Update?? Yep !!!

     I can finally say I am starting to feel better.  The Dialysis is tiring and sometimes upsets my stomach but I feel better with the toxins gone and all the water I was retaining.  I have lost so much weight in the last two months that everyone notices it (50+ Pounds gone at least).  
     Technically speaking the needle stabbing is no fun and I am bruised from armpit to elbow on my right inside arm where my fistula is.  That part probably won't get any better until the vein in that arm moves closer to the surface, but for now it's still pretty deep so there is a good chance of missing it on needle insertion.  Better than a port in my chest or something else equally nasty.  I was feeling not too good last week and I was running a fever.  Went to the doctor and get on antibiotics and steroids and I am feeling better now.  
     It is really good to be back home.  I can do a lot more things myself now and I push for doing more as often as I can.  I am eating a little better too.  I am actually a little hungry.
     That's all for now folks.  Thanks for looking in on me.  Have a great week!!!

Almost Home

Wow it seems like forever since I felt good enough to post here.  I am improving but it is a slow process.  Let me elaborate.


December 19/20  I was really sick all of December but on the 19th it was so bad I couldn't breath so the EMT's came and took me to the hospital.  Once there I struggled to breath and at one point my Blood Pressure dropped to 25/9 and my blood oxy was 17.  I got my very first helicopter ride when they did an emergency airlift to the hospital in St Paul.  I was stuffed in a little cocoon and away we went.  I couldn't see anything outside and I probably wouldn't have seen much anyway cause it was 2AM.  I was there in the hospital in St Paul for 10 days or so and missed Christmas and New Years.  Then I was transferred to a TCU (Transitional Care Unit/Nursing Home) for strength and endurance help to regain what I lost being sick.


Part 2 started in the TCU.  I got a nasty infection called Cellulitis.  My legs swelled up so huge they felt like they were going to split.  Back to the Hospital again for IV antibiotics.  I was there another week and they were able to get my leg swelling (Edema) under control and I lost 35 pounds of fluid weight in the process.  So back to TCU again.  


I have been here for a couple of weeks.  I do my PT and OT and walk and walk.  I am getting stronger and I feel much better.  My lungs have cleared however.....


Part 3.  I am now going back to Group 2 days to help me deal with the depression and anxiety that goes along with long term illness.  The other thing I will be doing 3 times a week is dialysis.  Boy that was a tough one.  I have known for a long time it was going to happen.  But it was just something that was going to happen sometime in the future and I never gave it a lot of thought.  I have to now.  So far I have to say that it isn't as bad as I thought it would be.  It is definitely no fun but I feared being sick afterward and the only thing that I notice is I am a little tired.


On the Bright Side.....I am having a Home Assessment on Tuesday and I may be going home within the next week.  My desire was to be home by Valentine's Day and it looks like I will be.  Please pray for me if you do that or think good wishes!!  


Thanks for spending a few minutes with me here and keep coming back as I will be updating how my treatments are going.  

I swear the only time I update here is when I have been in the hospital and there I was again not once but twice in October.  I didn't have an October this year that wasn't full of needles and all kinds of tests and Oh yes.....My first taste of dialysis.  Boy that was fun...NOT!!!  And then I got home from that weeks visit and got pneumonia so another week in the hospital for that. 

I promise I will try to write something at least weekly to keep you all up on events.  I did discover something today that I had not given thought to before.....Don't drink Crystal Light Lemonade while eating Pink Nerds.

Observations

I have come to the conclusion that watching TV should be done in large doses all at once rather than suffering thru weeks and months and years of a series. Case in point: I just finished watching 4 years worth of a show called The 4400. The series aired from 2004 thru 2007. The plot was murky and twitted. From week to week the good guys turned bad and back to good or from young to old. Then all in one episode the girl was 20 then unaged back to 2 then back to 20 again. I was able to watch all of this in a week and therefore was able to keep up. If I had to remember all this stuff over a 4 year period I would have lost interest at about Episode 5. The final year of the ah ow was so twisted I often wondered who thought up this stuff. I'm going to guess grown men and women who were paid big bucks cranked this one out.

I am now turning my attention to another gem called Tru Blood. This one is about Vampires who have decided they want to live in Mainstream America like the rest of us. They are fighting for Vamp Rights and they want to live in the open along side the mortals. I have only watched 4 episode of this one but so far I am going to hold judgement. I don't think it's supposed to be a comedy but some of the stuff that happens is so funny!!! When Bill tried to Glam Sookie I burst out laughing so hard I almost peed myself. I'll get back to you later on Tru Blood!

On another vacation

in the hospital. I have a gland under my ear that has gone berserk and swelled up like a golf ball. The pain is better today but the swelling is still pretty big and hard as a rock. I will be out of here in a few days.

While here I am going to make a tag for my list and work on my next scrap kit! Talk to you all soon!

Hugzz.....R

Happy New Year

I know.....I am a bit late with the New Year Wishes but I have an excuse. I was in the hospital. It seems like this will be a semi annual event being sick and in the hospital. My kidney can only handle so much then it starts to shut down. When that happens my blood chemistry gets off and causes all kinds of other problems. To compound this while I was in the hospital I slipped getting into bed and fell. It really messed my knee up and it took a few days before I could even walk on it. I was there for 8 days so I spent New Years Eve asleep in my little hospital room. No worries tho...It's not like I'd be out partying anyway. I would have been asleep just in my own little bed.

I am home now and I am in PT to get the knee working better. I feel good and and stating to get my spark back.

It is so cold here today all I want to do is stay in hibernation like all the bears in our woods. It's noon now and the temp is -4......yes that's 4 below zero.

The rest of the family is fine. Tyler is going in for another bone marrow biopsy next week but we don't expect any major changes. Mikey is doing well in Head Start. Mallory is growing so fast now. She is starting to talk now and says a number of words.

Again Happy New Year!!