Just a quick update....

Surgery went well, although I am still very sore...didn't help that Saturday night we almost got into an accident on the way back from the Da Camara AGM BBQ. Idiot cut us off because he was in too much of a rush to wait for the bus to turn onto 82 st from 118 ave...so I am a bit more bruised as a result.

Fast foreward to today...went to the PD Clinic at the Aberhart Centre to learn how to do this dialysis...boy is there a lot to learn! So  am doing okay...a bit emotion as reality hit like a ton of bricks. So we started after I grabbed a coffee and something to eat. I woke up at 8:15 when I should've been on the trian...oops. I hadn't slept well which happens.

So we started to solution in my abdomun (sp?), which went fine...draining was whole other ball of wax, let me tell you! As you all know I have been dealing with IBS-D. So i go through bouts of constipation and diahraeh  (sp?), unless I can eat my high fibre diet which helps to even out things. Well the last 2 years been told, no way!

Now I have been asked why their was none of the "history" in my files...to which I responded with a lot fo anger and frustration, I had had enough and wasn't taking anymore crap from the health system. I am used to having control over all the decisions that go along with informed choices. Non of which I have had in the last 2 yrs. I fell like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz...."I don't think we are in Kansas anymore Toto." Although in my case I would be talking to Leo or Scrappy...lol.

So after having an x-ray so we can see what is going on, if anything, so I havet o go back in the morning, this time with the hubby, who has to take time off of work, because this woman has had ENOUGH! So tommorrow I see my nurse, dietician, Dr. Passani and the social worker. I bthink they are worried because of what I said in the. Officce.  So we shall see what happens tomorrow.

Tonight I am going to enjoy the Wall-Roger Waters is in town for the next two nights...yeah!

Cora

(PS will come back and fix the errors whenn I can access my home computer)

Another Update....well more of a rant actually ;D

Well as you all know I am supposed to starting my dialysis on the 30th, well now I am not so sure that will be happening (still waiting for a call from my nurse). The PD Clinic called yesterday to confirm everything. One of the things I had been wondering was when they would be doing the surgery to pull the catheter out so I can use it. Well apparently its the first day, under a local anesthetic. I wish I had been told that earlier as I have issues with locals, just ask my dentist...sigh.

When I get dental work, I need 4 shots around the tooth plus one in the roof of my mouth if the tooth being fixed is the in the top of the mouth or 5 shots in the bottom of my mouth. Then i need at lest one or two more half way during the procedure as I absorb the anesthetic to fast.

So I explained this to person who called. She spoke to her supervisor who said to talk to my renal specialist, so I called them. They called me back, saying they just missed the supervisor, so I have to wait until today to find out what next. then I was asked why they were dealing with it. This isn't something they normally deal with.

By the way my husband has been sooooo supportive. I am so fortunate to have him in my life, thank you sweetie you know who you are :)

So again everything is up in the air...

In the meantime I have found some songs that give me solace....

I absolutely adore Danielle Lowe, she is a local girl from Edmonton, AB. She is amazing! I know this song refers specifically breast cancer, however anyone facing a life threatening illness will relate to the emotions in this song.

This one is just amazing by Reba McEntire-The words just hit me in that place.

Ok so now I wait..Thanks for letting me vent!

Cora

Sorry it has been a while...

Last Friday, 10 days ago, I got hit with a bug. I was at knitting group when I suddenly got the chills. I was waiting for hubby to pick me up from Starbucks at Northtown Mall, across from Northgate, when I started to feel cold. I thought it was due to this Starbucks having a drive thru and it was starting to get cold outside.

While we were driving home we decided to go out to eat, we were both tired and didn't feel like cooking, so we went to Boston Pizza. I could not warm up, so we got our dinners to go, paid and headed home. By the time we got home I was running a fever. The next morning I felt like I was trying to cough up a lung! So I called into work on the Sunday and said I am just too sick to make it in. I was floored!

So Wednesday, hubby took me to the ER at the Royal Alexander Hospital. It actually wasn't a bad wait, we got there around 7:45 pm and got into the ER around 10:45 pm. The staff were great. The Dr. came in and listened to my chest, couldn't hear anything so sent me for x-rays. I had urine tested along with blood work. When the doctor came back he said he was suspicious that it could be pneumonia (confirmed the next day) but he was also worried about my creatine levels, they were at 500, not good. A couple of months ago they were at 300. We were out of there by 4:30 am. I must say the staff there are great!

I have to say, I am thankful to my loving husband who has been there through it all. He is the best :D

The Renal Insufficiency Clinic called the next day, I have an appointment on March 22 at 11:00 am. If my numbers don't rebound by then I start dialysis.

I will let you know more on the 22nd.

Cora

Here is an interesting article from the Edmonton Journal on marriage and kidney donation.

What an interesting article...I have been married for almost 3 1/2 yrs, together for a total of 5. I now have DH come with me to all my appointments with my nepherologist especially after the dressing down he gave me way back in March. If he can he also comes with me to speak with my nurse at the renal insufficiency clinic. He is also acutely aware of what is going on with me at all times. I am in the process of getting all the testing for a kidney transplant, although to be honest it scares the crap out of me. More so than doing the dialysis. So I wonder what this means for us?

As I deal with the many stressors in my life: work, family and friends; some of which are good. Just because they are great doesn't mean that they aren't stressors. It makes me wonder where things are going...not sure where I am going with this all. I guess I am feeling a bit down today, fighting another infection which is frustrating as hell. I had to miss a shift today because of it. I was running a low grade fever. Was up and down all night using the bathroom. I am not even sure if I am on the right antibiotics, time will tell though.

Cora

This is not the first study to show that marriage seems to go along with better health. Historically, studies have found that married people as a group tend to be healthier than singles -- though recent research suggests the health advantage of marriage may be fading.

Photograph by: Photos.com, canada.com

Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Getting+married+also+kidney/3883236/story.html?cid=megadrop_story#ixzz16PnECbEg

People who get married appear to enjoy better health overall -- and may even be more likely to receive a kidney transplant when they need one, a new study reports.

Researchers found that people with kidney failure who were married or divorced (or separated) were more than 50 per cent as likely to be placed on a waitlist for a new kidney as never-married people. Those who were married were also 28 per cent more likely to receive the organ, relative to single people on the waitlist.

These findings make sense, Dr. Laura Taylor of the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing told Reuters Health -- "being married tends to give you team support."

Many people on the waitlist for a new kidney are on dialysis, she said, which means they have to follow a complicated diet and medication regimen, and keep up with many appointments. A partner can help them with all of that, Taylor explained, keeping them healthier overall. That, in turn, makes them eligible to join the waitlist, and when an organ becomes available, they're in good enough physical shape to receive it.

With a partner to help, "you remain as healthy as possible on dialysis," said Taylor, who did not participate in the study.

This is not the first study to show that marriage seems to go along with better health. Historically, studies have found that married people as a group tend to be healthier than singles -- though recent research suggests the health advantage of marriage may be fading.

Still, people with spouses tend to live longer, be less depressed, and suffer less from cardiovascular disease. Every year, an average of 90,000 Americans develop kidney failure, at which point they must begin dialysis or receive a kidney transplant -- and if they receive a transplant, married patients tend to fare better than single transplant recipients.

To investigate whether marriage is linked at all to the odds of receiving a new kidney in the first place, the researchers looked at information collected in the U.S. national kidney failure database, focusing on the 3,650 people whose records included information about their marital status.

Approximately 56 per cent of those with kidney failure were married, while 14 per cent were divorced or separated, and 30 per cent were either widowed or had never married.

The authors were unable to include information on single-sex relationships, whether single people had unmarried partners or the quality of marriages, they note in the American Journal of Transplantation.

It's not clear why married or divorced people may fare better when it comes to kidney transplants, study author Dr. Muhammad Khattak of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School told Reuters Health in an e-mail.

Previous research has shown married people often have better access to healthcare, and better health overall, which may render them "more qualified candidates for renal transplantation." Although this study focused on kidney transplant, it's possible the same trend is true for other organs, he added.

Of course, it's also possible that healthier people may be more likely to get and stayed married, in which case marriage itself offers no benefit to getting a transplant, noted Khattak, also based at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center.

Twenty per cent of donated organs came from so-called live donors -- living people who agreed to give up one of their kidneys. Here, too, being married can help, Taylor pointed out, since spouses may offer to donate a kidney. And even if a husband is not a match for his wife, they can enter a kidney "swap," Taylor explained, in which the husband gives his kidney to someone unrelated, which "sets off a chain reaction of donation swapping," and the wife receives a kidney from someone else.

Even people who are divorced may still be close with their spouses and the friends from when they were married, giving them a "complex social network that can be relied on," she added.

Obviously, "we cannot advise people to marry they need renal transplant in the future," said Khattak. However, unmarried people and their doctors can try to ensure they receive quick referrals, good psychosocial support, and education about their health, Khattak said.

"There is nothing a single person can do or not do in terms of moving up the list besides staying healthy," added Taylor.

SOURCE: American Journal of Transplantation, online November 10, 2010.

© Copyright (c) Reuters

Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Getting+married+also+kidney/3883236/story.html?cid=megadrop_story#ixzz16PmQv4tY