Almost there...

Got great news this week. Al, Jim's donor, completed his last procedure and got confirmation everything is a go. He said the doctor informed him that the transplant will take place early to mid January. Jim's transplant team will be getting in touch with him to start his preparation which includes taking anti-rejection drugs.

In the big scheme of things, mid January is really not that far off. To be exact it is 60 days, 8 weeks, 2,460 hours... you get the point, we're not counting or anything. We will enjoy the holidays (as best we can this year) and anticipate a great new year.

Jim's recent visit to the clinic went good. His parathyroid hormone was a little high, but all other blood work was good. Shoulder pain has improved and for the first time in months he has been "gout free" this past month.

Now our goal is to keep him healthy for the next 60 days in preparation of the beautiful, new healthy kidney he will be getting from Al.

It is so nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel on Jim's Journey. It's been a hard past year since Jim has been on dialysis. While we know it helps him to survive....it does take a toll on him. It will be nice to see him get back to the things he loves to do and to feel good. Something he hasn't had in a very long time.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Still waiting…..Al has some procedures to do and then hopefully Jim’s transplant will be scheduled. We have learned through all of this to “take it one day at a time”.

The infection from the ruptured cysts has cleared up after 2 weeks of antibiotics. A bad head cold is his recent obstacle.  Of course Jim never just gets a cold…it’s always a “bad” cold. Dr. Karen prescribed plenty of orange juice and rest. Lots of sneezing and coughing accompanied the cold. One sneeze in particular left its mark. Jim sneezed so hard he felt something happen under his rib cage. This also caused labored breathing throughout the next couple of days. Hoping this was not pneumonia, Jim went to the doctor yesterday (Monday) and found out he has a torn cartilage under his rib cage from the sneeze. The doctor gave him some medicated patches to put on the spot with the advice that it will just take time to heal itself.

On the bright side….Jim’s recent visit to the kidney doctor was good. She continues to change his blood pressure medications. It’s been high the last few months. He was also given an iron shot. Hopefully he will be in tip top shape and ready for that transplant.

Thank you for all your prayers and good thoughts. Oh….and about that sneeze….gesundheit!!!

Happy Anniversay

Today Jim and I celebrate 34 years of marriage. Our hope was to spend the day with family and friends at the Weingarten in Belleville. Jim has had a rough week. Last Saturday he "just didn't feel right". Had stomach pain and nausea. It didn't take us long to figure out that a cyst on his kidney had ruptured. This is the first time though it was accompanied with blood in his urine. Having called the PD nurse, she didn't seem concern with the blood but had him come in for a urine test. Lo and behold yes he did have an infection and antibiotics were started immediately. Having been on antibiotics for the past 3 days, his pain is still there. Hoping he would wake up this morning feeling better instead he wakes up with another surprise....GOUT in is foot. His patience is dwindling along with his pain tolerance. A new kidney can't some soon enough!!!

On that note...Al went in Monday to wear a heart monitor for 8 hours. Normal procedure they tell him before surgery. Jim's transplant coordinator says as soon as they get the go ahead from the donor transplant team, things will be moving. But like I said....just not fast enough. Al (along with Jason) left this morning for a hunting trip to Canada. Probably nothing will happen this week which is ok. Jim needs to get well and be in tip top shape. We'll work on getting this infection cleared up as well as the gout. Our patience is wearing thin....Oh....and Happy Anniversary.....we WILL get through this. XOXO

Good News!!!

Finally....after months of testing, Al was approved today to be a donor for Jim!!! Words cannot express how excited we are. Jim will have some testing to go through and hopefully he will be able to have the transplant by the end of next month. 

Right now Jim is having some issues with his blood pressure. Ever since he was dehydrated, it's been tough to get back on track. The doctor is trying to wean him off of some of his blood pressure medicines. It fluctuates from really low to really high. That on top of still getting gout has made for a bad last few months.

Hopefully his journey will soon reach the end. I can't help but think my brother is up there working overtime to make sure this happens. Thanks Lar...xoxo

Dehydration 101

For the past 3 or 4 days Jim hasn't been feeling well. It started Saturday while at the lake. He was on the riding mower cutting grass and the next thing I know he is sitting in his truck with the air conditioning running. He had gotten really light headed and sweaty. Sitting in the cool helped and after a few minutes he was better.

It happened again on Sunday and Monday and again today, He called his dialysis nurse at the clinic and she told him to check his blood pressure. It was very low....75/60. She wanted to see him right away but that he shouldn't drive. He call Bill G. and asked him to take him to the clinic. It turns out by the time he had gotten there he was experiencing shortness of breath and was hyperventilating.. They determined that he was dehydrated. After taking his weight, he had dropped 7 lbs (fluid) over the last few days. Apparently his cycler has been taking too much fluid off together with the increase in his water pill was a sure cause for dehydration.

After giving him some IV fluids, his blood pressure was steadily going up. His fluids tonight on the cycler will be 1.5% not the 4.5% dextrose he normally uses. No more blood pressure meds until his BP is back to normal.  No more dark colored soda (too much phosphorus),  No more Gatorade. No more orange juice. 

This is what we learned today in Dehydration 101.

A True Friend

Testing for Jim's potential donor is still ongoing. When asked how things are progressing, I always respond, this sure isn't a fast process.

Last week I finally got a chance to talk to Jim's potential donor. His first words were, "Karen, they said this is all going really well. It's really going to happen". Such enthusiasm in his voice. It made me cry to actually hear these words. This has been the first positive statement I have heard in almost 2 years. It really seems that this will happen.

My sister-in-law Chrissy asked Jim's potential donor why he would consider being a donor. His quick response was...."the real question is, why wouldn't I".  Now that's a true friend. Thank you Al!!!

Back on Track...Once Again

After Jim's post-op visit on Tuesday, He started back on dialysis. While they decreased the number of bags he does nightly from 3 to 2, they will gradually increase over the next few week. So far it seems to be going good.

His blood work showed that his phosphate was high and he was given medication for that. Otherwise, he once again got a goo report card.

His next doctor appointment is with a rheumatologist on Thursday. Hopefully she will be able to give us some good advice on treating his gout. We are experimenting with not eating hamburger for the next couple of weeks to see if that would help with gout. He also has cut out drinking soda during the week and cut out all high fructose corn syrup which I read also contributes to gout attacks.

So in the meantime, we are back on track....hoping that sometime soon we'll get the good news that a transplant is just around the corner.