Today Jim had his 6 month appointment with his nephrologist. All the testing he did on August 23rd had good results. Healthy heart, good lungs. The only thing left to do is a stress test. His transplant coordinator said he could wait to do the stress test until the time for a transplant was closer. If he does it now, he may end up having to do another one as time gets closer. Has to be done within a year of the transplant.
His iron level is low. This is common with PKD. As his kidney function decreases, he is not producing the red blood cells needed which causes anemia (low iron). Since medication (iron pills) or food (liver!) won't help much or work fast enough, he may at some point go in for a 4-hour iron fusion.
Before we left, I mentioned to the doctor that Jim was still smoking. I figured Jim had to hear it from the doctor instead of me. He said he would not be able to go on the transplant list if he continues to smoke. Risks are, of course, much higher for smokers.
Jim also asked if he would still be put on the transplant list if he had a living donor. The doctor said that it is still good to go on the list just in case a better match (6 antigen match) became available. I am currently a 1 antigen match, so you can see that a 6 would be a much better match.
Jim has to go now every 4 months for blood work. This is how the keep track of the kidney function. He will continue to see his nephologist every 6 months. The doctor did say today that Jim is healthy enough to perhaps wait until his creatinine clearance level is at 5 (not at 15 which is typical) before he would have to have the transplant. This was encouraging as it gives him more time.
My thoughts. All in all good report. We'll continue to watch Jim's levels and hope they don't deteriorate as the doctor thinks. My goal now is to help him quit smoking. It will help him so much if he does....now if he only realizes that.
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