Jim and I went to the nephrologist today and we were given a time line for dialysis. His labs showed a creatinine level of 7.1 which is the highest he has ever been. With this level she thinks that his kidney function is roughly around 9%. The doctor quess-timated a dialysis start date of February. We have a scheduled appointment with the nephrologist toward the end of December and with a tentative port placement in January. The port has to be placed for 2 weeks to a month before we can use it. All of this news does not come as a surprise, it comes as more of a gut check. I think that we always knew that dialysis was something that was going to happen however getting a date makes it all seem a little more real.
Jim's other levels were average. His potassium and phosphorus were normal to high. We will probably increase his "food" pill after the holidays. The cardboard diet that Jim is partaking in is working well enough to maintain his potassium level so that was reaffirming news. Jim's A1C level (sugar history) was a little higher than it has been so we will continue to be diligent about his sugars.
The doctor scared us a little by asking us about which hospital we are planning on going to if Jim starts to feel poorly. We are going to request prayers for Jim to feel good through the holidays. Last Christmas Jim had pneumonia, two years ago he was swollen and just beginning this kidney failure journey, so we would love to have a relatively healthy Christmas.
We had a slight scare this weekend with Jim's blood pressure soaring into numbers that resemble more of a basketball game score than blood pressure so today we made some changes to his medicine. I am hoping that this new medicine will help return his numbers to normal, otherwise I will soon be taking these medications to control my blood pressure.
Along with all of these numbers we also found out that Jim's blood type is AB+ ( sorry this took so long to get Kendra). This is good news because AB+ is the universal acceptor as far as blood type goes. Hopefully this will help speed up the wait!!
Prayer Requests: Jim makes it through the holiday season feeling good and we can push dialysis to February. That the new blood pressure medication helps even out his numbers.
Bible Verse: "Your ways, O God are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles." Psalm 77:13-14
Monday, November 15, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
I'm All In!
The Poker tournament was this last Saturday night and it was such a blast!! Heather and Jared did a wonderful job hosting and I think everyone involved had fun! We can not thank them and everyone who came to support us enough! Sometimes I feel like a broken record but I can't say enough how blessed we are to have so many amazing people in our lives!
On the transplant front, we are still waiting patiently by our cell phones. They no longer give you pagers to carry around since we have grown into the "phone must be attached to my body at all times" era. I spoke with our case manager and she reports that we are still on the list and that I don't need to check in monthly, even though I really want to.
We have received the blood draw kits today that Jim needs to be doing monthly so he will go and take care of that tomorrow. It was by dumb luck that somewhere along the line I remembered them mentioning monthly blood draws, so I called the coordinator and she replied "oh, right...you aren't doing those...you need to do them." Sometimes I think that I need to carry a tape recorder with me everywhere so I can play conversations to make sure that I didn't miss anything. Hopefully the fact that we missed October's blood draw does not set Jim back.
Jim has a check up nephrology appointment next week so he will get the blood drawn for that appointment tomorrow as well. (if he wasn't anemic before he will be by the time he is done)
Prayer Requests: Jim continues to feel well. Prayers of thanks for such amazing support and friendship
Bible Verse: "Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture." Psalm 100:3
On the transplant front, we are still waiting patiently by our cell phones. They no longer give you pagers to carry around since we have grown into the "phone must be attached to my body at all times" era. I spoke with our case manager and she reports that we are still on the list and that I don't need to check in monthly, even though I really want to.
We have received the blood draw kits today that Jim needs to be doing monthly so he will go and take care of that tomorrow. It was by dumb luck that somewhere along the line I remembered them mentioning monthly blood draws, so I called the coordinator and she replied "oh, right...you aren't doing those...you need to do them." Sometimes I think that I need to carry a tape recorder with me everywhere so I can play conversations to make sure that I didn't miss anything. Hopefully the fact that we missed October's blood draw does not set Jim back.
Jim has a check up nephrology appointment next week so he will get the blood drawn for that appointment tomorrow as well. (if he wasn't anemic before he will be by the time he is done)
Prayer Requests: Jim continues to feel well. Prayers of thanks for such amazing support and friendship
Bible Verse: "Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture." Psalm 100:3
Monday, November 1, 2010
Place Your Bets!
We are so blessed to be having another fundraiser. This one is put on by our dear friends Heather and Jared Anderson! They have arranged a poker tournament at their house on Saturday night, November 6! There are going to be prizes for both players and observers. If you would like to come please let myself or Heather know, we would love to see you there!
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