Category Archives: Health

Recent study says Dialysis 3 times a week not enough

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My view at Dialysis

A recent study is saying that receiving Dialysis 3 times a week may not be enough. A link here to the Forbes article. So what they’re saying is simple. Because every rotation involves a 2 day hiatus from Dialysis, that 3rd day (Monday or Tuesday) is the most dangerous day. As an ex-Dialysis patient, I have to say there might some credibility in this.

On the third day, which in my case was Tuesday, I felt the worst. It was the worst day of the week. My Dialysis schedule started at 5:30pm. So I had the entire day to go through before I received any treatment. That Tuesday was total hell, I have to admit.

Anyone who undergoes Dialysis knows how it feels. You’re at the point of kidney failure. That means you don’t produce urine. Now this may sound great, since you’ve only got to go bathroom when you have to poop. But honestly, you miss it mainly because you realize just how much it means to pee. Peeing gets rid of your toxins in your body and if you can’t pee, that means the toxins (that’s poison BTW) just accumulates in your body and well, it makes you feel like shit.

So think about it. That third day would have to be the absolute worst day of the week, right? I can go with this study then. But I have to agree with Dr. Paul Eggers. There should be more studying done. One study doesn’t mean it’s true. But honestly, how many people have to suffer before a determination is made?

Diabetic Footcare

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The other day, I was doing some searching for some water shoes, so I might be able to go swimming in a pool. If anyone knows me, swimming in the ocean is out of the question for me, as they freak me out and are probably not a good thing with my immunosuppressant drugs. This includes rivers and lakes. I won’t swim in them, they’re dirty, and no thanks. I know a pool is probably just as bad, but at least there’s usually chlorine in those. Anyways.

So I was looking for recommended water shoes for diabetics like me and I discovered something Really intriguing to me. A lot of people don’t know about foot care for diabetics. I can understand this. There’s no reason for anyone to know about unless you have diabetes or know someone who is. However, it just seems like everyone is getting diabetes these days because of various reasons. Everyone thinks it’s just all about pricking your finger and testing your blood. Sorry, it’s a bit more than that folks.

For those of you who in danger of becoming diabetic, this post is for you. If you get diabetes, this is what you will have to live with, FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. (sorry for the caps)

For me, it’s a routine. I know what I’m going to do, and it’s Really automatic for me. I’ve been doing it for so long I guess it’s second nature. I’ll use the bullet method:

  • Inspection of the feet – Any Thomas Covenant readers out there? Remember that routine he did where he’d visually inspect his entire body? What did they call it, VISE or something like that. Anyways, that’s what I do with my feet at the end of the night before I go to bed. However, I take it one step further and feel my feet just in case I missed anything.
  • Never go barefoot – ever. Don’t do it. Why? Because you can cut your feet, you can accidentally step on anything that might just burrow into your foot. And the clincher here is, for some diabetics (like myself), you can’t feel anything with your feet. Yeah, it’s kinda weird walking. That’s why I walk with a cane. I lose balance Really fast, and if I fall, that’s a bad thing too.
  • Dry your feet after a shower – I know this may seem like a duh moment, but honestly, for many diabetics (like myself) we get neuropathic pain in our feet. That means you have the tingling sensation like your foot goes to sleep all the time. You know for everyone it just go away after you wake it up? Well, it never wakes up for some of us. And just the touch of a towel can be excruciatingly painful. Even sheets! You know, I don’t remember the last time I went to bed with the sheets over my feet. I always leave them out.
  • Be very careful when clipping toenails – because the numbness is there, you won’t be able to tell when you clip off toenails or your own foot. I know some diabetics have someone cut their toenails for them, but I can’t bear anyone else touching my feet. It’s just too painful. Hell it’s painful just to take off my socks.
  • Keep them moist but not too moist – Use some kind of lotion. Again, this may be a duh moment, but you don’t want them too moist because then you might get a fungus. (or something worse!) If your skin cracks, then you’re in trouble. Remember, diabetics take longer to heal, and because it’s on your feet, you might not know about it! Especially if you don’t do your visual checks!
  • Watch for heat and cold – As a diabetic, you may as well forget about heat pads, icy hot patches, things like that. These are all bad things for you. Because of any numbness that might occur, you might not know if it’s too hot or too cold. Especially on your feet.
  • Always wear socks – Did I mention this before? Yeah, it’s that important. If you don’t wear socks, then at least wear a non chafing slipper that will encase the whole foot. i.e. no open heel slippers.

What are the complications if you don’t do these things? Well, there are plenty of them. And I’ll tell you oh, they’re horrible. But you know what’s the worst? AMPUTATION. That’s all you need to know. If you don’t take care of your feet, they’re gonna eventually cut them off. It’s as simple as that. Have you heard of people losing their toes or feet to diabetes? Yeah, this is how it happens.

So hopefully, if you’re a newly diagnosed diabetic who happened to find this page and learned something, then my job is done. If you haven’t learned anything, then either you already knew about it, or you’re ignoring everything I say, in which case, you’ll find out sooner or later.

I just hope you don’t have to lose a foot to learn something.

It never ends: Iritis

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So today I had to go to Urgent Care in Group Health for my eye. Yesterday I woke up with serious pain (8/10) in my eye which only got worse when I looked at any light (photophobia). Throughout the day yesterday, I pretty much slept or tried to sleep, and kept my eyes closed. I figured I’d sleep on this until this morning and see how it goes.

Well, this morning it was no better. Tylenol helped but very little. After seeing the doctor, he determined it was Iritis. Basically, in my case, it looks like my pupil is locked in one position, and it’s just wide open. Hence the reason I can’t stand bright lights and have blurry vision in my right eye. He also mentioned my right eye is slightly swollen, and that’s what seems to be causing the pain. It’s like having a migraine in your eye.

So now I’ve got steroid drops for my swelling and some other drops to keep my pupils dilated all the time. So I’ve gotta wear the dark sunglasses so it’s not so bad, an icepack handy to keep on the eye. It never ends.

Health update and anniversary

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As some of you may or may not know, on July 29th, 2009, I went into surgery to receive a kidney which my awesome sister was willing to donate. Well, it’s coming on the 2nd year anniversary, and I’m doing pretty good. I think a shout out goes to my sister. She’s pretty damn amazing to be willing to give me her kidney.

I’m not 100%, but I’ve still got so many other things that are wrong with me, not all of them have to do with my brain either! But I’m hanging in there.

I think a majority of my recovery has to be credited to my awesome wife, Meesh. I think without her, I’d still be in bed all day, feeling even more sorry for myself than now. I think she underestimates herself as my primary caregiver. She thinks she doesn’t do anything, but just being there has done quite a lot for me.

As for the rest of what’s going on, the pain comes and goes. I suppose you could probably call my case a mild case of Fibromyalgia, just to get a sense of what Neuropathy means. But I think anyone who has FM will tell you, there’s no such thing as a mild case. You either got it or you don’t. It just hurts that much. In my case I guess I’ve got it better in terms of pain. But it does hurt. I mean there are days when I feel like I want to die. Those are the bad days. The good days are the days where the pain is a 2 or 3 out of 10. There is never a time when I don’t feel pain. Never.

Along with the pain, when I eat, I sweat. I mean literally. I don’t sweat because it’s hot, or because I’m eating spicy food, but because my brain is too confused from all the damage it’s gotten and when I eat food, instead of feeling like “wow, this is the best food I’ve ever eaten”, I sweat. I have accepted it. Although I have to say with the warmer temperatures, it seems worse now.

So as not to sound like a total whiner, I won’t Really talk about all the other stupid complications I’ve got going. If you’re online and feeling bored, you can always ask me about it, and I’m sure I’ll tell you all about it. Because it’s all about me, you know. :P

It’s all about the drugs

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So, now, my doctor has prescribed Morphine for my nighttime pains and neuropathy. It would seem because the gabapentin isn’t doing everything (I can’t even imagine if I didn’t take any at all how the pain would be like), he decided to give me morphine to be taken at around 5 to 6pm so I can sleep at night. It’s long acting, and in pill form, so it helps by giving me a small amount of morphine over the course of 12 hours. So far it’s been working ok for me, although I have to say it varies from day to day. But I believe it’s because my neuropathy varies that much. It’s Really crazy.

I’ve been taking the morphine for just about 2 weeks now, and so far, it’s not bad. We’ll see how things go. Hopefully I’m not entirely a zonked out person. :D

In case you didn’t know

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I have to say the one year of my kidney transplant came and went last July 29th. I’ve been doing pretty good since. I guess the power of current medical technology is something else. Since the one year mark, things have been going pretty much ok. There are a few things which need to be resolved, but I’m sure things will work out eventually. I’m officially a permanent handicapper now, so I can get all the cool spots and actually be legal about it. It’s surprisingly easy to get a handicap decal. My doctor sent me a form, I signed it and turned it in and just like that I had 2 decals. Crazy I know.

I’ve also been experiencing a lot more pain from the neuropathy. I mean a lot more pain. They’re pretty much in my hands as well as my feet, and there are some days where it’s just take your breath away unbearable. My shoulder has been Really killing me lately from tendonitis in the bicep and rotator cuff. Or something like that. Just another one of those things to chalk up on the board. If my medical record was transcribed onto paper, I swear it would probably be about 6 inches thick. Don’t laugh, I’ve seen medical records that thick. I did work in a hospital when we didn’t have computer medical records, you know.

What will tomorrow bring? Good weather I hope.

Neuropathy

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Today I just wanted to touch on something that’s a daily thing for me. Neuropathy. The reason I wanted to touch on this is pretty simple: I want to know if anyone else has similar issues as me. I don’t expect anyone to have the same conditions as I do exactly. I’ve already been told that it’s unique for me to have all these issues. So I’d like to hear from other diabetics and non-diabetics who have similar conditions to mine.

To start off, I have one of the most common for diabetics, peripheral neuropathy. Basically, I have issues with my nerves in my feet and hands. These damaged nerves in turn cause serious pain. It’s sort of like your foot falling asleep, and the tingling sensation you experience afterwards. Except for me, it’s all the time. On top of that, I get stabbing pains occasionally in the extremities. Well stabbing might not be accurate. It’s more like sharp pains. Like someone is sticking a needle repeatedly into my feet or legs or wherever.

I’m also experiencing numbness in the bottom of my feet. That just means the nerves have died at the most extreme tips. That’s the reason of course for me to walk with a cane because of imbalance. But the imbalance isn’t entirely because of the numbness. But that’s another story.

Next, I also have autonomic neuropathy. This means a various amount of things. Basically in myself, the brain gets confused a lot. How this happens in me is my sweating. When I eat food, I sweat. Yes, it gets to be a crazy thing. It could be 20 below while I’m eating, but I’ll start to sweat while I’m munching on my favorite grub. It can get pretty tiresome after a while.

I also have the same types of pain I have in my extremities in my stomach and chest areas. Basically the entire trunk of my body. Obviously this doesn’t Really fall into the peripheral neuropathy since it’s not peripheral. But hey, it’s still the same. Basically for me, at times it just feels like I’m rolling a vat of needles. The movie Saw comes to mind.

I think I’ve touched on the major things I have due to neuropathy. I’m sure there are more that I never thought were because of neuropathy.

For those of you who are experiencing neuropathy I’d love to hear about your experiences and pains. Perhaps we could compare notes and get some home remedies from each other. Of which I don’t Really have any. I’m just loaded up on Gabapentin (Neurontin).