wednesday, march 26

last week they sent off for dad's blood to get tested for his levels for them to ascertain how dad is doing on dialysis. if you remember, we were all praying for his BUN levels and creatinine levels all the while dad was in the hospital. these tests are all along the same line. for you detailed folks, they test his albumin, calcium, phosphorous, and hemoglobin. it helps understand more of his nutrition needs, electrolytes, minerals, etc., because obviously they all go hand in hand with the kidney function. we used to get these results on a daily basis at the hospital (sometimes twice), so it's been hard not knowing for several weeks, especially for those of us who have a bit of a control issue (who, me?)...ha!

good news is that everything seems to be within the parameters they need to be in for a dialysis patient. the only category that was a little bit low was his hemoglobin (the protein that carries oxygen to his blood), but this is due to his low iron levels (i'm assuming), which is due to his low food intake. this can be corrected! that's great news!

also, his BUN levels were almost where the doctor would be in the "okay with" zone! for those of you who remember, while he was in the hospital, his BUN numbers were in the 100s-150s (which are shockingly high). i read somewhere that over 100, the person could slip into a coma along with other things (phew - dad defied the odds AGAIN!).

dad's results from last week came back with it at 77. YIPPEE! i'm not saying that this is a number that would make one of us jump up and down if we had it, but for dad, it's great! they said they would be happy with it being at 70 or under, so he's not too far off! remember, the BUN measures the urea and nitrogen that are waste products of protein being broken down. it shows how much of the waste is hanging around in the blood due to the lack of the kidney/dialysis flushing it out. obviously, waste in the blood is poisonous and can make someone feel pretty crappy and out of it, so there are some unpleasant side effects to the number being high. dad's is lower than it's been in awhile, so that's all we need to know for the bottom line!

he went this morning for his barium swallowing test. we should find out the results of that in the next few days. it will help them understand why his throat muscles are hurting and affecting his swallowing (and desire to eat). he goes in this afternoon to the rehabilitation clinic for some physical therapy, etc. it's his first trip out there, so let's all pray it leaves a good taste in his mouth and helps him feel altogether better and doesn't wear him out too much.

so the focused prayers need to be:

kidney begins to function at or above 15%
he starts to eat more (affects EVERYTHING) and gains weight
physical therapy goes well
his spirits
he and mom get some good rest (some of his meds make him have insomnia - yuck!)

yesterday someone mentioned to dr. patel (his kidney doc) about whether they should plan on making dad's dialysis catheter permanent. dr. patel said he wasn't ready to do that yet...that he wants to still give the kidney some more time. he seems to still have good hope that sooner or later it WILL kick in. he was really positive about things...

pray believing.