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
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