Steve will start tomorrow accessing the fistula in his arm. This means going back to St. Joe again for more training. This will take at least 6 to 9 times. As of Friday we have done the dialysis at home and it is going pretty well. He doesn't like the time it takes to do this, approximately 3 hours but it is better than driving to St. Joe. We have been working this schedule around Blair's basketball games. We can't miss that. He is anxious to get started with the fistula because this means the pump speed on the machine can be as high as 500 which we think will shorten the time he is actually on the machine.

We had an appointment at KU Friday and they want him to come back the first of February to do a CT scan with contrast to take a good look at the kidney with the cyst. They see a slight change but nothing significant. At this point they want to talk about taking it out. We are also trying to set up an appointment with one of the doctors on the transplant team to see where we are at.

We will let you know how things go this week. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
The Schmitz's Steve, Christy & Blair