Section 1.
To start this post off, I need to first give a short explanation of why this testing is being done. If you are not interested in the medical part of this post, please proceed to section 2. Once I receive a kidney, I will be immuno suppressed, meaning I will take medicine to decrease my immune response so I will not reject the kidney. This means that any illness that I may have now and not know about will go unchecked, so if I had cancer and didn't know it, it would explode unchecked. Therefore, I have to undergo testing for every possible problem. This was my August 7th.
Section 2.
The Testing.....
Trans-thoracic Echo-cardiogram........proof that I do, in fact, have not just a heart, but a good heart. For all my patients that say that I don't, "I told you so!!"
Abdominal Ultrasound......proved that I am a gutsy guy.
Chest X-ray.....Lungs of a champion, bones of a weak old man. (thanks kidney failure and hyperparathyroidism).
18 vials of blood for blood work......quickest way to lose a few pounds, though not the easiest.
Meeting with social worker for psychological work-up........(pause for all my friends to laugh and make jokes about my psychological idiosyncracies)......was told "you would be a great candidate for transplant, but I gather you will try to push yourself too hard and you will need to learn to rest and heal"......hahahaha.......then I asked how long I would have to be off the bike and when could I go back to work. In one ear and out the other.
Meeting with the MD.......passed. Md feels I would be an easy transplant. Tells me I should consider trying out for transplant Olympics afterwards. ( http://www.transplantgamesofamerica.org/ ). If you are not a donor, you can sign up on this website to become a donor upon death in your state. You could save multiple lives, please give this some serious thought, and check out my other post labeled Dear organ donor if you are.
Md told RN to fast track my file to get me into the transplant meeting on Friday, so as of August 10, I should officially be on the transplant list.
Section 3.
For anyone who has been watching the Olympics on TV, I could be the next Usain Bolt or Bradley Wiggins (for the transplant Olympics that is). So get your tickets now. This will probably be my post-transplant goal and you could know an Olympian.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Dear organ donor.....
Dear organ donor,
I do not know you, but you saved my life. I am writing this before a deadly accident has befallen you, but it will. You will die, but in that death, you will save my life. You will give my children a father to grow up with, you will give my wife her husband for a few more good years, you will give my parents their child for a while longer. I want you to know that I do not wish this on your life, but I will try to make your sacrifice worth it. I will live my life to the fullest for the both of us. I will try to find courage to attempt what I fear I cannot do, I will look for the will power to keep going when there is no way to do so, I will try to make my life all the God would have me to be without losing heart. I want to thank you now before it is too late. A simple decision to be an organ donor, while probably an afterthought at the time, will save my life in the future. I want to thank your family, for while my family will be celebrating my life, your family will be mourning your loss. I will probably never know who you are, but maybe you will somehow stumble across my humble blog and read this. If you are an organ donor, then this blog is for you. I may not receive life from you, but someone will. From all of us awaiting a hero, thank you.
I do not know you, but you saved my life. I am writing this before a deadly accident has befallen you, but it will. You will die, but in that death, you will save my life. You will give my children a father to grow up with, you will give my wife her husband for a few more good years, you will give my parents their child for a while longer. I want you to know that I do not wish this on your life, but I will try to make your sacrifice worth it. I will live my life to the fullest for the both of us. I will try to find courage to attempt what I fear I cannot do, I will look for the will power to keep going when there is no way to do so, I will try to make my life all the God would have me to be without losing heart. I want to thank you now before it is too late. A simple decision to be an organ donor, while probably an afterthought at the time, will save my life in the future. I want to thank your family, for while my family will be celebrating my life, your family will be mourning your loss. I will probably never know who you are, but maybe you will somehow stumble across my humble blog and read this. If you are an organ donor, then this blog is for you. I may not receive life from you, but someone will. From all of us awaiting a hero, thank you.
I'm sorry....my kidneys are what???
So, the story. I will make this one quick. Jan 18- I am back at work from a wonderful Disney vacation over New Years, but having some occasional random nausea. I get that sometimes from dealing with insurance companies, but this was different. I was also more tired than the usual, meaning I was almost too tired to walk to the break room for chocolate. So, I called my friendly physician and asked if I might have mono, I've heard you can get that from kissing strange people (sorry Mickey Mouse). He said to come in at lunch and let him get a blood sample to see. Jan 19- my friendly physician calls to say I am being admitted to the hospital, please leave work immediately. Now I would usually have no problems leaving work immediately, but going to the hospital is not the way I want to do that. Fast forward a few hours, and I'm in a room being told by the leading nephrologist that I am in kidney failure and will need a transplant. Jan 20- I have a central line placed into my heart and have my first hemodialysis. Jan 21- second hemodialysis and demand DC from hospital to go home.
By the way, Hemodialysis = have the flu and run 10 miles and then find out that you forgot a huge project due tomorrow at work....that would be close to the physical and mental feeling of that. Hemodialysis is my life for 3 weeks until I can get a cath placed into my abdomen to allow me to run fluid in and out of my abdominal cavity and perform dialysis by using osmosis. This is similar to doing a radiator flush and it gives me 3 days a week of my life back. I began on a machine that did this for me at night while I sleep. Well, while normal people sleep. This is apparently the way most kidney failure patients like to do this, however, this requires an air compressor in a machine to kick on and drain/fill fluids 5 times through the night. For a light sleeper such as myself, this was not a fun situation either. So, I change to continuous exchanges. This means I drain and refill 4 times a day. Positives- I can exchange when convenient for me and I sleep through the night. Negatives- I carry 2 liters of fluid in my abdominal cavity at all times, meaning my working as a body double for Matthew and Channing in Magic Mike has come to an end.
So, that is where my current situation lies. I go in a couple days (Aug 7th, the day after my birthday) for a day of testing (much like being probed by Alien life forms and having your blood drained). They will image every part of my body and take 18 vials of blood, and no, that is not a typo. If all looks good, they will put me on the official list to await someone else's tragedy to afford me a kidney and they can start to test the hero's who have offered to be a living donor and save my life.
I will try to keep some quick updates as to where I am at on this journey, and I welcome any comments and questions that anyone might have. However, I want this blog to be a positive experience for everyone, so if you want to argue the finer points of religion, theology, or apologetics, you can private message me.
By the way, Hemodialysis = have the flu and run 10 miles and then find out that you forgot a huge project due tomorrow at work....that would be close to the physical and mental feeling of that. Hemodialysis is my life for 3 weeks until I can get a cath placed into my abdomen to allow me to run fluid in and out of my abdominal cavity and perform dialysis by using osmosis. This is similar to doing a radiator flush and it gives me 3 days a week of my life back. I began on a machine that did this for me at night while I sleep. Well, while normal people sleep. This is apparently the way most kidney failure patients like to do this, however, this requires an air compressor in a machine to kick on and drain/fill fluids 5 times through the night. For a light sleeper such as myself, this was not a fun situation either. So, I change to continuous exchanges. This means I drain and refill 4 times a day. Positives- I can exchange when convenient for me and I sleep through the night. Negatives- I carry 2 liters of fluid in my abdominal cavity at all times, meaning my working as a body double for Matthew and Channing in Magic Mike has come to an end.
So, that is where my current situation lies. I go in a couple days (Aug 7th, the day after my birthday) for a day of testing (much like being probed by Alien life forms and having your blood drained). They will image every part of my body and take 18 vials of blood, and no, that is not a typo. If all looks good, they will put me on the official list to await someone else's tragedy to afford me a kidney and they can start to test the hero's who have offered to be a living donor and save my life.
I will try to keep some quick updates as to where I am at on this journey, and I welcome any comments and questions that anyone might have. However, I want this blog to be a positive experience for everyone, so if you want to argue the finer points of religion, theology, or apologetics, you can private message me.
Who I am
This will hopefully be a comical, uplifting, positive chronicling of my journey through kidney failure, dialysis, and transplant from my perspective. I have to believe that God has allowed me to go through this without a miraculous healing so that his Grace in my life might strengthen others, so I am going to put my story out there for whoever it may help. I thought I would start with a short narrative of who I am before the tedium of kidney dialysis, and the easiest way to do that is to give you a short piece of a journal entry that speaks to that specific question......
"Who Am I.....
I am a Christian. No, not the person with a fish bumper sticker and a bar tab. The kind who teaches his 2 year old to pray when he is scared at night because God is the first line of help in any situation. The kind who believes a heartfelt prayer over a sick child is more powerful than a team of doctors. The kind who is in church every Sunday, not because of importance to be seen and social, but because he truly believes that his life is spectacularly blessed of God and he must give praise for it.
I am a husband. No, not a man with a ring and responsibilities. A man who truly understands the word smitten. A man who understands a Love that runs so deep you ache in places without a name. A man who is no longer his own, but is two flesh become one and who deeply desired to sacrifice whatever it takes to supply his love with all he can.
I am a daddy. No, not a tired father, but a man who no longer knows fear, pain, or death if it means my child will live a better life. A man who can now understand gladly giving up life it means my child will live a fuller one. A man who knows the fear of failure to be the man God called me to be so that my children will know Him and know His power. A man who knows the gut-wrenching agony of a sick child and the unfathomable joy of a child's laughter as it echos through your soul.
I am a man of hope. No, not for wealth, power, or fame. I hope for strength. God called me to lead my family. I hope to never lose faith, to mirror God's love and strength to my family that my children will know God's power and peace in their lives. Strength to that hard times and trials will not overpower me so that my children will never see doubt. I hope for faith. Not the faith that believes my well-funded bank account will suffice my needs, but faith that writes "Lo, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil". Faith that leaves an indelible on a child that leaves no room for doubt, the kind of impression my father left with me. I hope for peace. Not an afternoon at home with no arguing, but a deep-seeded peace that soaks into my families souls and nourishes a trust in God that grows into a lifelong hedge of protection against the assault of the world. And I hope for the continued work of the Potter's hand. I hope for God to continue to help me become the Christian, husband, and father he saw in me when he first formed me. Make me into the vessel you need me to be to reach the full potential you filled me with. These are my hopes and dreams."
"Who Am I.....
I am a Christian. No, not the person with a fish bumper sticker and a bar tab. The kind who teaches his 2 year old to pray when he is scared at night because God is the first line of help in any situation. The kind who believes a heartfelt prayer over a sick child is more powerful than a team of doctors. The kind who is in church every Sunday, not because of importance to be seen and social, but because he truly believes that his life is spectacularly blessed of God and he must give praise for it.
I am a husband. No, not a man with a ring and responsibilities. A man who truly understands the word smitten. A man who understands a Love that runs so deep you ache in places without a name. A man who is no longer his own, but is two flesh become one and who deeply desired to sacrifice whatever it takes to supply his love with all he can.
I am a daddy. No, not a tired father, but a man who no longer knows fear, pain, or death if it means my child will live a better life. A man who can now understand gladly giving up life it means my child will live a fuller one. A man who knows the fear of failure to be the man God called me to be so that my children will know Him and know His power. A man who knows the gut-wrenching agony of a sick child and the unfathomable joy of a child's laughter as it echos through your soul.
I am a man of hope. No, not for wealth, power, or fame. I hope for strength. God called me to lead my family. I hope to never lose faith, to mirror God's love and strength to my family that my children will know God's power and peace in their lives. Strength to that hard times and trials will not overpower me so that my children will never see doubt. I hope for faith. Not the faith that believes my well-funded bank account will suffice my needs, but faith that writes "Lo, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil". Faith that leaves an indelible on a child that leaves no room for doubt, the kind of impression my father left with me. I hope for peace. Not an afternoon at home with no arguing, but a deep-seeded peace that soaks into my families souls and nourishes a trust in God that grows into a lifelong hedge of protection against the assault of the world. And I hope for the continued work of the Potter's hand. I hope for God to continue to help me become the Christian, husband, and father he saw in me when he first formed me. Make me into the vessel you need me to be to reach the full potential you filled me with. These are my hopes and dreams."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)