Because of my kidney transplant I see Dr Ghantous once every four months. Thank goodness I got a good report..... creatinine level is .8, cholesterol is good, blood pressure was excellent.I had one of my UTIs and asked him why he prescribed Levinquin for me, which made it go away in only five days.
B/c of the way it would interact with your immunosuppressants. It wouldn't cause any harm b/c you'd be on the Levinquin for such a short time.
Ask questions!!!
In his office, I noticed that again he had been chosen as a Top Doc by Philadelphia Magazine, four years in a row.
Read about him here.
Why were you chosen? I asked.
It's because of my patient care and interaction with my peers, he said.
When a fellow doctor wants to talk to him, he is readily available. He doesn't make them wait.
In fact, during our appt, he took a couple of very quick calls that didn't bother me at all.
Next I asked him why he became a nephrologist. He said he was impressed with certain doctors, at Yale-New Haven, and "imprinted" on them and became a nephrologist as they were.
He's a nice person.
When you die, said Ghantous, you can't take anything with you. All people remember about you is that you were a nice person and how much you cared about other people.
As a Catholic, he believes in the immortal soul. "I believe in an Afterlife," he said. He will meet his parents and a brother there. His father died young, he said, and he's really looking f/w to seeing him again.
On Thanksgiving, Ghantous had to work, but he finally made it home to have a traditional turkey dinner with his family.
We talked a bit about lithium. He said doctors are not prescribing it to the extent they did in my day - when it was the only option for bipolar disorder - because they finally know about the deleterious side effects to the kidney.
But, he reminded me, you lose kidney function very slowly, as you know, Ruth, time is on your side. Some people can prevent kidney shutdown altogether.
I told Ghantous I'd wrin a poem with him in it - 20 Drops of Urine - and emailed it to him. See poem at blog's end.
*
BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES OF MY BEDROOM
I'm completely happy.
As my Mom said, getting a new carpet makes you feel really good.
20 DROPS OF URINE
The clear pee-cup awaits
we must check to see if my
UTI has come back
Monday is my test day at Quest
but I have called Nurse Sue to ask
if I could forge the doctor’s tests he
wants me to take, all because of that
‘pressure to pee,’ when only two drops
tinkle out on the upstairs pink toilet.
Yes, she says. Be sure to make the
checkmark like his – the balding man from
Lebanon, with the rolling stool and shiny
tasseled loafers.
After the check, you must circle
‘Routine Urinalysis,’ then “Culture”
no mistakes or they’ll know.
The entire being of this aging freckled woman
goes into action. I must pee on demand at Quest.
Immediately I down two
huge cups of Peppermint tea
a glass of water to wash my thirst
from my two-egg garlic mushroom omelet
then back into my parking spot
at Quest.
The place is empty. Like my
bladder soon will be.
Pony-tailed Jane does the
rudiments quickly
my Prograf level – which
keeps my kidney pulsing like
a little pocketbook within my
lower right belly – here
kidney kidney kidney –
she’s good and I don’t feel a
thing as I see her “God is Good”
sign by her desk.
I tell her my fear about peeing.
First, I must choose whether to use
the little kid’s word or the adult
multi-syllabic term that indicates
‘you are no longer young – the best years
of your life are over’ – pushing blond-haired
Sarah to the zoo in Austin where she’d lean
from her pram and wave at the chimps –
I don’t let on my fear, but say simply,
“Sure hope I can do it, Jane.”
It's like pleasing teacher.
Twenty drops is all I need, she says.
Twenty drops.
I sit in the waiting room. Read my book
for half an hour. ‘How are you doing down
there?’ I wonder about the clever elimination
system that is revving up for the splashes of
my mighty Niagara.
Sure enough, my cup runneth over.
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