Early January 2007 my husband was feeling very tired, He had had a cold from November that just would not go away. He had his good days and bad days. He went to work. He did the normal thing of seeing his doctor and taking antibiotics. Then on February 3rd I went to my sisters early in the morning to take a quilt class with her. She lives about 80miles north of us. About 4pm I called home to let my husband know I was on my way back. He answered the phone from bed. I know he had a cold and was not feeling all that well. I asked him if he was in bed all day. And he said yes. Except to make a little breakfast and use the bathroom. He said he was just totally exhausted.On Monday February 5th I made him go to the doctor. They did the normal slew of blood work.I believe it was Wednesday February 7th 2007 my Husband was diagnosed with end stage renal failure (Kidney failure). He needs to go on dialysis. And here all along we thought it was just a bad cold or flu.On February 9th my Husband went to the hospital to have a plastic tube or catheter placed into his abdomen. This allows a sterile mixture of sugar and minerals (dextrose) to flow through the catheter into his abdomen or Peritoneal cavity. Waste and toxin that are normally filtered through your kidneys are drawn into the solution. The therapy he is on is called Continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis (CCPD) Hemo-Dialysis is more commonly known to people. That’s when they filter your blood. With Peritoneal Dialysis a machine automatically pumps dialysis solution into his peritoneal cavity and drains it several times during the night while he sleeps. He is attached to the machine for about 9 hours at night. Each fill is about the amount of a two litter bottle of soda. It can be very uncomfortable for him. He dwells for about an hour or so and them is drained. This is repeated 6 times during the night. Bottom line, he needs a new kidney. The waiting period can be any where from 5 to 7 years. The longer you are on dialysis the worst you get. He has to watch everything he eats. He is to have little or no potassium or sodium. But should eat high protein.He has only been on since March but his over all stamina is not so good. He is tired most of the time. His legs are very weak. Walking up stairs is becoming a chore. But he goes to work everyday. He does field service. He works on large pieces of equipment that keep large office building and hospitals running. Sometimes he is in a waste water treatment plant or a steal milling plant. Large plastic manufactures and corrugated box plants.He loves his old cars and motorcycles. But now when he gets down on the garage floor, he can almost not get back up. It is very sad. We only go on short bike rides mostly because I am afraid that when he come to a stop, he wont be able to hold the bike up. I have all I can do to lift my bike, there is no way I could lift his. Sometimes he tells me he wants to sell everything. All his toys as I call them. Then other days when he is feeling good he can’t wait for the weekend to work on the bikes or cars. He is restoring his pickup and has most of the sheet metal in the garage ready to go. For the most part my husband is in good spirits. I don't let him see me sad. So sometimes when I rush things its only because I dont know how much time I will realy have.I have been told that I am a prime candidate as a donor. I will be having a few more tests done next week. I had a number of viles of blood drawn already two weeks ago. Now these last tests will tell us if its a go or not. If I am physically able to donate. I am only 44, so I think I will be ok.I am also told that as a donor my body will experience less trauma then giving birth. I guess if I can have a 7 pound baby then a 2 ounce kidney will be a walk in the park. If the tests come back good, we will be setting a date for surgery. If they are not good, we will be looking for another kidney. They tell me if another couple is in need and we match each other, we can swap. I would give to that person and that person’s donor would give to my husband. There was a case just last year in Maryland where there was a set of 5 couples that swapped. Can you imagine?
I first told this to my friends at MaryJanesFarm Connection. What a wonderful group of ladies. Now I figured it was to time to share this with everyone.
