Chaos and Conundrums of Health Kerfuffles

 Hello everyone! It's been so long since I blogged. Life has been crazy this year. I went to see the nephrologist today. Remember? She is the kidney doctor and monitors the well being of my healthy kidney. She sent me for blood work on Monday (soo many vials it was like a bad vampire movie). I went to see her in person today and she told me that my kidney function is normal again!! I have been doing everything right for a year!!!!  There are not enough exclamation points to express my feelings. I changed what I was eating, I stopped taking certain over the counter medications and I cut down on dark soda.  I don't have to see her twice a year anymore. I just have to see my regular doctor once a year for a blood test. However, with every sunset there must be a storm first. My parathyroid levels are three times too high so I need to get those removed soon. If not then my body will still continue to produce too much calcium and it will affect my kidney again. I have already called

I can't even begin to tell you the last time I thought about blogging but I know I need to keep everyone updated. I had some health issues before the holidays but I really just wanted to curl up, spend time with my family and not think about my health. We had an amazing Christmas ♥♥ After the New Year I kept my promises and I made four appointments. I saw my PCP, I saw the OB/GYN, I saw the endocrinologist and I was scheduled to see the dietician. I had so much blood taken that I feel like Dracula's ghoul. My primary care doctor will be moving practices and I will be going with her. Anyone that knows me, knows that you cannot shake me that easily. All of the doctors at the Borgess practice are going to Bronson. She said that she understands why I didn't do any follow ups before the holidays but wants me to follow through now. We had some shocking news before the holidays on to of everything else that was happening to me. I was sent for an ultrasound and it

It's been a bit since I have updated so some things have changed. On August 7th, I went for my reevaluation with the family doctor. We realized that my dizziness is coming from two different avenues.  The wavy dizziness is coming from my neck and the spinning dizzy is coming from my blood pressure being out of control. Dr. Sandy increased my blood pressure medication to get the blood pressure under control and put me off work longer until I can be reevaluated on 8/16/19 and that will allow the medication to take effect and for me to go to two more PT appointments. After the doctor appointment I had to stop and get my blood drawn for my kidney doctor and a urine test. The urine test showed that I have a kidney infection which is not good with the kidney issues I have. I started taking antibiotics. The blood tests showed that my parathyroid hormone level should be between 15 - 65 pg/mL and its actually at 108.5.  The nephrologist called me and I have to stop taking certain medicati

Steve drove me to physical therapy today and the new therapist is about 90% sure that I do not have vertigo and is in agreement with the other therapist that it is my neck and most likely from computer work. I have been given therapy exercises to do at home 5 to 6 times a day at least 10 times each and I will see my new therapist next Monday and Wednesday.  I will not be released back to work on Wednesday as I was hoping. While I am upset about missing all of this work, I am seeing it in a positive light at this point. Perhaps, it happened for the right reasons. I was being told to slow down, adjust to my new lifestyle, learn about my kidney disease, learn how to eat correct, and focus on myself and my family. Nothing like the scare of a stroke to change one's thinking.

I've been avoiding this, not because I don't care, but because I'm not sure of what to say. Patti has been a rock through all of this. Don't let her claim otherwise. I've always had a different approach to crisis. When everything is in good hands, my attention does not need to be there anymore, it needs to be on the mundane everyday things that go on in the background. One example of this from years ago... an ambulance was called for someone that lived with me. My attention was on them until the paramedics arrived. Then my focus shifted to making sure the cat didn't escape through the front door and that the paramedics had a clear and unobstructed path. Priorities, people! As I'm overwhelmed with all the new information (and it changing almost daily), I tend to handle what I can. I make sure the animals get fed. I make sure the grandson gets to bed properly most nights. I cook most days, clean some days. I find time to try to excel at work and climb my w

Steve and I met the nurse to discuss my diet.  I am down another TWO pounds.. read it again TWO pounds in three days. That is a total of over NINE pounds in a little more than a week. She was proud of me when she looked at my food journal. So she specializes in diabetic diets and I have a special diet due to my kidney, I am low protein, low phosphorus and low sodium. When I say low protein, we are speaking three ounces of protein a day and almost everything has phosphorus so its been a struggle. People have been extremely helpful but it's a hard diet to understand, I can't switch to whole grain bread or brown rice because those are actually bad for me. Eating more chicken, again bad for me. Certain fruits and vegetables, bad for me. Chocolate and nuts, horrible for me (Don't worry, I figured out a cheat for my mother in law's chocolate torte! There is nothing that will keep me away from that!) Meal planning has been a pain in the ass, eating out horrendous, and I eve

I have to say there is a positive in here... while being petty and pissy about everything else, I did start changing my diet and I checked my weight when I dropped off my FMLA paperwork at the doctor and from 7/22/19 to 7/29/19 I lost 7.25 pounds so there is a positive.  I know that some of you might be like, "Patti, that is a very small, almost minuscule change... why you celebrating?" Sis, let me tell you, in this turbulent journey, we are celebrating any success that is coming this family's way. 💓💓 Also at this time, I scheduled an appointment to meet with one of the nurse's to discuss the dietary changes that I need to make since I don't meet the dietician until October 1st. I see her on August 1st. I am really looking forward to that appointment.