The "Mmmmm Leftovers", edition.

Good morning. The day after Thanksgiving. Let the holiday season officially begin!  Let's get yesterday out of the way. Brian and I prepared dinner for our seniors.  Honeybaked Ham Smoked Turkey breast, because it's so much better than roasted, a small Honeybaked ham, macaroni and cheese, candied sweet potatoes, sausage dressing, gravy, steamed broccoli with lemon and garlic, rolls and a relish tray with an assortment of olives and pickles.  Oh and apple and pumpkin pies. Lots of leftovers and yes, we sent the seniors home with leftovers, but still!  Lol. 

We prepared the sweet potatoes the day before. I had my monthly appointment with my dialysis team on Wednesday so we cooked around it. Boiled the sweet potatoes before we left. Let them cool off while we went to the appointment. Came home and I supervised Brian in the preparation. :-)  

So I know you're asking, how am I feeling?  How'd the appointment go?  Well. I'll tell ya'. You know I've been out of sorts since mid August and am just now getting better.  The October appointment was pretty bad. I was so tired, my labs were low, I wasn't eating.  I finally turned the corner about 2 weeks ago. I haven't thrown up in that time. Which is huge. Now during all of this, I had an appetite, I just couldn't hold anything down. Also I picked up a persistent cough.  I was prescribed a codeine syrup, but,eh. I went back to my primary care doctor, but she was on vacation. The substitute  Doctor declared I had COPD and started treating for that. I actually rejected that, but I did take the steroids and inhaler as they alleviated the coughing. 

So. Wednesday I saw my nurse, nutritionist, social worker and nephrologist. They rejected COPD also. We think I'm retaining fluid. Except when I retain fluid, it's not really obvious, I don't swell. Although I think my belly is a bit jiggly. But it's always jiggly?  Lol. Anyway. My blood pressure is slightly elevated which is also a sign of fluid retention. And my cough is quite productive. Ugh. So. The plan of action is to attemp to remove fluid without me crashing. Because, you know, when too much fluid is removed from me, I'll pass out. So how do we do this?

Initially I can tolerate a removal of 1.7 kgs per treatment. This translates to 3.74 pounds of fluid that is removed from me each treatment. I know you're saying, "whoa!".  But remember my body can't remove wastes, that's what dialysis does. Anyway. We're going to work up to a removal of 2.2 (4.84) kgs per treatment. And I'll be doing treatment 6 days a week instead of 5 days. Wednesday we took off 2 kgs (4.4 lbs) successfully and will work our way up. The good news is I'm feeling much better. For the most part. 

I did neglect to tell you that with the slightest exception, I'd be ridiculously out of breath. Huffing and puffing at the slightest exertion for a few moments. Yes it's disconcerting. And when I arrived at my appointment on Wednesday, my nurse was alarmed. I didn't realize it was quite that obvious. They gave me oxygen right away and it felt good. So yeah. That's what has prompted the 6 day a week treatment plan. And honestly sometimes breathing was difficult. I was taking deep breaths and laying down sometimes was uncomfortable. And yes, I recall my days of pulmonary edema. <shudder>. 

But I am still feeling better. I cooked the dressing and Mac and cheese and broccoli. Of course Brian was my sous chef, but I cooked. That was impossible even a week ago. And yes I took a nap before guests arrived but I've  turned the corner. I'm looking forward to swimming again. And walking. Hell even moving. It was so bad that I had to use the electric scooter at the grocery store. Talk about going backwards. ;-( 

Well that's it for today. We're trying to figure out what we're going to do today. I know it's not shopping!  Maybe a movie.  And for sure, I'm having leftovers!   Lol. Have great day and chill. Stay out of the mall. Love you and thanks for reading and keeping tabs on me!  

The "It's Been a Long Time Since I Left You...", edition.

Big, big points if you know where I got the title from. The rest of the line is "without a strong rhyme to step to". It has been a while since my last entry.  Not feeling well will do that to you. I think I've finally turned the corner.  The nausea has subsided. The coughing is easing. I have a bit more energy.   Look. Some days I got dressed and then fell back into bed. Yes, some days were much better than others. I'd get out, then it takes me 2-3 days to recover. What was that about?  :-(  I also was winded when I walked. I went back to the doctor. So apparently on top everything else I have/had respiratory problems. Yay. I ended up with a breathing treatment, an inhaler and steroids. But I am feeling much better now. 

The flip side of this is my blood work and labs are all skewered. I wasn't eating and I lost my cues for taking my meds. And most of my meds require me to take them after I eat, but if I don't eat....  But I've started eating again. Finally. I'm in desperate need of protein and we went to have a steak lunch for our anniversary. Now I couldn't eat all of my meal, but I ate enough. And that was a milestone!  I'm feeling well enough to go to the weekly Saturday casino run with Dad and Brian for 2 weeks in a row. And I hadn't done this since September. And I can go to Sunday brunch and not get sick. Making progress!  

Gonna go grocery shopping today. And no, I haven't been since September. Was too tiring. But I need to get to my fixins' for thanksgiving dinner. Looking forward to fixing dinner and even more forward to eating!  Lol. 

I just wanted to give you an update. I am feeling better. I'd say I'm at 70-75% and getting better everyday. Also 65 degrees here is a beautiful thing. Especially when we see snow in Michigan. Lol lol lol. Have a wonderful day!  

The "We Turned the Heat On. Sort of", edition.

Good morning. Yes, we finally turned the heat on but just to get the chill out. It's not on full time. The temp in the apartment finally dropped to 73. Yes, the AC was off. It's getting chilly at night. Around 48 degrees. The sun shine during the day is fairly warm even if it's 68. Yes. I'm quite satisfied with the weather!  

I'm slowly getting better.  My cough is still lingering. Gonna call the doctor today for another appointment. I'm holding food down and sort of eating. When I got my hair cut last week, we stopped at Zydecos and I had a bowl of red beans and rice. And ate most of it!!!  Of course the next day I had a grilled cheese sandwich with disastrous results. Eh, it's hit or miss. Today we're gonna do a Cobb salad. My labs are still pretty low on the protein, potassium and phosphorus so the avocado and tomato are all good. 

Still ridiculously tired but making strides. Brian had some business at the mall on Thursday, so while he was busy  I moseyed over to LensCrafters and Macy's. Purchased some shoes. :-D  And then made my way back to him. I wasn't as winded as usual so that was a good thing. Brian was still busy so I wandered over to Bath and Bodyworks. Got some air freshener things and Brian met me at the store and we made it back to the car. I didn't stop to rest, but I was winded when I got to the car. I'm not liking this getting winded thing, but I get it. My protein is just way to low still. I have very little energy. I think I need to eat a side of beef...if my appetite would allow it. The dietician wanted me to start on a protein supplement. Yuck. I better start eating something. I have 2 more weeks. 

Finally during treatment we were watching Family Guy. There was a piece where Peter lost his money in Las Vegas and had to walk to the airport. Brian and I both busted out laughing at the animation. We've seen people dragging suitcases down Paradise in the brutal desert sun heading to the airport. We'd like to believe that the people weren't doing that, but once you cross Tropicana, the only place you can go to is the airport. And it's a looooong walk. 

I've been out of commission for over 2 months. I'm going to try to go to painting lessons this Saturday. I do feel better. Plus I gotta get better. I have a Thanksgiving dinner to host! Have a wonderful day!!

The "November 2, 2012", edition.

Three years. Three years ago today my life changed forever. November 2, 2012 was a Friday. I'd been to my doctor earlier in the week and he had scheduled me for tests on Friday, November 2, 2012. I must add that I had not been able to climb the stairs to my bedroom that week and has taken to sleeping in the downstairs bedroom. By Friday, I couldn't move. All I could do was curl up in a fetal ball. Brian was trying to get me to get ready to go to the appointment. Getting out of the bed proved to be too much. Getting dressed seemed like walking 2000 miles. Uphill.  Wearing cement boots. I knew I needed to go to get the tests, but I just couldn't move. And then I couldn't breathe. You know what it's like when you choke while drinking or while eating? That's what it felt like. Except there was nothing to remove or cough up. I couldn't catch  my breath. That's when Brian called EMS. 

The EMTs gave me oxygen.  Hoisted me up in gurney, covered me in a blanket and loaded me into the truck. Sinai Grace moved me along fairly quickly. Took tests. Tried to make me drink lotion(?). I had one more episode where I couldn't breathe.  Then someone came in and said my kidneys failed. I clearly didn't know what that meant, but I do recall thinking that at least I knew what my problem was. I was told I needed emergency dialysis. Again, I didn't know what that meant, but if it was going to make me feel better I was all for it. I recall going to a holding room with Brian and then I got moved to ICU and basically remembering nothing after that. The nurses moved me from the gurney to the bed. I remember being washed and that's it. The next day I woke up with a catheter in my groin. This catheter was my lifeline for dialysis. Ugh. I had the catheter in my groin, a catheter for my bladder, an IV and hooked up to a machine that continually took my blood pressure. I remember being incredibly weak. So weak that when I was thirsty, I couldn't  even reach the nurse call button and my voice was too weak to call for a nurse. :-/   I do need to add that ICU nurse was fantastic!  

Well. Now it's November 2, 2015. What a difference 3 years make. I'm still on dialysis. Waiting for a kidney transplant. I have no idea when or if I'll ever get a call for a kidney. I'm existing. I can say a lot of platitudes about how dialysis is allowing me to live my life, and it it is, but it sure the big ass elephant in the room. Spontaneity is out. I have to do serious planning to do anything. I have real impressive medical bills. I'm susceptible to any bug or virus that comes close to me. But I'm alive. Yay?  

Well this sounds maudlin and ungrateful. It is depressing, but I'm pushing through. Look. Enjoy your life. Do what you can to stay healthy. For my part I'm trying to make sure you don't let your kidneys fail.  Mine were pretty much doomed to fail, but protect yourself. Keep you blood pressure down. Keep your diabetes under control. Watch your intact of NSAIDs, like Celebrex. And. Get checked up on a regular basis. 

And yes, I'm slowly getting better.  This has lasted a long time, but the appetite is slowly returning. And now I just want to be less tired. I'm working on it. Have a great day and enjoy your life.