on the same page (Hospital stay part 2)

once i got to sleep, they actually let me sleep for a while....i couldn't believe it. it didn't last of course. around 4am the revolving door started, the vampires wanted blood, nurses giving meds, vampires wanting more blood, dr. doom paying an early morning visit. there weren't too many vampire misfires this time, so that was one good thing. my hemoglobin was pretty low so dr. doom ordered 3 units of blood so the 3rd vampire of the day had to take some to type and cross me. i am O-neg, but they have to type and cross you every time....c.y.a. policy i guess. they didn't do the para until mid afternoon or so...i was already getting my first bag of blood so the nurse had to escort me everywhere i went...more policy i guess. they took off 3 ltrs and everything seemed to be fine. i met with the nephrologist (aka...dr. kickass) and her lackey...kidding. i don't know if he was her lackey or what, but he didn't seem to know anything other than what she told him. she ran her blood tests and i had to pee in a cup for her urine tests. they also did an ultrasound to look at both kidneys and my bladder....for that they decided that coming to get me at 11pm would be nice. gotta love the middle of the night tests....i was half asleep and had no idea what was going on...not to mention the fact that i was still getting blood (on the 3rd unit). they hadn't started the 3rd unit yet tho cuz the nurse was running behind so they took me down for the test and then started the blood once i was back and almost asleep...again. when you are getting blood, they are constantly coming in the room to take your vitals, so needless to say, between the chick coming in to get my vitals every hour, the delivery of meds, and the vampires, i didn't get much sleep the second night.

the next morning, dr. doom again was early and said that he wasn't sure who's blood they had tested that morning, but it wasn't mine because the numbers were looking good and the hemoglobin was now high. ha! he seemed satisfied with where i stood chemically at that point and was just waiting to hear what dr. kickass had to say after she reviewed her test results. she and her lackey both came in later that day and said from their standpoint, the kidney and liver seemed just fine. that my creatinine levels continued to go down and that the kidney was functioning normally when it wasn't being "shocked" by the large drains. basically, if my organs were in a normal environment, they would be giving normal numbers. so, her conclusion was that if i could control the fluid buildup/drains and protect the kidney and liver by keeping the vascular system hydrated, that all should be fine and that they were perfectly healthy enough to try new treatments or whatever. if we could not control the vascular dehydration that was occurring due to the "stealing" of fluid to fill the void in my belly every time i had a large drain, then the numbers i was seeing would get worse and with my weight and muscle mass and those numbers, my kidney was only functioning at 30% at times. for example, when the creatinine his almost a 4....that was very bad.

so, dr. kickass recommended a couple options that in her opinion would be worth a try. albumin after drains, smaller drains, another drug/supplement after drains and i can't remember the name but will have my dr. look into it, blood after drains in certain cases, etc. she used the blood after drains as an example because i just so happened to have needed blood after this drain due to other things being low and since blood does not leak like fluid does into my belly, it stayed in the vascular system and kept it hydrated. so, there are a lot of things to talk to dr. doom about during my next appt. which is wed 13th. hopefully we can come up with a plan.

lastly, after the para on my right side, i started to swell, as if i had a hematoma. i showed dr. doom and he ordered yet another ultrasound to see if there was a pocket of blood, but none showed on the ultrasound. so, i continued to swell...painfully so and on the last day, the day that dr. doom walks in and says that he will release me, but that dr. kickass(the kidney chick) didn't have much to say. funny, i thought she had a lot to say and all good! my kidney is good, we just need to keep it happy. that's a win as far as i am concerned, more work for him tho! sounds like they need to get on the same page...or maybe its me misunderstanding. anyway....he decides to order one more set of labs and MORE FREAKING FLUID BEFORE I AM RELEASED!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! i'm going to burst....the edema was manageable...now its going to be terrible again! so, at 9am i am told i am going to be released...by the time the order for fluid went through, and the vampire came to draw the blood(he was late cuz he hates to come out during the day) and then by the time all of the fluid and mg and K and sodium were pumped in me...i was released at 7 that night. swelling from edema and miserable. a day later, i developed a HUGE bruise on my side...about the size of an 8in frying pan. nice and purple. pretty. not sure where it came from, but it sure seems like it is a big ole hematoma breaking up and moving through my muscle and fat tissue with the edema. arrrrggggg!!!! its always something. i'll post a picture later when i can get one. it's good stuff. oh yeah, my creatinine was down to 1.7 before more fluid was ordered. thx for the going away present dr. doom! it was just great!

Pretty Bruise, huh?