More UCLA Appointments

*That is not me. I am not pregnant.

I just complete my video call with UCLA this morning. As expected, they want another appointment in 10 days due to the spike in my creatinine levels. Usually if the number increases by >20%, they want to figure out why, or see the number drop back down on the next test. In addition, the doctor wanted another ultrasound, this time of the arteries connecting the new kidney. Since this ultrasound is only available at the Westwood site, they cancelled my appointment tomorrow in Palos Verdes, and set up another one at 100 Medical Plaza for both scans. That means I have to drive to UCLA campus on a Friday afternoon. Ugh. The drive there will be fine, likely no more than 90 minutes, but the drive home at 3:00 pm will take over two hours for sure.

I just looked at my Google Calendar and there is a medical appointment almost every other day for the next two weeks. This reminds me of the bad ol’ days right after heart surgery when I had a ton of appointments plus 3 days of dialysis each week. At least there is no dialysis this time.

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The doctor was pretty puzzled by the sudden increase in my creatinine levels. She said since the donor match was so good, there is very little chance of an organ rejection. The additional ultrasound scan is to make sure the artery supplying blood to the new kidney is not blocked in any way. I read cases where the kidney moves and twists the artery, blocking blood flow. I also read that dehydration will likely increase the creatinine levels so I am going to drink a lot of water the next week prior to the lab test.

More Medication Side Effects

Post transplant, I looked up the side effects of all the medications I was prescribed. The focus was on the three anti-rejection medications since they had the most negative effects. Here is another one I found from the National Kidney Foundation:

*https://www.kidney.org/sites/default/files/02-50-4079_ABB_ManagingTransRecipBk_PC.pdf*

Once again, I was prescribed the following medication categories: Steroids, Tac, and MMF. The MMF stopped after a few weeks, but I am still taking prednisone and tacrolimus. Looking at this list, the adverse effects with the most total ↑’s are diabetes, hypertension, and osteopenia. I know I have the first two conditions, although the hypertension is a lot better controlled recently. I had to look up osteopenia and it is basically bone mass loss. I am not sure if I have or developed this condition, but I do not remember doing a bone density test ever.

Back to my current issues with blood sugar, I am hoping that the tacrolimus is partially responsible for the difficulty I am having. Maybe if UCLA ever decreases or removes my tacrolimus dosage, or I get more used to it, my blood sugar will drop enough to stop the insulin shots. Finally, the last line in the chart above has decreased GFR attributable to tacrolimus as well. Perhaps that is causing the spike in my creatinine numbers? But if so, why now?

Creatinine Spike

Just when I thought the transplant was going well, and UCLA is about to release me to my regular doctors, the latest test results show a big increase in my creatinine test result.

This is a chart of creatinine levels from 2/1/2021. The “normal high” line is at 1.3 mg/dL. I have been pretty close or below the line since a week after the transplant, but now the number is at 1.58. That implies a eGFR of 50. Two weeks ago, the numbers for creatinine and eGFR were 1.23 and 67 respectively. I do not know if this is common to have large swings in creatinine levels post surgery. I do have an appointment with UCLA so I am sure they will discuss it with me. This makes me feel that tomorrow’s appointment will not be the last one since they likely will want another follow-up test and appointment.

On that topic, I have been getting random flashes of pain in area where I think the new kidney sits. It is never a sharp pain, and goes away quickly. I also have these random spikes of pain all over my body that I attribute to peripheral neuropathy, especially in my ankle/feet (one is starting up in my right ankle as I type), so I was never concerned. When I go to clinic in person, the doctors also have me lie down and then press on that area; there were never any issue with that either. I did notice a little more pain from that area this past weekend but do not know if it is related to the higher creatinine levels. Finally, I have had three Natera Prospera tests and they have not mentioned any signs of organ rejection.

Hopefully this is an one time thing, and my creatinine levels drop to normal levels during the next set of lab tests.

Two More Frozen Entrées

Trying to diversify my lunch choices, I bought a few different frozen entrées from Albertsons recently. The first one was the Savory Swedish Meatball Bowl. It got a dismal 2.1 ★ on their website, but I thought the dish was pretty good. I am a big fan of Swedish Meatballs from IKEA, and I always get dishes like Beef Stroganoff when it is available at work.

The Marie Calendar’s version of Swedish Meatballs also included some noodles, and looks like this coming out of the microwave oven:

As always, the box photo look 10x better than the actual entrée. For sure I was expecting larger meatballs and the actual paper bowl was disappointedly flimsy. I also wished there was more gravy/sauce in the dish since the noodles were a bit dry. However, the meatballs were better tasting than expected. I also think my microwave puts out more power than the standard 1100 watts since most food start to burn when cooked per package instructions. The noodles were nice and chewy as well. Usually microwaved noodles come out soft and mushy instead. I would have given the entrée a 4 ★ rating, and 10/10 would eat again.

The other frozen entrée I had (today) was the Healthy Choice Crustless Chicken Pot Pie. I usually only get Marie Calendar’s frozen entrées because they taste the best, but they are not the healthiest choice (get it?). Anyway, here is the packaging and entrée in real life:

It is one of those “Café Steamers” things from Healthy Choice. I posted about another entrée about a month ago. Truthfully, I could probably copy/paste the previous post, and it would describe this entrée perfectly. The box photo looks a lot better than the actual food, and seems to have double the amount in the box. There was enough chicken, and the dumplings were not too bad either. Like what I said about the noodles up above, the dumplings were not mushy and had a good al dente feel to them. I did run the microwave at 90% power so that likely prevented some sporadic overcooking. Once again however, the actual taste was pretty bland. There was enough sauce to cover the “steamed” ingredients, but it was not very tasty. Maybe the small size and bland taste is what keeps the entrée healthy?

Here is the nutritional information from both entrées.

Nutritional Item	Marie Calendar’s Savory Swedish Meatball Bowl	Healthy Choice Crustless Chicken Pot Pie
Serving size	326 g	272 g
Calories	460	300
Total Fat	21 g	6 g
Saturated Fat	0.5 g	2 g
Cholesterol	105 mg	85 mg
Sodium	610 mg	600 mg
Total Carbohydrates	47 g	40 g
Dietary Fiber	3 g	3 g
Total Sugars	13 g	4 g
Protein	20 g	21 g
Calcium	90 mg	40 mg
Potassium	390 mg	700 mg

I wrote all the above without looking at the nutritional information first. The meatballs taste better probably because of all that fat! The Healthy Choice entrée is definitely “healthier” but does it override the really bland taste? They are about the same price at the supermarket so I am not sure which one I should get. Probably should just avoid all of them and eat a salad instead.

Endocrinologist Appointment

Of all my doctor appointments, this is the one that worries me the most. With UCLA transplant center, most of my test results are in the normal range. Even my blood pressure readings have improved quite a bit. Some electrolyte readings are slightly high, but the transplant center does not seemed too concerned. The one area that is still a problem in my blood sugar readings. It is super sensitive to what I eat, and I have a vague correlation on how food affects blood sugar. I know it is related to carbohydrates and sugar, but there is a lot of variability and often the test readings surprise me, both positive and negative.

Here is a chart from data I uploaded to my meter’s website:

Data is from previous 12 weeks. There are a few outliers; I was too lazy to go back and delete obvious erroneous readings. If you squint, there does seem to be a very slight downward trend, especially during the last two weeks. There are definitely more green dots on the right side of the graph than the left. However, the numbers are still to high on average. If I shorten the time range, the average does drop somewhat.

Time Range	Average Blood Sugar (mg/dL)
12 weeks	214 ± 50
8 weeks	207 ± 50
4 weeks	195 ± 50
2 weeks	173 ± 39

There is no real difference between one or two weeks. The problem is that I have been skipping some meals, but still injecting the prescribed amount of insulin. If the morning reading is high, I may just drink my cup of decaf coffee and not eat anything else. That would definitely drop my noon blood pressure reading. I am supposed to only inject the Humalog if I am eating carbs in the next 15 minutes so I am running a (slight) risk for hypoglycemia. Again, had that once before and definitely do not want a repeat performance.

Back to the top of my post. I sent my updated prescription list (10 medications) plus blood sugar readings for all of May. Hopefully she can shed some light on why my blood sugar is so hard to control.

Vaccine Lottery

People suck.

The post title does not mean what it usually means. By now, about 50% of US population has at least one vaccine shot, but progress is slowing. Instead of a lottery to get a vaccine shot, this is a lottery in California that pays people to get the vaccine. How lame.

Basically, the next two million people to get a COVID vaccine will get a $50 gift card, while everyone that has received the vaccine by June 15 will be eligible for a drawing with ten $1.5 million winners, and 30 $50,000 winners. That divides California into three groups of people:

Those that already received the vaccine
Those that still will not get the vaccine
Those that will the vaccine because of the $50, or the lottery

I am in the first group, but due to anti-rejection medication, I am unsure if the vaccine is effective. For the second group, some people may have good reasons, such as a prior COVID infection, but most are likely anti-vaxx idiots. However, at least they stick to their beliefs, however illogical they may be.

Then there is the third group. I am not even sure why they have not received the vaccine yet, but it appears that $50 will change their mind. As someone that pays a great deal of California taxes (income, sales, property, vehicle, property, etc.), this pisses me off. They are nothing more than prostitutes, their principles and actions easily swayed by a bit of cash. This will also make things worse when we need COVID booster shots or vaccination becomes an annual event. These same assholes <spit> will now expect payment to be vaccinated. Instead of being grateful for the vaccine will save their lives, it will just be another entitlement that other people have to pay for.

People suck.

Time Management

Now that I am four months post-transplant surgery, I have almost forgotten how much time dialysis take up.

My first hemodialysis (HD) experience started with 3.5 hours twice a week. It eventually changed to three time a week. My scheduled time was from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday. This was before COVID so I drove to work Monday/Wednesday/Friday, and worked from home Tuesday/Thursday mornings. I would bring my laptop and cell phone, and managed to do some work with the help of my analyst in the office. For weeks where I was too tired to work in the mornings, I took a PTO day to cover.

When I switched to peritoneal dialysis (PD), I started going into the office daily, but that meant zero free time during the week. I could watch TV or use my computer after connecting to the cycler, but would have a 20 foot tube attached to me. I found out later that during dwell times between cycles, I could disconnect the tube, and reconnect before the next cycle. This however, increased the risk of infection each time I disconnected, but I could move around the house for an hour or so.

After the bypass surgery and returning to HD, my schedule was now T/T/S from 5:30 am to 10:00 am. This was fine while I was out on medical leave, but not so good once I returned to work. I ended up doing the same thing as before: going into work 3 days and working from home for 2 days, except in the afternoon. After COVID hit in March 2020, I started working at home full-time. I still took a vacation day here and there to cover for missing hours, but that got tedious too. Finally, I switched to a part-time schedule (30 hours/week) that allowed me to keep my health insurance, but with a 25% pay cut.

Post-transplant, I took about 9 weeks of medical leave, and returned to work full-time starting April 2021. Since I am taking anti-rejection medications, I am working from home every day. I have got used to not seeing people from work, but it is difficult. I think I work better if I can talk to people in person, but realized that society has changed, perhaps permanently, due to COVID. Most of my staff were working from home this past year (all computer related), and will likely work a few days from home each week after things return to “normal.:” For me, after 3.5 years of dialysis, it is still hard to think about the next treatment session. Some days, I lose track of what day of the week it is, and try to join conference calls that are scheduled for another day. In addition, as California is opening up in a few weeks, I do not know what my work expects from office workers that do not need to be there physically. Since I do not know if my Moderna vaccine shots are effective, I will likely stay home for a few months more.

K-BBQ

For dinner last night, our church cell group ate dinner at Gen Korean BBQ House in Tustin. It is one of many all-you-can-eat (AYCE) Korean BBQ restaurants in the Irvine-Tustin area. Before the pandemic, we typically eat at All That BBQ in Irvine. At one point, we were eating a All That BBQ almost once a month. Since most of the cell group members were Korean, it seemed like a natural choice.

We decided on Gen because they said they have outdoor seating. However, when we showed up to the restaurant, 90% of the outdoor tables were dismantled, and there were only two tables outside. Having waited for almost two hours (someone went early to put his name down on the waiting list), we decided to check out the inside. Based on my call with UCLA Wednesday morning, I was still wary of indoor dining. Since the table they gave us was in the corner, and all the group members were vaccinated, I felt comfortable eating indoors so we stayed. There was a 90 minute limit, but I think we stayed over two hours. Our server did not really care that much, and she kept serving us food… and we ordered a lot of food. It was only $25 per person; with drinks and tip, we ended up paying $35 each. Totally worth it.

Afterwards, I had to toss all my clothes in the laundry bin since it all smelled like BBQ, and took a long shower before going to bed. This morning, I checked my blood sugar this morning and it was high, but lower than expected at 195. Usually if I eat rice for dinner the night before, the morning blood sugar reading will be >200.

Creatinine Levels

One of the most important indicator of kidney function is the level of creatinine in your blood.

A creatinine test is a measure of how well your kidneys are performing their job of filtering waste from your blood.
Creatinine is a chemical compound left over from energy-producing processes in your muscles. Healthy kidneys filter creatinine out of the blood. Creatinine exits your body as a waste product in urine.
A measurement of creatinine in your blood or urine provides clues to help your doctor determine how well the kidneys are working.
Mayo Clinic

Since the transplants, I have had minor issues with lab results, primarily potassium (too high), calcium (also too high), phosphorus (too low), and blood sugar (way too high). However, the creatinine levels were pretty solid, though on the high end of normal. Here is a chart pre-transplant:

The huge spike was right before my bypass surgery when the nephrologist determined that peritoneal dialysis (PD) was not working for me anymore. Since this chart is from St. Joseph, the six month I was on PD with Satellite Health is missing. Typical readings were between 9 and 10 while I was on dialysis.

Here are results from UCLA starting the day after transplant:

My creatinine levels dropped pretty quickly right after surgery, and after less than two weeks, stabilized at around 1.3. The transplant has seemed pretty happy about my creatinine numbers so I am happy too.

MapChart

I found a website call MapChart that allows you to pull up various maps and color map subdivision individually to represent data. The most obvious and easy one to do is travel. I mapped which countries I have been to, and also one of US states and Canadian provinces. I tried to do a California map using counties, but could not figure out which county is which.

For the maps, I use blue for my home country/state, and colored the data using yellow.

The world map is pretty sad. Most of the countries are gray since I have only been to a handful of countries. Not that I can travel again, once the pandemic subsides, I am looking forward to turning more countries yellow.

USA and Canada: too many to list
Mexico: Tijuana, Cancun, Chichen Itza y
UK: London
France: Paris
Switzerland: unknown city, midnight train stop
Italy: Rome, Florence
Tunisia: Tunis + all major cities
Japan: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto
Taiwan: Taipei, Kaoshiung, Taichung, Tainan, Keelung, Hualien
China: Chengdu, Beijing, Shenzen, Sanya (Hainan), Zigong (Szechuan)
Thailand: Bangkok, Udon Thani, Phuket
Singapore
Hong Kong

Truthfully, some of these states and provinces marked yellow are kinda fake. Like Switzerland in the world map, I only transited or drove through some of these states/provinces. These are the iffy ones: Texas, Florida, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Alberta, and Yukon. For the rest, I have spent at least one night in each country/state/province.

For the future, I have mapped out countries that I really want to visit, and those that are second priority (repeat visit included).

If I had to narrow it down to three countries on the future list, it would be South Korea, Germany, and Australia since I have not been there before. I still have a lot of relatives in Canada so that is likely 100% certain. I also have Taiwan citizenship and there is a non-zero chance that I may buy an apartment in Taipei and live there part-time. My sister’s family is also planning a middle-Europe trip, probably Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Czechia, and Hungary (maybe not all in one trip).

C’mon everyone, get vaccinated so I can travel again!

#1111

This is post #1111 for my blog. I was going to shut down the blog on this post since I thought I was going to be “released” by the UCLA transplant center. That was as good as a milestone as any. However, as I mentioned in the previous post, I have to go back again in two weeks for my final final final final appointment. So for now, I will keep posting here.

In reality, I have not decided what to do with my two blogs. My old blog has over 10 years of posts, though it has basically gone dormant after I started this blog. It is on an older platform (Blogger). I like WordPress more, and actually thinking about paying for a premium subscription so I can make it look more professional. Maybe I will just link the two existing blogs to the new one for continuity. I tried to keep this one semi-anonymous since there is a lot of medical data, but I think I would like to post as my real self in the future.

Final x4 Appointment

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!
Michael Corleone, The Godfather: Part III

Not a mafia boss, but that how I feel after the “final” UCLA post-transplant appointment. Not sure if I mentioned it previously, but they initially scheduled an in-person appointment, but changed it to a video call later. That meant I had to schedule a lab appointment in Laguna Hills. Since it was kind of last minute, my lab appointment was at 11:30 am. Not wanting to miss my tacrolimus and prednisone pills in the morning, I took them at 8:00 am as scheduled. As a result, my tacrolimus test result was through the roof, and ended up being invalid. There is no “normal” range given, but I read that from 7 to 11 is a good result.

*Tacrolimus test results from 1/28/2021*

Since the result was useless diagnostically, the nephrologist wanted me to schedule another appointment with them. I guess they want me case to be perfect before releasing me back to my regular nephrologist. That was not all however. The reason they asked for this past appointment was due to a high calcium test result. Well, it was even higher this time, though still small. They also added a new test for PTH or parathyroid hormone. My numbers while on dialysis was crazy high, like 400+, when normal is 10-51. This time, my result was 85, but I have nothing to compare to since this was the only result for this test. To counter this and high calcium, I was prescribed Sensipar. Instead of reducing medication, I picked up another one.

Finally, just to rule out some issue with my kidneys, UCLA ordered a kidney ultrasound. It was strange since I just got an ultrasound less than a month ago, but this time it was for my old kidneys. Sometimes recipients get cysts or kidney stones in the old kidneys, and one of the symptoms is high PTH. This time, instead of going to UCLA for the ultrasound, they were able to make an appointment for me at a site in Palos Verdes. Much closer drive, except it will be Friday afternoon when I am done. Probably the worst time to drive from South Bay to Irvine. Along with my no show podiatrist rescheduling, there were a lot of phone calls and coordination to schedule this latest batch of medical appointments.

Missing Podiatrist

Typically, when someone misses a medical appointment, it is usually the patient. That is why I constantly get reminder emails, texts, and phone calls to remind me about upcoming appointments, or to ask me to confirm the date and time.

This morning, I had an appointment with my podiatrist. The time was scheduled six months ago, and it was a regular check-up appointment, plus also to follow up on the huge cut on my toe from last year. I realized over the weekend that I have not received any communication from the doctor’s office about the appointment. I did look at the St. Joseph Follow My Health (FMH) app, and the item was still listed however. So at 7:35 am, I drove the 15 minutes to the doctor’s office. When I arrived, I found the door locked, and window blinds closed. I knocked on the door a few times and waited. And waited. And waited until someone came out of another door and asked me why I was there. Turned out the podiatrist was out the entire week, but no one had notified me. The staff from another office (I think all the “suites” are linked) mentioned it was likely due to St. Joseph switching their system from Follow My Health to MyChart/Epic. Since I scheduled an hour for the appointment, and now had nothing to do, I drove to the nearby Tesla Supercharger and charged up my car.

Back to the system change, UCLA Health uses MyCharts so I have been accessing the system a lot lately. My nephrologist in Orange uses Athena Health so I have been on their portal for a bit. There seems to be a lot of different solutions on the market. Just go to “Add Another Account” on the Apple Health app, and you will see a huge list of different systems. There are literally hundreds of pages to scroll through.

I am getting a lot of notification from MyChart from St. Joseph as they are migrating old health data from FMH. It keeps telling me that there are new test results available, but it just a batch of old tests. Hopefully I can add the new MyChart account to Apple Health and have one place to view all my trended test results.

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About the podiatrist. Someone took down my name/DOB/phone number, and said the office will call me later with a new appointment date/time. Luckily it was a regular check-up and not something more important.

Weight Maintenance

I read online that post-transplant surgery, a lot of recipients either gain weight due to anti-rejection drugs, ~~or lose a lot of weight due to fluid loss~~ (oops, I guess that’s not really common). Here is my weight for the past year as recorded by my Fitbit Aria scale:

In the past 12 months, I have lost about 10 kg or ~22 pounds. For the past six months, my weight has been pretty steady at around 80 kg or between 175-180 pounds. Due to the higher blood sugar readings, I have been trying to eat less carbs and sugar so maybe that has helped keep the weight gain down. Since my right leg is still hurting a bit, I have not been walking that much. Not sure what that does to the weight however. I will have to start walking more soon though.

Bibi – Instagram Live

I got a notification for an Instagram Live video from Bibi, one of my new favorite K-Pop/K-R&B artists. I actually purchased her latest album from Choice Music LA, but have not received it yet. The live video is still on right now, and there are about 2,000 viewers. She speaks pretty good English for someone that did not live outside of Korea. I think in an interview she said she had a long-distance relationship with someone from China. I guess they had to speak English.

Here is her latest music video:

My favorite Bibi song so far:

I have not gone to any concerts lately. If she decides to tour LA, I would definitely go see her sing.

A few photos of Bibi. The left is a modeling shot. The right is a screenshot of the Instagram Live video. She looks much younger without makeup. She is also very down-to-earth on these live videos. Since Bibi has gotten more popular, there are more photoshoots and commercials featuring her. Search for “bibi” on YouTube and there are hundreds of videos.

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Bibi was “discovered” on a SBS show called The Fan. Established artists would bring new artists to perform and compete on the show. This was her performance on episode 1. Bibi has later said she would rather choose “death” before going on another singing competition show.

Dental Appointment 5/10/2021

Long time readers (if there any) will remember a lot of posts early last year about my dental issues. I ended up getting a few root canals and quite a few more crowns. Looking through transactions on Mint, I found ~$15k of payments to the dentist, and about $3,600 to the endodontist. This also does not include the $1,500 paid by Delta Dental. Anyway, the total was close to $20k for 2020; there was probably more in 2019.

Today was just a cleaning. They had placed me on a three month schedule, but I missed the February appointment due to the transplant surgery and subsequent anti-rejection medications. I finally got clearance a few weeks ago to see the dentist again. The appointment went both better and worse than I thought. Based on my recent experience, I expected a lot more commentary and plaque scraping. It turned out just okay, but the dentist says I need two crown replacements. It has been less than 18 months; I thought they last longer? They are both on my left side so maybe it is due to me chewing on that side only since I had two molars extracted on my right side. There is also another tooth that needs a crown. We knew about this one but did not get it fixed last year. Finally, there are one or two small cavities that he can fill.

If you look at the big picture, it is not as bad as a bypass heart surgery or major organ transplant, but it sucks nevertheless. The dental office is also not really close by so it takes an hour to drive roundtrip.

No Immunity?

I saw an article on NPR today about COVID-19 vaccine and transplant recipients. Basically, the doctors are saying that even if you are vaccinated, you should assume that you have no immunity.

Right now, Haidar says, the best advice he can give his patients is to get vaccinated — but keep living cautiously, adhering to the same masking and physical distancing precautions they’ve been following throughout the pandemic.
And just assume you’re not protected, he advises. “I know it sounds lame, but this is all that can be offered now.”
NPR Website

At least he’s right that it is super lame. The article also says experts do not recommend getting an antibody test since it may not measure the right things. WTF? Then what was the basis of the Johns Hopkin study? How did any of the vaccine manufacturers come up with their efficiency numbers? You game me two vaccine shots and you do not know if it did anything at all?

I did ask one of the UCLA nephrologists about this back in late March. Basically she said the same thing. You probably have some immunity, but it will not be as strong as “normal” people, and no, do not get an antibody test. Initially, I thought I would be able to physically go back to work a few days a week, and maybe travel a bit since the last time I travelled was back in 2015. Now it looks like I have to keep hiding out indefinitely since I live in the land of anti-mask and anti-vaccine morons.

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The article did mention that a lot of the immunity issues come from anti-metabolites. I was taking mycophenolate right after surgery, but that tapered off quickly. It is likely that there was still decent levels of the medication in my body when I received the second vaccine shot, but I have been off that medication for several months n0w. Maybe a third/booster vaccine shot will work.

Tacrolimus vs. Mycophenolate

Blood Sugar Update

Three and a half months post-transplant, most of my test results are looking normal. Even my blood pressure, which has fluctuated a lot both before and after transplant, has settled down somewhat to ~140 systolic standing and ~120 standing. The only remaining problem is blood sugar. I have type 2 diabetes for many years. While on dialysis, whatever insulin I naturally produce stays in my body since it is not filtered out during dialysis. However, post-transplant, the combination of anti-rejection medication side effects and new kidney flushing out insulin means high blood sugar and need for insulin shots. I finally figure out how to export and graph blood sugar readings from my meter. Here is data since last November when I switched to the new meter:

The text is a bit hard to read, but it is pretty obvious when the surgery occurred. Post-surgery, I have been on three different insulin injection schedules. Again, it is hard to see, but the first 1/3 period after transplant was just Humalog on a sliding schedule. The second 1/3 period was two insulin pens but at a low dosage. Finally, the last 1/3 period has the same two insulin pens but will a higher dosage. There is a slight downward trend at the end of the graph. It is likely a combination of lower tacrolimus dosage and me actively avoiding food with added sugar. Hopefully the trend continues.

The data also says that there are 438 readings on the chart. The time scale is just shy of six months so that averages out to 2.5 lancet pricks per day. If you look at the fingertips of my left hand, you can definitely see hundreds of tiny dots showing where blood was taken for each blood sugar reading. My iPhone 12 camera cannot focus close enough to get a decent photo; I may have to get out my SLR and a macro lens to see if I can get a clear pic.

More Training

So I finally finished the Harassment Prevention training that started weeks ago. It was super tedious since I have just went through the exact same material months ago. Overall, it is a good thing to bring more awareness and train people to identify and prevent harassment. However, many times I felt there was definitely a political agenda. Additionally, the material often makes statements that start with “Research shows…” but never has any references to the research. I feel if you are going to pull out the expert authority card, you need to footnote the source.

The next course is Global Trade Controls, where we learn about export controls. I did the export compliance job at a previous company for several years and it sucked. We did hire an external law firm to help, but I think the company employee should also have a law degree or background. The most interesting part of the training is a list of embargoed countries. There are the usual suspects like China (the communist one), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Venezuela, et cetera, but now Hong Kong is also on the list. I am not sure when Hong Kong was added; I do not remember seeing it on the list the last time I took this course. I am pretty positive that it is in response to the insane National Security Law that was forced on to Hong Kong recently. I used to love Hong Kong, even though most of the time I was just transiting through the airport. I have only been in the city three or four times, and looked forward to visiting again. Well, that is on indefinite hold now that China has basically trashed Hong Kong. Sad…

Apple Music Sucks, Again

This is the second time that the Apple Music application has lost my music library. The actual files are still there, but nothing shows up when you open the app. I found that the app would randomly resets the file storage folder to a new location, thus “losing” the library file. It appears this happened when Apple switched the app name from iTunes to just Music. That is fine and all, but why mess with the default folder setting when people have thousands of music files already organized? Again, who codes this crap? Does Apple do any software QA or just let app go out the door with tons of bugs?

Old file location: …/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music

New location: …/Music/Music/Media

Why? Is this some kind of vanity bullshit to just rename the folder path so the new app cannot find previous music files? I could not remember how I fixed the problem last time so I Googled again. Almost every article is about iPhone/iPad, even if I specifically type “Mac OS” in the search terms. In the end, I had to use Time Machine to restore the library file from a week ago. After churning for 10 minutes, I get an error message that says some of the music cannot be restored because the app cannot find them. Sigh… all the files are in ONE folder. It ended up restoring about 6,000 songs but I have no idea how many are missing.

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I just found out that the restore process inserted another folder in the file path. Now most of the songs are in …/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Music, while a bunch of files/folders are left in the old file location. WTF Apple? I have no idea how to fix this. Additionally, the songs that are “missing” in the restored library are in the newly created Music subfolder. I guess I will try to restore the music library XML file again to see if that fixes things.

Seriously, I need to fine a replacement for Apple Music since each time I restore the library file, the app loses track of when songs are added so everything shows up in the “Recently Added” playlist. I guess you get what you paid (free) for.

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Ugh, even worse, Apple Music managed to split some artist’s songs into the old Music folder and the new additional Music folder. I was going to copy all the files from one folder to another, but with duplicate folder names and songs spread across both of them, I cannot do a simple drag and drop but have to reconcile all the folders first. Seriously, this is totally f*ucked up.

I think Apple is messing up the Music app on purpose so we will all subscribe to Apple Music and forget about downloading MP3 files. I got Spotify Premium instead since it seems to have more K-Pop and C-Pop music.