Center. We got in fairly quickly. Jack weighed in at 64 lbs. He has his brother by a good 10 lbs! Rece is such a big boy now, he went into the echo room by himself and I stayed with Jack during his echo. Both echos looked great. It was interesting to see Jack's false tendon in his left ventricle. We met with Gail (our tx coordinator) and Steve (head pharmacist). It was nice to talk to Steve and talk about all the meds the boys are on and any side effects they may have. When Dr. Berger came in, we discussed keeping Rece's meds as is. They wanted to do some changes to Jack's meds. They are taking him off Aldactone and Enalapril (both twice a day) and putting him on Lisinapril (once a day). Wow, he will be on one medication!!! And he'll be taking it in pill form... We haven't made the switch from liquid to pill with Rece's prograf and azathioprine as that will require adjusting the amounts and making many trips to the lab and winter is not the ideal time to be traveling to Milwaukee. Eventually, we'll get him switched.

Anyway, the decrease in meds was the big news. We are also going to be doing some genetic testing on both boys. I will be getting a urine sample from both boys tonight and dropping it off in the lab tomorrow morning. They are looking for an enzyme. I don't have more information than that but I will be checking in with them again tomorrow to get more details. I figured a urine sample isn't going to hurt anyone.

Rece's prograf levels were a little low, which was expected since his growth spurt. We increased his dose to 3 ml twice a day and we'll have to do another trough level at the end of the month. We've scheduled his cath/biopsy for March 26. I think Rece was happy with the date as it won't restrict him from any wrestling tournaments this year. He's a little concerned as it's 2 days before his dad's birthday though...

I will be heading back down to Milwaukee tomorrow with the boys. We will be meeting with the dermatologist at 10 and then to the dentist at 11. Thankfully, they're in the same building. I'll update again when I know what the "crud" (as Rece calls it) is.