This is email I sent out to people who wanted to know about Bruce's latest health: dated on Aug. 11, 2008.
Bruce wakes up nauseous and has sometimes thrown up is because of the toxins building up in his system. That's apparently normal. He is going to go forward with getting the surgeon to put in the catheter for the Peritoneal Dialysis. The Dr. thinks he needs to be ready because Bruce has all of a sudden started to feel bad (the nausea, not able to eat much, always tired, etc). So within a month he will see the surgeon to set that up. That means he will probably be on dialysis within a few months.
Once on dialysis, he could start to feel better if it works well enough, but they may decide to take his kidneys out during that time. That would mean a month of healing after that surgery which is harder to recover from than a transplant. Then he would be on dialysis with no kidneys at all until a deceased donor kidney became available. The doctor said that is like falling off a cliff because he will feel so bad quickly.
If he had a live donor, this could be planned out where he never needed the dialysis and could get the kidneys out too, but since he doesn’t have one, he will more than likely be waiting for a year and a half.
He is supposed to go on a very strict LOW protein diet. Whatever protein he eats in a day should fit in his hand. So one turkey sandwich would be all the protein he could have for the whole day. This is just to prolong the kidney health as much as possible.
About a year ago his para-thyroid function started dropping. That is because the kidneys are not getting rid of phosphorus and his body is in turn robbed of calcium, which is why he broke his foot and it never healed. So, that is getting worse not better, despite the new vitamins prescribed last time. So now he is supposed to avoid phosphorus. AND if that wasn't enough, potassium is bad for failing kidneys too so that rules out LOTS of food and drinks.
He is also becoming anemic.
The only thing good we came away with today was the fact that he is young and NOT on Medicare- means he will get more priority on the transplant list. He said transplant center won’t tell you that but it’s the sad truth since Medicare wont pay very much for the transplant.
thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.
AND If anyone has any ideas on food I can make please let me know!! Other than spaghetti, I am clueless what we are going to eat.
Easter Everyday
8 years ago
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ohmy.. this sounds like my husband too.. he is nauseous a lot and throws up a lot after eating. the doc told him to eat small meals because his kidneys are large and pushing on his stomach. he prescribed a med to help with him feeling sick and he too is on an rx'd vitamin d.
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