tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33629008332587478412011-10-24T04:03:36.016-04:00a whole new beginning!Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.comBlogger901100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-71855332036924836172010-03-20T22:28:00.004-04:002010-03-20T23:03:49.348-04:00

That's what everyone wants to know. I have been hesitant to say that is the case. Probably because it has been such a long road of health problems for Bruce over the past 2 years. I feel like the rug is going to get pulled out from under us at any moment. I keep waiting for the next problem.Bruce has been back to work for 2 whole weeks. It was not a slow process, he is working more hours and

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-62127780951056712532010-02-20T19:15:00.006-05:002010-02-20T19:51:23.811-05:00

Bruce has been going back and forth between living at his parents house for a few days then back home for a few days. This week he saw the Dr. at Lifelink in Tampa on Tuesday and they told him he didn't need to return until March 2. (2 weeks) So he got to officially move his things home. He can return to work in about 2 weeks also. He is not 100% of course but he gets better slowly everyday. Most

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-83708514040137295532010-02-08T21:38:00.007-05:002010-02-08T22:24:13.839-05:00

Bruce came home for a few days over the weekend. The boys were thrilled of course. His Dad drove him home on Thursday which was really great for me to not have to drive. He gets very tired, irritable, then full of energy and overjoyed with happiness. He went outside for an hour from 9am-10am then felt like he got sunburned and was wiped out. About 5pm he starts getting the shakes very bad.

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-59711505322871926082010-02-02T23:02:00.009-05:002010-02-02T23:32:41.923-05:00

Bruce had appointment on Sunday at hospital that went well, then another one at Lifelink on Monday. Him and his dad waited forever. They was there before they opened (7:30) and didn't finish until 11:30. This was apparently because it was a lab, nurse, then Doctor visit. Not all of them are Doctor visits so they should not be as long. His creatin was down to 4.6 on monday - woo hoo! His next appt

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-51537220222816762262010-01-30T15:42:00.006-05:002010-01-30T16:21:47.173-05:00

If you haven't already heard, Bruce was released from the hospital yesterday (Friday). They thought about keeping him another day but Gasparilla was taking over the Tampa Bay on Saturday and they knew how hard it would be to get in and out of the area with traffic and people that have been drinking since 10am. He has to return to the hospital on Sunday morning for blood work and then the doctors

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-58126255480319561522010-01-27T23:32:00.009-05:002010-01-28T00:03:44.314-05:00

Last Tuesday evening / Wed morning was the second surgery. I'm happy to write that the past 2 days there has been lots of improvements. Overall Bruce feels SO much better. No matter what the tests are showing, his attitude has been nothing but positive and he's finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Actual talk with the doctors about being released has stopped some of the worrying

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-4129047213087014742010-01-25T19:29:00.006-05:002010-01-25T20:08:42.172-05:00

Saturday was good, we had lots of visitors and Bruce felt well and looked much better. Then Sunday morning he was miserable again. He got even more swollen and felt nauseous. The creatin went up to 11 so they sent him for dialysis for 3.5 hours. He was very discouraged, worried that he will have to go on dialysis again, kidney won't ever work, etc....When he came back from dialysis, he felt

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-28830181205310353952010-01-23T13:57:00.007-05:002010-01-23T15:00:56.756-05:00

Thursday and Friday Bruce had to stay in ICU. On Wed they were planning to move him then Thursday morning the Nephrologist changed the orders because Bruce was nauseous and thought they should keep eye on him in ICU. Thursday night Bruce felt worse and got very swollen with fluid. He got no sleep because he threw up several times from dinner and they were doing major construction outside his room

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-18428850365131507722010-01-20T22:39:00.003-05:002010-01-20T23:01:53.669-05:00

Bruce was taken to ICU early and taken off breathing machine and sedation at 8am. He did very well and was aware of the time so first thing he wondered was what took so long and how in the world it was 8am. So I told him a little bit but the Dr. and I filled him in more later.The Nephrologist that was the one concerned about the kidney not reacting like it should came to see us this morning. He

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-85274784004957865222010-01-20T02:06:00.004-05:002010-01-20T02:38:27.368-05:00

2am. Waiting with Bruce's mom and dad to see him for few minutes in recovery. There are no available beds in ICU yet so he will stay in recovery for now. They said it would be an hour before we can see him so I'm killing time until my battery runs out.I will try to explain what happened the best I can at this hour. The head surgeon from Lifelink who did Bruce's transplant also did this surgery.

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-68100763410038193352010-01-19T22:54:00.004-05:002010-01-19T23:11:20.210-05:00

Things took a new turn today. The head Nephrologist said he was worried about Bruce's creatin level not rising and wanted to go back in (do surgery) and see what was wrong. Bruce panicked of course because we were just told an hour before that from a transplant surgeon that everything looked good on the 2nd ultrasound and they weren't worried. The surgeons and nephrologists all met and decided to

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-86848406053496070862010-01-17T14:07:00.009-05:002010-01-17T22:10:55.598-05:00

Big improvements today. Bruce was walking in the halls and sitting in chair all day- awake and feeling good. He felt like eating more, his BP is better, and no headaches so far.The Nephrologist ordered an ultrasound to make sure everything looks good because his creatin is not rising as fast as it could. He said it was nothing to be alarmed about it was just to make sure kidney looking good and

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-88507568994417434842010-01-16T23:59:00.000-05:002010-01-17T09:51:39.544-05:00

Yesterday was up and down for Bruce. The head Nephrologist was there again and said his creatin is slowly coming down, so they will just see what it is tomorrow and hope it continues. If it doesn't go down, they may do an ultrasound to check things out. His urine output is supposed to eventually have no blood in it and this morning it got more red so they started a drip of a solution that

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-88961759671798865612010-01-15T21:45:00.003-05:002010-01-15T22:23:45.209-05:00

Both Ken and Bruce feeling very sore and bloated. Ken was able to get his pain medicine switched to Delotted and that made a difference for him. Bruce was on a low dose, so they upped the dose. But he only used it 2 times. The pump is there for his use every 10 min but he doesn't want to push it because he knows the side effects of the pain meds, but he kept complaining he was in so much pain.

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-37393818953989072242010-01-14T21:11:00.004-05:002010-01-15T21:09:14.320-05:00

Both patients doing well. Ken went into surgery around 7:30 and was done about 11:15. We got to hospital at 6am and Bruce was taken to surgery around 10:30. Ken's surgeon updated us when his surgery was complete. He said it all went well (it was laproscopic) and he had a big healthy kidney. Ken woke up in lots of pain but we visited him after he was sent to regular room and he was doing a little

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-36966214811795109782010-01-06T23:33:00.002-05:002010-01-07T00:26:01.378-05:00

Whoa...time is flying. Just as the holidays are over, it's the typical struggle back into work and school routine. I was enjoying the help and days off but now we are back in the scheduling nightmare of getting everything done and everyone where they need to be. Top that off with the hundreds of details to be planned out for the following week which is the transplant surgery! YES one week from

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-62556074236275260162009-12-27T23:28:00.003-05:002009-12-28T00:15:45.834-05:00

YES! It was pretty good! I think Bruce managed to make it through the past few days fairly well considering he's still feeling bad. Same symptoms, occasional vomiting, massive headaches, and VERY high blood pressure. He spoke with Dr. last monday before Christmas and told him his BP readings- 170's over 100's on average. Dr. said to just take Fiorcet for headache pain everyday as prescribed, not

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-31858659869411833722009-12-19T23:06:00.002-05:002009-12-19T23:47:37.206-05:00

Less than one month now til Bruce gets a kidney. Time is flying by. I know I have not posted in awhile, wish I could say all is well but it's the typical roller coaster ride with Bruce's health. I have been busier with work but still having to plan every day to the minute, juggling things just to get everyone transported and taken care of. I feel like I'm barely getting things done and I'm in

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-64949187928771014762009-12-03T22:16:00.002-05:002009-12-03T22:54:21.009-05:00

Bruce will get his transplant from Ken on January 14th. They have to go 2 days before that for pre-op. That is all we know for sure now. I can't plan anything until we get a packet of info from Lifelink, then I have about 100 things to coordinate. It's exciting and surreal. We have told Beck but even he seems to blow it off like "yeah right, whatever!"Bruce saw the Neurologist this week. He

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-23675891233595315012009-11-19T22:01:00.003-05:002009-11-19T22:32:45.434-05:00

Bruce's donor is approved and he will get a new kidney! Even typing the words seems like a fantasy. I have not had any time to process this yet. We are both so busy then we stop for a moment and think about what is going to happen and still can't believe it's real. I wanted to have an official date before I posted but Lifelink hasn't scheduled it yet. The donor is calling them with the date of

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-27711959057457716862009-11-07T21:49:00.004-05:002009-11-07T22:21:52.567-05:00

It seems like at least 2 weeks since I typed anything here. I never get the time for anything anymore. I know I used to say that many years ago after having children, but the past year has taught me I had no idea of what a chaotic life really can feel like.Bruce had bad headaches that were not addressed by dialysis center. I know I did posts on this before and thought something should be done so

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-46163868301292993252009-10-30T00:02:00.002-04:002009-10-30T00:22:25.525-04:00

Bruce's potential donor completed his last test this week, an ultrasound. He has to meet w the surgeon and nephrologist I think next week. Then the case goes before a committee and they decide to do transplant surgery or not. I feel like they have been less than cordial to the donor by not scheduling this things together so he doesn't have to drive from Orlando multiple times and wait. I plan on

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-83760541442971493272009-10-19T22:06:00.002-04:002009-10-19T22:25:01.943-04:00

I am so busy and don't see it ending soon. THANK YOU to the people giving Bruce rides to work and to dialysis or home from dialysis late at night. I don't know how I would make it without that help. Bruce is doing OK. It's up and down as usual. He always has something wrong...headache, back ache, leg aches, etc. No energy is the norm. I think he has a headache suddenly appear everyday. It has to

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-56609204243946427862009-10-11T21:53:00.003-04:002009-10-11T22:40:52.568-04:00

It's been over a week since I posted ... it was one of the worst weeks we have had at home just trying to get through the days without losing our minds. Bruce not driving is killing me. I am running non-stop all day long or working until after 11pm. I got sick on friday and felt like I had the flu for past few days. We have to find solutions to help me out or I will not survive. We have several

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-78431123900977700722009-10-02T22:54:00.002-04:002009-10-02T23:30:58.388-04:00

This week has been a killer. I am being run to death and pulled in every direction. Bruce not being able to drive and needing to go to Dr. appointments, dialysis for 4.5 hours, picking up things from work on top of taking kids to schools and picking them up at different times, baseball practice, etc. etc. etc. is too much for me to do and try to work also. It's been a scheduling nightmare.

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-65132687650470246722009-09-29T23:12:00.002-04:002009-09-29T23:29:28.358-04:00

My cousin, who is a match for Bruce, called Lifelink in Tampa to get her next round of medical tests done and was told she had to wait because someone else was getting their second round of testing. This was total shock to me! About the same time, Bruce got a call from an old friend who told him that is was him and he's scheduled to start testing on Friday. We had heard months ago that he was

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-66975936835892373772009-09-28T22:51:00.003-04:002009-09-28T23:33:20.848-04:00

We met with Dr. Russo in his office today. He is thinking the seizure was caused by the Ambien. He said his first assumption would be medicine because there is nothing in his record to show other reason and a seizure is not a common thing for someone in Bruce's condition. He mentioned the fact that Ambien works on the brain. He looked and did not find documented side effects of a seizure, as did

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-11454042891417089362009-09-24T22:24:00.002-04:002009-09-24T22:40:23.607-04:00

That's about all that matters. No more running to the hospital to battle the process of our screwed up health care system. He was released to go by doctors before noon and I picked him up at 7:15pm. He sat there for 7 hours doing nothing, getting nothing, just taking up a room while they got the paperwork together for him to leave. We have been through this recently 2 other times and I know it

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-24420689375573858052009-09-22T22:05:00.002-04:002009-09-22T22:34:31.395-04:00

Finally a doctor (critical care doctor) speaks up this morning in the rounds and makes some drastic changes. For 2 days they have been giving him same BP meds and nothing getting better. Yesterday they had to add one that only comes in an IV drip for temporary period and that was only thing helping it from being extremely high. But he cannot leave ICU with that so something had to be done. The dr

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-69715097477773093752009-09-21T22:39:00.004-04:002009-09-21T23:09:36.730-04:00

Bruce's brother Sean was in the news in Nashville. They did the same kind of story like they did here about them both needing kidneys. Here is the link: http://www.wsmv.com/video/21047012/I'm pretty sad after seeing that so not much into reviewing the day since there is nothing too good to report as far as progress to get out of ICU. His blood pressure is still high. They have him on everything

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-11407232400981668872009-09-20T21:27:00.003-04:002009-09-20T21:51:57.275-04:00

Today was the best day so far. Blood pressure remained too high, but by evening I believe they finally got it under control. He made it all day on liquid diet without getting sick. He is starving but they won't give him anything solid until tomorrow.He is mentally not quite with it yet. Had I not seen this before when he had his surgery I would be very worried that something was wrong, but last

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-55680118530372853312009-09-19T22:01:00.004-04:002009-09-19T22:40:29.683-04:00

Bruce got off the ventilator and is breathing well on his own.This morning they turned the settings down and he was able to tolerate it but they were still getting the blood gas to "follow the rules", meanwhile he was gagging non-stop and throwing up everywhere because of the tube. It was pretty apparent something HAD to be done immediately. The critical care doctor (different than the one from

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-41625618968973065242009-09-18T21:40:00.004-04:002009-09-18T22:30:21.260-04:00

The day started positive with a wonderful ICU nurse, Kathy, who we had the first time Bruce was in ICU in May for the cysts bursting. She was already on top of the weaning off ventilator situation before I got there and she worked her hardest all day long to progress him along. She turned off all the sedatives so he eventually woke up and we got to communicate where I felt like he was really

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-61906093685540750112009-09-17T21:48:00.003-04:002009-09-17T22:17:52.824-04:00

Basically nothing has changed. It's so hard to go there every morning with hopes that progress will be made and feel like all I do all day is battle it out with the nurse as to WHY more isn't being done. I am thankful nothing has gotten worse but this experience is just brutal.Nephrologist seemed very happy and thought Bruce had made a lot of progress ? He didn't see any reason why he couldn't be

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-59403531103611419882009-09-16T23:19:00.004-04:002009-09-16T23:48:01.356-04:00

Today was very hard to take. Nothing has changed. He had an MRI, dialysis, then headed for a CT scan of abdomen at 9pm. I asked about MRI results and was told if something was wrong, they would have called and reported it to ICU but other than that, I would not know results until tomorrow when neurologist visits. The dialysis had to happen immediately after MRI because the contrast they use could

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-59580775832806121062009-09-15T22:00:00.002-04:002009-09-15T22:30:09.515-04:00

He was taken by ambulance from work yesterday morning to the ER. He started hallucinating and then went into a seizure. He was thrashing around and fighting the whole way apparently. I got to the ER and fought my way to get to see him because he was so out of control they did not want me there but I told them I needed to tell them his medical history and that he has not slept in weeks and taken

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-571425505822926422009-09-12T23:42:00.002-04:002009-09-13T00:11:18.073-04:00

Ambien is one weird drug. He takes 10mg, falls asleep, wakes up about an hour later, eventually goes back to sleep for a few more hours, then he's awake for good around 3:30-4:40. And that is a good night. Three nights last week he only slept maybe 3 hours a night. Some people can function like that, I probably could but eventually I would nap or get a really good sleep. He can never sleep for

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-44411401739788604912009-09-01T21:00:00.005-04:002009-09-01T21:35:11.389-04:00

We saw Dr. Burtch today. He said at this time period it is the most swollen the body will be after the surgery. He felt all around his abdomen and verified that he was indeed quite swollen. I knew that it happened a few days after surgery, there was an obvious change, but it was hard to know what was fluid from no kidneys or what. He said there is no way he would go in now and try to do surgery

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-49135135669148516442009-08-29T20:34:00.007-04:002009-08-29T21:12:13.302-04:00

This is the first and only post Bruce has actually asked me to make (and he told me the title). On Friday his PD nurse Diane (aka Mrs. Claus) retired. When Bruce found out, he was very sad because he liked her so much. We both know that when he goes back on the PD he will be just as well taken care of by Anna the other nurse at the Kidney Institute. They have all been wonderful there and having

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-39501801758172671592009-08-18T21:51:00.004-04:002009-08-18T22:52:07.244-04:00

Bruce has another week and a half off from work to recover. I think he's doing pretty well considering the major surgery he just had, and the fact that he is doing new dialysis with no help from kidneys. He gets hemodialysis on Mon, Wed, and Friday at a center for 4 hours each day. He has now started to drive himself so that takes some pressure off of me. He got his stitches (staples) out on

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-41267061896829671812009-08-16T21:33:00.003-04:002009-08-16T21:45:02.137-04:00

I have kept this blog focused on Bruce and his disease, but as you know, the toll this takes on a family is overwhelming. I would like to thank everyone for thinking of me and what I go through in this long process. A friend emailed me something last week that I would like to share...Especially to the several wives who read this whose husbands are dealing with same situation as Bruce, and also to

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-13775588110572766262009-08-12T17:00:00.007-04:002009-08-12T17:48:07.293-04:00

Last post I wrote: "We have to go back to the hospital Monday for dialysis... we hope. We have a name and number to call at 9am Monday to get it set up." As with most every aspect of that hospital, it turned out to be a complete disaster.We were on phone from 9am-12pm non-stop sometimes on both cell phones. We spoke with hospital, Dr.'s office, and a many people at United Health care, but not

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-61754031879700681242009-08-08T20:55:00.005-04:002009-08-08T22:11:25.618-04:00

Bruce came home today! Such a relief to be out of that warped place. There was a debate about discharging him since Friday morning. I was unsure he was stable enough yesterday because he could hardly walk on his own, having dizziness, and just didn't want to get out of bed. Today he suddenly got energy and was able to walk around on his own. He had the dialysis yesterday so it probably helped him

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-53122820054499155412009-08-06T18:41:00.010-04:002009-08-06T20:41:22.666-04:00

The past 2 days he had significant progress because he kept liquids down all day yesterday and today at lunch and dinner ate solids- so far so good. He was hungry and ate quite a bit. He has discomfort inside abdomen from things starting to move around and try to work again. The incision hurts when he moves a lot but he's not in any major pain. He had hiccups for many hours yesterday and today

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-59251535489483046842009-08-04T22:10:00.005-04:002009-08-04T22:37:59.837-04:00

For everyone who has called and left messages, sent texts, comments, emails....thank you ! and I tell Bruce everyday who has asked about him. I have his phone, so if you are calling it, I am checking messages until he is able to speak to anyone. He can have visitors, but he is in too bad of shape to talk right now. I will keep this blog updated and let everyone know when he's up to calls and

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-25708872146638543302009-08-03T21:25:00.005-04:002009-08-03T22:30:59.653-04:00

A lot has been happening but not a lot of progress in health. The tube in his nose was taken out yesterday which alleviated the throat pain. His BP remains stable without medicine- very good! He was given anti-nausea meds but they haven't worked. He cannot keep anything down. He was allowed sprite and jello yesterday and liquid diet today. The tray for breakfast, lunch and dinner all came with

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-63647167985986683292009-08-01T22:34:00.007-04:002009-08-01T23:20:18.709-04:00

First of all here are the kidney photos;WARNING!!! DO NOT CLICK if you get sick at the site of body parts. It's pretty graphic. But very interesting to me now. CLICK HERE for PHOTOSNot much progress - very frustrating. He can't be moved out of ICU until blood pressure is stable because it is still too low unless they are giving him IV medicine. He can still only have ice or sips of water. His

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-54148013016334065232009-08-01T08:55:00.000-04:002009-08-01T09:51:33.722-04:00

In icu now nothing to do but give ice chips when they allow it.no food or drinks until stomach has "woken up".Yesterday we got here at 5am surgery started at 7:30 and ended at 11:30. I waited w both bruce's parents and my own. We were told sugery was only 2 hours so I got worried when it took so long but surgeon met w us after and said it all went well with no problems. We have photos of the

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-78491583137252124962009-07-30T22:01:00.002-04:002009-07-30T22:15:01.292-04:00

Tomorrow is the big day. Surgery scheduled at 7:30 and should take 2 hours. He will be in ICU for at least 1 day and 7 total days in hospital if all goes as planned. You can read my post about Nephrectomy Surgery Scheduled to see the details. It is good the time has finally come to get this over with but Bruce is still a wreck about everything. There is one person being tested soon to see if they

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-19025971352920812942009-07-04T12:04:00.003-04:002009-07-04T12:09:57.067-04:00

"Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on; Hold fast; Hold out. Patience is genius."~ Georges Buffonhappy 4th!One of Bruce's fav holidays because of one reason- loud fireworks. Inevitably he will burn holes in his clothes. Hope he has the energy to enjoy it this year. The kids are already going crazy. It's going to be one long day.

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-10787823370639948262009-07-01T23:06:00.004-04:002009-07-02T00:05:18.860-04:00

Last week was a doozy. Roan was sick at home all week and Beck was also here. And I had to work at home in the chaos. I missed Bruce's appointment with Dr. Russo. Nothing new happened there, they just discussed the process of hemodialysis that he will go on after they take kidneys out. They took blood but he doesn't know the results yet because he hasn't called them back. Friday we had the

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-26682631801512288062009-06-17T21:59:00.002-04:002009-06-17T22:18:29.631-04:00

Bruce went to work this week. He still has very very little energy and still getting sick once a day. He has improved from last week though. Dialysis is going good- all at night again and he goes tomorrow to get blood checked and get another shot.We are not allowed to know if anyone has called to be a donor or is getting tested. LifeLink will not tell us anything.Bruce has appt on June 26, next

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-50689692293172119872009-06-11T21:39:00.004-04:002009-06-11T21:55:52.185-04:00

Not much has changed this week at home. He is nauseous and usually throws up in morning. He is barely eating. Nurse told him to eat anything he feels like eating to get some nutrients. He is doing more dialysis at night but not during the day because he couldn't handle it. He has almost no energy. His hemoglobin is at 8.1 from Monday's blood work so that explains the energy level. They gave him

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-30239161437828696302009-06-10T22:13:00.003-04:002009-06-10T22:17:49.728-04:00

Apparently they are having trouble coming to an agreement, so all of the hospitals in our area could drop our insurance - united health care.http://www.floridahealthinsuranceweb.com/blog/lee-memorial-health-systems-at-standstill-with-united-healthcare/We already have to go to Tampa Lifelink for the transplant, but this would effect our whole family if we had an emergency we would have to drive 30

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-25636682176047036182009-06-09T18:16:00.005-04:002009-06-09T18:24:14.109-04:00

Nancy Alvarez at local NBC-2 did news story on Bruce and his brother's disease and need for kidney:http://www.nbc-2.com/Articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=30635&z=3

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-53720204874870338952009-06-08T23:11:00.002-04:002009-06-08T23:26:47.813-04:00

We went to Kidney Institute to get Bruce's blood taken and talk about medicines and dialysis with nurse. This time it was Ana because Mrs. Claus is out of town. Dr. Russo made time between patients to come visit and he adjusted the dialysis temporarily for a few days. Bruce has to do one manual exchange during the day and they added an extra hour of dialysis on machine at night. They are trying

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-5467126939627914432009-06-07T20:38:00.004-04:002009-06-07T20:56:35.761-04:00

With that hospital stay behind us, I am hoping things improve this week. Last night was a little scary. Blood pressure dropped to 70s/30s at one point yesterday. I called his nurse about every hour. I had to give him liquids and salty foods and then check it every hour or more. Thought he would end up back at hospital but he woke up and it's been fine all day (about 125/70). He hasn't had any

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-2185612970296503492009-06-06T13:36:00.003-04:002009-06-06T14:03:59.861-04:00

Bruce came home around 4pm yesterday.We saw his surgeon who had returned from transplant conference in Boston- he ran in quickly to tell him to make sure if he bleeds again to get filters on the blood transfusion. Bruce in his drugged up state at least remembered that last sat. when they told him he needed blood. He refused it and then Tom called me called nurse to verify it was ok to have it if

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-87098832698226475752009-06-03T21:49:00.005-04:002009-06-05T15:50:30.657-04:00

This post if for everyone who has called, concerned and offering help. I have been way too busy to call anyone back. So here is what has happened...Friday May 22nd: A cyst burst and Bruce started bleeding. This is a common occurance with his PKD. He had one-sided kidney pain on Sat the 23rd. He spent friday, sat, sun, and monday in bed most of the time with nausea and vomiting on and off. On

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-19414495444507191422009-05-22T23:30:00.002-04:002009-05-22T23:37:59.419-04:00

Tuesday and Wednesday Bruce took the "phoslo" which is the medicine that is a binder to phosphorus to keep the levels down. he took it with each meal. He had NO nausea both days, then this morning he threw up when he got up before he ate anything. He came home at noon and had to sleep. He barely ate all day, just little bits at a time. So we are both clueless at what is causing the sickness. His

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-66279518959629879992009-05-20T08:24:00.003-04:002009-05-20T08:57:32.907-04:00

It's never good news to go there but thank god we love Dr. Russo and Mrs. Claus. It is truly a pleasure to talk to them even though the conversation is about some very negative things. Dr. Russo is blunt, he tells it like it is, no BS, and he thinks about all possibilities.The nausea is not because of dialysis not doing what it should. All his levels and numbers look good, the only thing off is

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-77352602200958109872009-05-18T22:09:00.003-04:002009-05-18T22:30:47.044-04:00

Lots going on: end of Beck's baseball season, working on yard/house, and dealing with constant health issues has kept me from being on computer much at night.• Surgeon doesn't want to operate on hernia. Esp. if Bruce expects to have surgery to take out kidneys.• Still no payments on anything from Medicare. It's like playing phone tag with 6 corporations. We will figure it out this week!• Bruce

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-8509242413341561982009-04-28T20:32:00.003-04:002009-04-28T20:57:33.556-04:00

Bruce went to this today. An RN from LifeLink was there to explain transplant process and answer questions. Most of it Bruce already knew from the hours we spent at Lifelink last year. The only thing that was a concern is the RN said that they have "never" taken out the polycystic kidneys at the same time as the transplant. So Bruce is going to have to try to push harder for more info. This has

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-76906637797350917992009-04-19T10:47:00.006-04:002009-04-19T11:09:27.622-04:00

The freedom of only having dialysis at night is a miracle. I can't imagine the poor souls that go to hemodialysis 3 or 4 times a week and get stuck my a big needle and sit for 4 hours - then leave in bad shape sometimes. Our country is the only one that pushes for hemodialysis instead of PD (peritonieal dialysis). Doctors need to be more informed and need to present the options better to kidney

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-89144057052779484482009-04-14T21:03:00.001-04:002009-04-14T21:03:27.127-04:00

All blood tests are good. Machine seems to be doing better job than manual dialysis.I think with some more time, he will start to feel even better. The freedom of not having to do dialysis 4 times a day has been a major improvement in his life. He hates the machine of course but he feels better most of the time. If he were not dealing with enormous kidneys, he would probably feel completely

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-81278117930819606332009-04-03T21:09:00.002-04:002009-04-03T21:23:31.513-04:00

Bruce is a tad bit better. He calls in daily and gives nurse the results from the machine which tells them how it's working. One night the alarm went off because he kinked up the line somehow.Nurse Diane (Mrs. Claus) says that it is working very well. She has made adjustments to it everyday by phone with Bruce trying to get it just right for him. Tomorrow will be the first day that he wakes up

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-67579545407903026432009-03-31T22:50:00.003-04:002009-03-31T22:58:00.675-04:00

Bruce was scared to death to do it. Even though he had been trained and done it 3 times already, Mrs. Claus was always there and doing anything new terrifies him. So he worried about it for hours and drove us crazy then I gave him a Klonopin and he hooked it up and he said that by the time he knew it was working, he was like "night night"... He slept all night, no problems. We were told it was

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-44459158988989892932009-03-30T23:01:00.002-04:002009-03-30T23:11:20.999-04:00

Mrs. Claus came over and helped Bruce set up the nighttime machine. It is about the size of a large copier but it fits on his nightstand. There is another TV tray stand next to it to hold a bag of fluid. There are about 10 tubes coming out of it and going in all kinds of directions. One of them runs to the bathroom shower. It is all digital and if something goes wrong in middle of night it sounds

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-78723868894758845022009-03-29T20:51:00.000-04:002009-03-30T22:58:37.928-04:00

Bruce took a new diuretic to reduce the fluid retention and it made his blood pressure plummet for 2 days. He went to his second day of training on nighttime machine at the kidney center and was unable to do it because he almost passed out and couldn't stand. They gave him bag of potato chips and he seemed better so he came home and stayed in bed all day. The next day was up and down. He finally

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-74973284832038146402009-03-25T22:01:00.000-04:002009-03-30T22:50:55.816-04:00

We paid our first payment and found out that it is 36 months (or something like that... essentially a long time) before it kicks in as primary insurance and pays for things. Until then it pays nothing. I don't know about the RX part because that is separate. But we got a letter stating that we may not be eligible because we make too much money.His drugs individually are not that much, it just

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-12652472942131768832009-03-22T20:40:00.000-04:002009-03-30T22:46:07.032-04:00

We saw Nephrologist on March 17th. All blood test levels were good, very good he said. But Bruce gained tons of water weight and was miserable. They told him to watch sodium content in food more and to do 2 bags a day of the higher solution. Which means 3 liters of liquid floating around in his body all day instead of 2. This was supposed to get the excess water out of his system better. They

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-13812681553218982732009-03-07T23:34:00.002-05:002009-03-07T23:41:14.914-05:00

I spent over a month with no post and things were good. My last posting was about how much better Bruce felt and blah blah. So here we are again back to no energy, extremely tired days, feeling like he's getting flu, etc. It's been going on for almost a week. I don't have a clue what could be causing the regress but it's frustrating. He goes to Kidney Institute Thursday for a day of testing to

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-45416533101982593912009-03-04T21:06:00.002-05:002009-03-04T21:27:28.868-05:00

I've been slacking on posts, but it's good that nothing too "big" of importance has happened I suppose. We have both been super busy with work and children. I see I haven't posted since Jan. 31, since then Bruce has gotten MUCH better. He has had more energy than before, able to work a lot more and he can eat mostly whatever he wants to now. Making sure he gets enough potassium and protein is the

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-65944383703912050772009-01-31T22:09:00.004-05:002009-01-31T22:20:09.019-05:00

Things are going alone pretty good I suppose. One night Bruce couldn't eat dinner and got so tired he felt like he could fall over and nothing helped- not even the beloved Dunkin Donuts Coffee. So nurse said it was probably a drop in potassium and to drink some OJ. Next day he was fine, and hasn't really happened again. Other problem is constipation so they gave him some Rx laxative powder to mix

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-51642868169660411082009-01-25T21:22:00.004-05:002009-01-25T21:38:46.646-05:00

The PKD kidneys have GOT to go! But if he has surgery to take them out before he gets a donated kidney, it seems like it will be so much worse. We cannot get a surgeon to agree that if a kidney becomes available and we show up in Tampa, they will take out the old ones while putting in the new one. Apparently it is a longer surgery, the donated kidney is sitting and waiting longer to be put in

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-16318631261453093262009-01-25T21:09:00.005-05:002009-01-25T21:22:25.297-05:00

I went to pick up the latest meds...5 in all for this weeks re-up. And one of them- a vitamin Hectoral was $94.00 for 30. What happened to the max. $60 co-pay? well there are certain classes of drugs that don't fall in the normal category. Hectoral is a synthetic form of Vitamin D that helps with hyperparathyroidism that occurs in kidney failure. As far as we know there is no substitute for this

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-18366112872853772009-01-19T21:21:00.002-05:002009-01-19T21:42:00.557-05:00

Last week was first visit with the"team". Bruce's nephrologist is very unique. Something I need to describe later when I'm not so tired from watching 80 boys ages 7-11 try out for baseball. Anyway, the "team" is the nephrologist, the nurse in charge of his dialysis, a social worker, and a dietitian. They go over the current blood work and see how the dialysis is working. They ask him how he feels

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-51853055011919116922009-01-11T16:19:00.002-05:002009-01-11T17:50:02.200-05:00

Last week's sickness was probably just the stomach flu.Dialysis proceeding as normal. The equipment and supplies scattered throughout the house. Seems to be doing it's job because it is changing everything:#1 change is appetite. Bruce gets super hungry but can only eat small amount then 20 min later hungry again. And when he gets hungry it's panic mode. He wants only very particular things too or

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-60576858115217459152009-01-07T18:23:00.002-05:002009-01-07T18:29:37.957-05:00

Bruce has been in bed for 2 days with fever and throwing up. He started on antibiotic yesterday and anti-nausea medicine tonight. He could simply have a stomach bug - which has made me crazy about disinfecting, or it could be some form of internal infection. The peritoneal fluid when he does his dialysis exchange is clear- which is good news. But it could be something else surgery related because

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-77517532163194521692009-01-07T18:12:00.002-05:002009-01-07T18:23:13.585-05:00

Yesterday we were informed Bruce's brother, Sean, found out that he had a stress fracture in 2 places on his foot. The significance of that fact is that Bruce has the same thing happen. He thought he had gout, bad shoes, sprains, etc. Finally got xray and he wore a boot, it healed then it happened all over again. When he finally started seeing the good Nephrologist, he checked his blood work and

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-40554018346150251862009-01-05T20:37:00.008-05:002009-01-05T20:54:15.154-05:00

I'm glad I was prepared because its not as bad as I thought. BUT this is only a few weeks worth. When he goes on the machine at night, they will deliver twice as much. I know it's only boxes but its the reality of how many times he has to do this and for how long... and that is the depressing part. I found a good site w forums and one written by a wife about this same subject. http://

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-56433823037298376262009-01-01T21:28:00.002-05:002009-01-01T21:35:09.854-05:00

Bruce has done his dialysis at home for 3 days now. 4 x a day.He's losing more water weight, but no improvement on how he feels. Today he was nauseous most of the day and unable to do anything. These days he usually has a good 2-3 hours at most where he can be up moving around. He is supposed to be feeling better within a few weeks. He is miserable now and just hates himself.Let's just hope

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-34145369443224490602008-12-29T21:13:00.004-05:002008-12-29T21:54:05.140-05:00

We made it through Christmas. Even though Bruce's health is up and down, he managed to see lots of family and eat halfway normal. I think the break did us good but today was back to medical mania! They sent him home from dialysis to do it all at home now. No warning. So we didn't have things set up or supplies we needed.He managed one exchange alone and is getting ready to do another one right

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-32380934424484271882008-12-23T19:22:00.003-05:002008-12-23T19:37:39.764-05:00

Bruce did most of the process himself with a few mistakes but there are so many steps and precautions I can't even remember them all yet. The best part is he got 2 actual exchanges out of the training today so he got rid of lots of fluid and hopefully some toxins but the bad news is they will build up again in a day or so.The next training is on Monday after Christmas. The nurse is going to start

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-83349023210003149852008-12-22T20:33:00.002-05:002008-12-22T20:41:19.699-05:00

Went to the Kidney Institute today for first dialysis training. The nurse did one exchange in about 2 hours and it removed a little fluid. Tomorrow we go again and Bruce will need to practice it on a "dummy" apron/jacket thing. It seemed like there's about 50 steps but I know after awhile it will be routine. He refused to even look at most of it. He was shaking all over and about to pass out. But

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-38282641836484317502008-12-21T14:05:00.000-05:002008-12-22T21:10:06.305-05:00

Here are the comments he has received on the size of his kidneys:• "That just might be a record for my career"- transplant surgeon.• " I can't even see them on the ultrasound because they are too big, never seen any that size!"- ultrasound tech.• "I am curious to see what they weigh, I have never seen any that big" - dialysis nurse.• "They are at least as big as footballs" - surgeon.

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-57875417598310244272008-12-20T20:43:00.000-05:002008-12-22T20:54:08.468-05:00

Uremia is kidney failure and these are symptoms- he has ALL of them:extremely tiredtrouble concentratingpoor appetitetrouble sleepingheadachespuffiness around your eyesvery itchy skinmuscle twitchestinglingyellowish skinmental depressionedemaHalf the time I think he should be in the ER. I am just hoping for dialysis to happen ASAP.

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-33237146921242657172008-12-20T19:06:00.000-05:002008-12-22T20:42:16.929-05:00

On December 4th, Bruce had surgery to put catheter in for Peritoneal Dialysis.The doctor moved the surgery up one week because he said he was going to end up in the ER if he didn't get on dialysis. His function is still good enough to not need it - about 15% but the toxins are taking over his body fast and he gained 17lbs of water weight.This was an outpatient surgery done at hospital - it was

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-67313230539359726612008-12-20T15:27:00.000-05:002008-12-22T20:41:59.272-05:00

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

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362900833258747841.post-60333475440090788102008-12-19T17:00:00.001-05:002008-12-22T20:02:23.987-05:00

My husband Bruce has PKD. He just turned 40. He was on high blood pressure medicine since he was about 18. He got an ultrasound every year and always had a Dr. check his kidney functions. Everything was fine until about 2 years ago. Bruce's function started to decline, then other symptoms crept up. Some doctors did not attribute those things to kidney failure but now know better.His mother's

Hoefling-amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07714395631873752566noreply@blogger.com2