Tag: kidney failure

kidney failure life


things have been hectic and a little nervewracking lately

  • I need my aortic valve replaced, surgery about the second week of January
  • last wee on Monday and Friday my hemodialysis chest line replaced, clotting problems.
  • I resume blood thinners tonight after an angiogram
  • angiogram today showed no artery blockages, my stent wide open as well
  • my aortic valve needs replacement
  • I am experiencing shortness of breath after basic exertion
  • my walkind distance before I have to stop to catch my breath down to about 30 feet
  • this morning to get from the hospital entrance to the cardiac short stay unit for the angiogram, I needed to borrow a wheelchair.

I am working with my limitations of walking distance.  I am hopeful that the valve replacement will improve my quality of life. Better blood flow should mean greater walking range.  i am told a mechanical valve can last up to ten years.  I believe that the valve fix will put me back on the tramsplant list.  I got the call for a donated kidney for transplant at the beginning of October but had to turn it down.  I expect 2015 to be a wonderful year.

had a kidney for two minutes


Not your average day.

For about two minutes I had a donated kidney for transplant.

I had the call about fifty minutes before I spoke to Jamie

The call was to explain that there were two issues regarding the donor kidney, slight risks.

I accepted the kidney.

That means I would have gone to Toronto and the kidney would have been put in sometime in the next twelve hours or so.  If it was working correctly which was likely it would have worked right away. Then the trick is to control rejection.  This is fairly commonplace.

But

The doctor making the call asked me about my general health.

I explained the low hemoglobin and two tests, endoscopy and colonoscopy scheduled for Nov. 25th.

He said that was a show stopper.

So I handed the kidney back so to speak.  I had it for about two minutes.

Surreal.

I decided to call the dialysis unit in Penetang they were just finishing up Saturday.  They were very empathetic  and suggested that I should  I call the two scopes doctor and tell him about this offer and see if the scope could not be moved up.

My sister was pretty upset, upset for me.  I am bit dazed to be honest.

So I am at the very top of the transplant list.  But I am temporarily “off” it to get this hemoglobin question answered.

On Monday end of the day I see my family doctor as was arranged last week and will discuss the situation.  Perhaps the scopes can get mover up.  Perhaps a cancellation.

The unknown is what is causing the low hemoglobin and what can be done to fix me up and of course how long will it take to schedule and how long to make the necessary improvement happen.

Meanwhile my 6th anniversary of dialysis falls in the first week of November.

Dialysis on a warm Friday


Smooth run today.  We had a visitor drop by, John, a former dialysis patient who received a transplant five years ago.  He brought chocolate mint cookies which was kind.  The hospital gives us a snack, coffee or tea or juice and two digestive cookies.  I usually opt for cranberry juice on ice.  

Warm, warm warm today, above ten Celsius.  Grace and I sat out on our back deck basking for half an hour.  I dragged out an old wooden kitchen chair.  

I began dialysis a little over five years ago.  I have been told to expect a kidney transplant this year by December.

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TRANSPLANT VERDICT


I  had dialysis this morning from 715am to 1140am in Penetang, Ontario.  A smooth run.  I then drove myself about 100 miles south to Toronto to St. Michael’s Hospital in the downtown core.  Spoke with the surgeon.  I had set a range of possibilities in my brain before heading down.  I had been told that I was a GO for transplant, but you never know.  So I was ready for NO GO all the way to waiting four or more years longer.  I started dialysis in the first week of November of 2008.

So the verdict:  I was told to expect a cadaverous kidney in about a year.

This is based on the practice to place patients on this transplant list based on the date they started dialysis, after they complete the preliminary evaluation/work up to determine their viability for a kidney transplant.

It is interesting one factor they consider is anti-body production.  Three ways that your body might have produced anti-bodies:

  • blood transfusion
  • pregnancy
  • another organ transplant

None of these factors apply to me.

All those Hail Marys must have helped.