Monday, August 16, 2010

ADHD is not just for kids

Jim and I had a nephrology (kidney doc) appointment today and it went alright. Our nephrologist, is a great physician, however she talks so fast that it takes two of us to follow her train of thought. I can only hope on a good day to process information half as quickly as she does. Knowing Jim, and his general speed in life, the two in the same room is quite comical...picture the tortoise and then picture the hare with a stethoscope.
Tortoise racing hareAfter asking her to repeat herself several times I think that we pieced together the plan for the next week or two. She wasn't extremely pleased with the fact that we have a cardio-angiogram scheduled without having a dialysis port in place, so we had to be creative in trying to work around her asking us to push the angiogram back. The plan is this, angiogram next week, STAT labs on Wed- call for results, STAT labs on Fri-call for results, and pending upon what the numbers are saying and/or how Jim is feeling we possibly get admitted for a emergency port to be placed and Jim begins dialysis. She has Jim coming off of some medications this weekend and going on a couple others to try and protect his kidneys the best we can prior to and after the angiogram. The best scenario is his kidneys pull through enough to not be admitted and we continue on with appointments for peritoneal port placement and begin as needed. Worst case scenario Jim's kidneys bite it with this angiogram and he starts having symptoms, we get admitted, and he begins dialysis in the next 2 weeks. This would mean he would have to do hemo-dialysis for a short period of time prior to getting his placement for peritoneal dialysis.

Great things we learned from this appointment- The cardboard diet that Jim is on is working, his potassium and phosphorus levels were within normal range. This may not sound like a great thing however Jim has been working really hard to stay within the recommended diet restrictions and it is paying off. No extra medications were added to his regimen to correct these levels. Second great thing-kidneys only dropped a small amount to 12%!

Prayers: Angiogram goes well and his heart is cleared so he can be placed on the PK transplant list. Kidneys hold their own or only take a small hit from the angiogram and no emergency port is needed.

Verse: "Trust in the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal." Isaiah 26:4

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