Wife took me to my VA doctor yesterday. Believe it or not I’m also at my perfect weight! I’m now 173 and I’m suppose to be 175 (for my height and build. No dialysis or going back to hospital (for now anyway). Diet is changing for both of us and he’s perfectly happy with the exercise I currently getting walking around with cane. He said “no way you should be exercising, other than walking and helping your wife around the apartment, when you can. Absolutely nothing strenuous.” Wife and I will be seeing a VA dietician soon. I will get blood labs done again and will have a video meeting with doctor in a couple of weeks. My last GFR, from blood test last Thursday was 54, which he said is decent for my age. My wife’s was 58 and is fine with her doctor. When I went to the ER, it was 22, so it has improved (luckily). He took me off is Glipizide and both blood pressure meds, since my blood pressure is in the good-to-normal range. So I can get better sleep at night, he told me to stop drinking water around 8PM (before going to bed at 9 or 10PM. Also gave me a mild sleeping medication. I was spending a large portion of the night urinating and not sleeping. So, for now that’s it. We do plan on selling our boat/trailer, but my wife told me that if we can’t get close to what we want for it, will have it transported to southern Nevada. She said, “We’ve put way too much money in it to sell for too cheap”. I fully agree with her! Bought it in April 2009 and have done a lot to it, including a new block. I have every single receipt for repairs/maintenance since we bought it.
Oh on the boat and I've been on many discussions about boats, don't own one and enjoy watching the waters but never a desire to be a boat person. I fell off a sailboat yrs ago and found myself in between boat and dock.... It's said that boats are holes in water that one keeps adding money to. Good wishes on the foods...
As far as “one keeps adding money to” what entertainment thing isn’t that way? Motorhomes, vacations/trips, motorcycles and so on. No matter what it is, entertainment cost.
Glad you're better now. I've had dental nightmares since birth due to thin enamel & dry mouth. I've had full reconstruction - 30 crowns, 3 bridges & 29 root canals. A few years ago, a dentist did an incompetent, incomplete root canal (verified by another dentist) that led to Sepsis & Diabetic Ketoacidosis (infection spiked blood sugar to 705). 8 days in hospital; 3 days in ICU. They told me I could have died. When I was released, the dentist called me, demanding $1,500.00 for the root canal. I can't post my reply here........
UPDATE: Doing ok at home. Still not enough strength/energy to do much. Still using a cane and get quite a bit of exercise walking around in our apartment. When my left shoulder hurts too much, like this morning, I take my VA prescription of 50mg Tramadol, but only once every-other day. The days I take that I can do more to help my wife with things around the apartment, like laundry. IOW, the Tramadol gets me going, but definitely not a lot. Tomorrow AM, my wife takes me to local VA Clinic for blood labs, that will show my kidneys functioning GFR number. Next week I will see my VA doctor and we (wife/I) will discuss the outcome. We just hope the "discussion outcome" comes out good. My diet has changed drastically! Like my extracted teeth, sort of a shock to my body. Eating quite a bit of fruit, like strawberrys, blueberries, red/black raspberries and grapes. Some raw vegetables, but that's about it. Still haven't got my appetite back much. Funny, but my VA doctor, from my last GFR number, told me I could go back to eating anything I was before. I would tell him now, "Doc, I don't think so!" Currently, really have no idea how we are going to make our move our of Colorado by August. All we know is that we don't want to stay here for another winter. The boat will be going up for sale, but don't know what's going to happen with that. Well, that's it. Will update again after seeing my doctor.
@Cody Fousnaugh, I do hope and pray that you'll be feeling better soon, and I can understand that making a move at a time when you're not feeling well can add an extra element of difficulty.
I'm glad things have stabilized and you've made some diet changes. You (and the missus) take it one day at a time.
Cody, you are never going to get back what you spent on the boat. Especially with the economy what it is now. It's only worth what someone is willing to pay for it no matter how much you spent on it. But I'm sure the pleasure y'all got from having it is beyond price. That's what counts. Right?
In @Yvonne Smith's case, any dental infection should be addressed promptly. I once saw a 37-year-old man in good health die after having his teeth cleaned...after 5 valve replacements due to persistent resistant infections. Every dentist in that city put all their patients on prophylactic antibiotics after a treatment. That was definitely overkill, but they got so scared of malpractice suits that they went overboard to protect their patients and themselves.
Well, being that I've had an ER visits and hospital stays twice now, of which the second one was due to a very low sodium level. I don't have to worry about dialysis due to my kidney function GFR number is 57, but was 59. After having a VA blood lab done last Thursday AM, I got a call from my VA doctor telling me to get to the ER for a Saline IV, because the VA Lab Report showed my sodium level at 112. But the ER, after a blood lab, showed my sodium level at 124. Don't ask me, but the ER doctor told me that, obviously, 124 is better than 112. After one small Saline IV in the ER, my sodium came up to 126 and ER doctor gave me a choice to go home or get another Saline IV overnight, of which I did, but the room was a "Short-Term" one and very, very small. Barely enough room for my wife to sit in and the room allowed a lot of light in at night. In front, just windows/door and a thin curtain to come across. Friday AM, I was told that my sodium level was now 130, but they wanted me to stay Friday day/night, but no more Saline IV's. They wanted to monitor the 130 to see if my body sodium would either decrease or increase. So, I was transferred to a regular/large room upstairs. The bed alarm was turned off so I could get up and go to bathroom by myself. On Friday night my taste buds/appetite fully returned. Friday AM, for breakfast I ate all of my cheddar cheese omelet, fruit cup and drank two 2% milk cartons. Come Saturday at 5AM, I got some blood drawn for a lab. At 8:30AM, my wife came and we had breakfast. I had another cheddar cheese omelet, two sausage links, hash browns, fruit cup and two 2% milk cartons again. Ate it all and drank both! Before she got there, my hospital doctor came in and told me my sodium level was now 134. So, thank God, it went up on it's own and I was going to be discharged. Came home on Saturday at noon, but before leaving, we went to hospital cafeteria and got a cheeseburger. I ate 3/4 and my wife ate 1/4. So, we are living a somewhat boring life after two ER/hospital visits-stays. Since my second visit, I am no longer using a cane to walk with and getting a number of things done at home..........which is a royal relief for my wife. Doing laundry, strip the bed/clean linens on, loading/unloading dishwasher, using our iRobot vacuum and mop to do floors. IOW, the things I had to stop a month ago. Last Saturday, on way home after my discharge, I took over driving and done great! Another relief for my wife since she been doing all of the driving for more than a month. I am now driving most of the time. She loves it and so do it. This past Monday, the 24th, I had blood labs done at the hospital to see how my GFR and sodium was doing. Got the report later and my GFR went down to 57 (too many potatoes the day before (Sunday), but that is still fine, and sodium level was 139. Both my VA doctor and hospital doctor would be very glad to see both of those numbers. But, I'm now eating better than I have in 6 weeks! I see my VA doctor tomorrow, with my wife with me, and discuss my last ER visit and hospital stay. With reports of Lake Mead going up, we aren't sure if we will sell the boat. We will put it up for sale, but my wife constantly tells me "if we aren't offered enough, we won't sell. Have it transported to an outside storage by Lake Mead. So, bottom line is: I'm doing fine and eating! Getting plenty of exercise walking (without a cane) around the apartment and to the garage.
What did the nutritionist say that you should do to change your diet for your kidney health, @Cody Fousnaugh ? I noticed that when you wrote what you are eating now, it is a lot of high protein and high cholesterol foods, and wondered if the nutritionist had suggested that, instead of the fruits and veggies you wrote that you were eating when you first came back home from the hospital ?
I'm only on a part-time kidney diet. With a GFR of 57, I don't need a complete kidney diet. My kidneys are doing fine now. Actually, my VA doctor told me, when I seen him April 13, after spending a weekend in the hospital for low kidney function, "you can eat anything you want to". Yep, that's exactly what he told me with my wife right there to hear it also. IOW, my GFR (kidneys function) went up to 58 and sodium up to 134 when I was discharged from the hospital this past Saturday afternoon. That was due to what I ate: the cheddar cheese omelet, link sausage, hash browns, 2% milk. I love a cheddar cheese omelet now and will have some ham put into it, if I want. I just bought both a non stick omelet pan and folding non stick omelet pan, so I can make them at home. However, I'm still eating a lot of fruit, like I did in the hospital. Strawberries, blueberries and grapes. I'm getting a LOT of exercise by walking around (without a cane) and now driving. Anyway, my wife's last blood lab showed 59 for her GFR (kidneys function) and that number is fine with her doctor. I never did hear from, or see, a nutritionist. In fact, my VA doctor may have just cancelled that meeting after seeing my GFR results. We will find out more tomorrow when wife and I see him.