Worst Day Yet

I have seen Jim cry only a couple times in his life. Yesterday was one of them. After attempting to go back to work on Tuesday, Wednesday he started with joint pain in his right knee. Thinking it was just from moving around more at work, we thought nothing of it. By Wednesday evening he was now feeling joint pain in his left ankle. Hum...that's weird. By Thursday morning he was in so much pain we finally realized it must be a gout attack.

While he has had attacks in only one leg at a time, when it is in both legs, it is almost impossible to move, let alone walk. Up comes the walker from the basement and we attempt to move around. We started on the gout medication which seems to help but it also comes with nausea. The real attempt came when trying to climb upstairs where his cycler is for dialysis. This is where it got painful and the tears came. Knowing we had no other option....we had to climb the stairs and God knows I'm not able to carry him, he fought his way upstairs while I stood behind him hoping this 240 lb. man wouldn't take us both out.

Friday I called his PD nurse and she was able to call a prescription in for some steroids hoping to relieve the inflamation in the joints. After taking a couple doses of Prednisone, he woke up this morning feeling much, much better. I know Jim is always feeling better when he asks..."What's for dinner tonight?"

Work...not working out so much

Tuesday, January 15th was Jim's first day back to work since November. In order to make it to his shift starting at 6:00 am on time, and to make sure he had his 8 hour of dialysis, he must be "hooked up" and dialyzing by 8:00 pm the night before for his 4:00 am wakeup call. This actually was no problem. His workday, however, did not go quite as well.

Making sure he had all his protective gear in place, (catheter securely taped and his large brace securely on) he was off to work. While this was a more easy day at work, Jim's body was not quite up for it yet. He was very sore from the bending and squatting and was feeling alot of pressure in his stomach (not a good thing). Getting a hernia is not good with a catheter in you belly.

After talking with his nurse and doctor, they decided he needs additional time to heal and put him on an additional 8 weeks of disability. Hopefully this will give him enough time to either heal more or better determine if he will ever be able to return to his work.

Don't be surprised if you someday see Jim greeting you at your local Wal-Mart. Hopefully he will be kind.

My thoughts... This has been a trying couple of months. Hopefully once he gets his transplant, he will not have these issues with soreness or having to worry about his catheter. We are still optimistic and praying for that to happen....we know it will.

That’s Not So Bad

Last night was Jim’s first night on the cycler. His training this week went well. He seemed to pick up everything on day one of training. Janet, his PD, nurse came and watched him set the machine up. The whole setup process takes about 10 minutes. She left with him ready to “hook up” when he was ready for bed. 9:00 pm was the anticipated bedtime, giving him the 8 hours needed to dialyze. That way I could help him at 5:00 am when I wake up.

Connecting went fine. At first Jim slept like a mummy on his back not moving. After about 30 minutes and feeling more comfortable he attempted to lie on his side and move around. Initially there was a small amount of “drain pain” which Janet told him he would most likely experience. That lasted about 5 minutes until the fill portion began. We both seemed to wake up every couple hours to check the status on the machine. Drain, fill, dwell, drain, fill, dwell, 4 times a night. Although Jim said he slept terrible, I recall hearing snores, which he probably will say he also heard (from me). At 5:00 am as scheduled, process was complete. Jim disconnected and went back to bed for a more sound sleep.

All in all in went well. It was nice to hear Jim say when all was done….”that’s not so bad”.

My thoughts. 12/12/12 was the day Jim first started dialysis. 1/3/13 was the day Jim first started on the cycler.  While both these days will forever be engrained in our memory, I am thankful that things have gone so well for him. This was something we always hoped would never happen, but it has and we are dealing with it. His next big step will be attempting to go back to work on 1/14/13. We still are hoping and praying for a transplant, but for now, this is our new normal.