My kidney...
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Bomby
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My kidney...
... is on its last straw right now. One more infection and it's off to dialysis land I go. Dialysis is not ****ing cool. At least my dad and sister are potential donors. But I'm really worried right now. This is going to make my life a lot more difficult...
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Apollo the Just
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Bomby
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Ugh, my urologist is crazy skull and bones about everything, and every time I meet him he seems like he's not quite all there in his head. Today I had to give him a record of my fluid intake and output (yes, that means exactly what you think it means), and dude wasn't even there, even though he specifically told me that he wanted it today.
My nephrologist seems a bit less pessimistic, saying that so long as I keep myself healthy that this kidney could still last me quite a while, though he didn't leave out the possibility of things inevitably getting worse on their own. My creatinine level was 2.5 last time we checked, which indicates about 35% functionality, though at the beginning of August I was at 1.8, which is closer to 45%. I get the feeling that the problem was that the nephrostomy tube in my back (which was supposed to have been taken out by now) came a bit loose and was moving around until I taped it down a few days ago. That could have been irritating the kidney and therefore decreasing functionality. The thing is, a kidney can bounce back from lower functionality to higher functionality. I wouldn't be surprised if the next time I got my blood drawn my creatinine went down to 2.1 or 2.0, but I guess only time will tell.
I don't know. I don't feel particularly weak right now, so I'm hoping that this is a good sign, but if my kidney is just failing, then it's going to be a complete bitch to deal with. At this point I've decided just to live my life as normally as possible but be cautious about monitoring myself and seek help immediately if things start to look awry. I don't drink, smoke or do any recreational drugs, and the only caffeine I ever intake is from tea, which doesn't have that much anyway.
My other problem is that this constant monitoring of my kidney function might prevent me from teaching English in South Korea like I've been planning to do. Thankfully they do have universal health care there, but I'm not sure how good the care is, especially since they're actually ranked below the US, which isn't ranked that well in and of itself.
My nephrologist seems a bit less pessimistic, saying that so long as I keep myself healthy that this kidney could still last me quite a while, though he didn't leave out the possibility of things inevitably getting worse on their own. My creatinine level was 2.5 last time we checked, which indicates about 35% functionality, though at the beginning of August I was at 1.8, which is closer to 45%. I get the feeling that the problem was that the nephrostomy tube in my back (which was supposed to have been taken out by now) came a bit loose and was moving around until I taped it down a few days ago. That could have been irritating the kidney and therefore decreasing functionality. The thing is, a kidney can bounce back from lower functionality to higher functionality. I wouldn't be surprised if the next time I got my blood drawn my creatinine went down to 2.1 or 2.0, but I guess only time will tell.
I don't know. I don't feel particularly weak right now, so I'm hoping that this is a good sign, but if my kidney is just failing, then it's going to be a complete bitch to deal with. At this point I've decided just to live my life as normally as possible but be cautious about monitoring myself and seek help immediately if things start to look awry. I don't drink, smoke or do any recreational drugs, and the only caffeine I ever intake is from tea, which doesn't have that much anyway.
My other problem is that this constant monitoring of my kidney function might prevent me from teaching English in South Korea like I've been planning to do. Thankfully they do have universal health care there, but I'm not sure how good the care is, especially since they're actually ranked below the US, which isn't ranked that well in and of itself.
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WATER, FIRE, WIND, DIRT
****ING KIDNEYS, HOW DO THEY WORK?
I'm not sure, but I got quite possibly the best news I've received about my kidney in a long time: It recovers very quickly when I take care of myself better. My urologist deduced this from the aforementioned intake/output diary he made me do and my decreased creatinine level. I dropped from 2.5 to 1.9 in five days, which is pretty fast.
The bad news, however, is that my function also decreases rapidly when I don't take care of myself as well. I guess I have a "sensitive system."
For the curious:
[spoiler]The whole problem stems from having a muscular and desensitized bladder. I can't feel as well as most people when my bladder is full, and rather than being "elastic" like normal bladders, it doesn't contract or expand very much. This was caused by posterior urethral valves, or basically, a blockage where my urethra meets the bladder. This made it difficult for me to urinate as a child (I was used to it, though, so I didn't know there was a problem), and caused an infection which completely atrophied my left kidney.[/spoiler]
Also, my nephrostomy tube finally got pulled today, after sticking out of my back for three and a half months. I feel so free! I can sit down without having to worry about the damn tube getting tugged on! I can go out and play soccer again! Best of all, the incision no longer itches.
The only thing that really bothers me is that I'm still going to have to be closely monitored for a while, though gradually throughout the year it's going to be more and more self-monitoring, so I might actually get to leave the country in a year or so, you never know.
Now it's almost funny to look back at the beginning of the topic and see how scared my doctor had me just a week ago. If I keep taking care of myself I think I should hopefully be fine. If some serious **** goes down, though, my kidney is probably still on it's last straw and set for complete shutdown. My baseline creatinine level was around 1.3 before my kidney infection in May, but it looks like my baseline is probably going to be settling around 1.7-1.8 for the time being. Once it goes beyond 2.5 it's generally a slippery slope to failure.
Despite everything, I officially declare this a "Happy Thread" for the time being.
****ING KIDNEYS, HOW DO THEY WORK?
I'm not sure, but I got quite possibly the best news I've received about my kidney in a long time: It recovers very quickly when I take care of myself better. My urologist deduced this from the aforementioned intake/output diary he made me do and my decreased creatinine level. I dropped from 2.5 to 1.9 in five days, which is pretty fast.
The bad news, however, is that my function also decreases rapidly when I don't take care of myself as well. I guess I have a "sensitive system."
For the curious:
[spoiler]The whole problem stems from having a muscular and desensitized bladder. I can't feel as well as most people when my bladder is full, and rather than being "elastic" like normal bladders, it doesn't contract or expand very much. This was caused by posterior urethral valves, or basically, a blockage where my urethra meets the bladder. This made it difficult for me to urinate as a child (I was used to it, though, so I didn't know there was a problem), and caused an infection which completely atrophied my left kidney.[/spoiler]
Also, my nephrostomy tube finally got pulled today, after sticking out of my back for three and a half months. I feel so free! I can sit down without having to worry about the damn tube getting tugged on! I can go out and play soccer again! Best of all, the incision no longer itches.
The only thing that really bothers me is that I'm still going to have to be closely monitored for a while, though gradually throughout the year it's going to be more and more self-monitoring, so I might actually get to leave the country in a year or so, you never know.
Now it's almost funny to look back at the beginning of the topic and see how scared my doctor had me just a week ago. If I keep taking care of myself I think I should hopefully be fine. If some serious **** goes down, though, my kidney is probably still on it's last straw and set for complete shutdown. My baseline creatinine level was around 1.3 before my kidney infection in May, but it looks like my baseline is probably going to be settling around 1.7-1.8 for the time being. Once it goes beyond 2.5 it's generally a slippery slope to failure.
Despite everything, I officially declare this a "Happy Thread" for the time being.