Last Tuesday my dad went up to OU to meet with the kidney doctor again and look over the results from the test that he had to redo. Apparently, there was a miscommunication between the hospitals here and there and the results had not yet been faxed so there were no results to look over when my dad went up there. Instead, he had a talk with the kidney doctor and he promised to call whenever he actually got the results himself.
I can't remember if I wrote about why my dad had to redo the test or not and I don't want to stop and go look it up right now so here's why again if I already wrote it before. This might be a little too much information for y'all but it's how things are done so you'll just have to bear with me.
The kidneys filter wastes out from your blood and remove them in your urine. Things like protein and such are supposed to be kept in your body but when the kidneys aren't working (like mine) the protein comes out in the urine while the toxins build up in your blood. The kidneys do a lot of other things too but for now we're just focusing on this aspect.
The best way to check the kidney's function and to tell how well it's working (or how it's NOT working) is to do a 24-hour urine collection and and a blood draw and compare the results. I've done several of these throughout my lifetime and I can tell you all about it but I won't because I don't feel the need to gross y'all out and scare you away from ever reading my blog again.
As part of the donor testing, my dad had to do two of these tests at different times to make sure his kidneys were working fine. The first one was fine but the second one showed protein in it. So they had him redo it, and we don't know what the results are yet from this.
Protein can spill into the urine because of extra physical activity, and my dad is a very hard worker and does a lot of physical activity, so it's highly possible that the protein in his urine was a result of that. And that's what I'm hoping it is. However, this could be a sign that my dad has something wrong with his kindeys too and we're just now catching it. Obviously, that would disqualify him as a donor and it could possibly mean kidney failure later on for him too.
As if that wasn't enough, one of my younger brothers is also spilling protein in his urine, and he is NOT very physically active at all. If he ends up diagnosed with a kidney disease, it's highly possible that all of my immediate family members (and extended too, for that matter) could be disqualified from being able to donate to me, or have to undergo even more extensive testing than usual to make sure their kidneys work fine.
Frankly, I could not be more frustrated about this. I've spent a lot of emotional energy on my dad's testing and I feel like I've got nothing to show for it. I still don't know whether or not he is the donor and I definitely do not have a transplant date to look forward too. If my dad doesn't qualify, I'm not sure I'm gonna be up for someone else to undergo the testing for a while, if it's taking this long then I might as well wait till my name gets to the top of the transplant list and get a cadaver (from someone recently deceased) kidney.
Yesterday, I had an extremely long day at the dialysis center having a P.E.T. (Peritoneal Equilibriem Test) to determine whether or not I'm getting enough dialysis and to start things moving on my cycler training. We almost had to abandon the whole test halfway through it because the nurse couldn't get my blood drawn and this test is extremely time sensitive. I had three nurses in there at one point, all taking their turns poking me, until they finally got it and was able to get some blood, but it may not be enough and if it isn't, then I'll have to do the test all over again.
My nurse says that my cycler training should still happen no matter what the test results are and I really can't wait for that because then I'll be able to do dialysis at night instead of all day long.
Also, on a much happier note, I finally got some good quality rest last night thanks to my new friend, Ambien. I have not been sleeping well at all and I think that is what has been putting me in my "moods" lately so I decided to try some sleeping medications. I was prescribed Restoril first and I still have an almost completely full bottle of that because I only had one and I won't take it ever again. It didn't even work, I slept just as terrible that night, and I felt like a zombie the entire next day because it takes about 10 hours to wear off. Ambien worked great last night, I slept deeply and soundly, and woke up perky. It was great. My only thing is that it bugs me to have to need sleeping pills and I don't want to get addicted, so I'm hoping that this will just help me to get into a schedule and then I won't need them.
Well, that's all I can think to write about. I'll continue to update you when I have anything. :-)
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