After his fistula procedure.

Miss Tanzi was scared of the goodies attached to her Daddy, and for the first few minutes she wouldn't touch him. Eventually she hopped on the bed and was back to her normal bubbly self!
The procedure went well and the fistula is looking good. For the first four days after surgery he was in alot of pain(mainly from the lumen dialysis port that was put in his neck) but now he is feeling alot better .... although he still can't lift his right arm above his head(it's too painful).

Say no to toxins!

As I write this, Boyd is having his second haemodialisis. After his first one he sms'd me " I feel great, it feels like I have rocket fuel in my blood!" He also commented "I am even thinking clearer."

Picture of good health..............

This pic was taken 3 weeks ago.......................................


Today Boyd's vascular surgeon told him that he looked too healthy to have kidney failure! I agree.... this 41 year old (who is starting dialysis tomorrow morn) looks in blooming good shape!!!! hehe ........ I believe it's his good mental state, people's ardent prayers and God's grace that are sustaining him. Thank you Jesus.

Boyd had the fistula procedure done in his wrist today.Because his creatinine levels have sky rocketed and the fistula will only be ready for use in 6-8 weeks, they had to do an emergency neck catheter so that he can start dialysis tomorrow. Once the fistula is mature(6-8 weeks), they will dialysise through the veins/artuaries in his arm twice a week.

keep ya posted ......

Prep. for dialysis......

As I write this, Boyd will be coming out of theater. He went in to have a fistula created in his wrist so that he can start dialysis as soon as possible.

Gout ....?

Ten days ago Boyd started getting a pain in his left foot.
(Backtracking........)
This foot has had two operations on it. Apparently when he was a young teenager he dropped a brick on it and broke one of his foot bones. Then in his late teens, he had to have an operation on this foot because he had developed osteomylitis in the broken bone. I also remember him getting the streptococcus virus in this same foot 6 years ago.
(Back to the future..........)
The pain got so bad that he drove himself to the hospital at midnight! He came back with a diagnosis of GOUT and a couple of pills. Still the pain persisted, and Boyd was not convinced that it was gout.... he was sure it was a reoccurance of osteomylitis.The next morning our local GP administered a strong anti-inflammatory jab and diagnosed gout. Even though Boyd is meant to stay away from anything anti-inflammatory, he was in such agony that they gave it to him anyway.
Two days later he was at the emergency room for another jab! They did blood tests, and discovered his uric acid levels in his blood were sky high. Yip, another symptom of bad kidney function.
He has had to incorporate more alkaline foods into his diet so that his system becomes less acidic.
Since he has started doing this the pain has started to lessen.

Good News times two !

Yesterday our boys had blood taken to check the state of their kidneys. Because this strain of Nephrotic Syndrome seems to be quite prevalent in Boyd's side of the family, we decided to have the two boys tested. Their kidneys are just fine ..... hallelujah! We were worried because Cooldude's urine was very foamy ..... this can be a sign that too much protein is present in his blood. Another bit of good news, is that Boyd's latest test results show that his kidney function has slightly improved ...... another hallelujah !!

Pre-Transplant Evaluation

Boyd goes for a series of tests tomorrow. When he explained the procedures to me I understood why he had been putting them off! I won't go into any detail but let me just say I would feel pretty embarrassed and vulnerable if I had to be so exposed! Before a transplant the patient has to have an intense check-up.

Our belief ......

We are Christians and believe in God's healing power, but we also realize that we live in a fallen world and bad stuff happens to God fearing Christians. We can choose to spend our energy on trying to "move the mountain" or we can acknowledge what is happening and take on the wave, knowing that Jesus will NEVER leave us no matter how hectic the ride may become. That's where we are at ......

Bringing you up to speed ......

Since March 2007 Boyd has been watching his diet, monitoring his blood pressure & cholesterol, and exercising regularly. Even though he has been making the right choices we recently received news that he is now in End Stage Kidney Disease (Stage 5 Chronic Kidney Disease).

How we found out .....

In March 2007 I joined the Sure Slim Wellness Clinic to lose weight. Boyd signed up too, not so much to lose weight, but more as an encouragement for me. Due to the fact that the eating plan includes more protein than an average diet, they took blood to check our kidney function. A week later Boyd got a call from Sure Slim. The results showed that he was in severe renal failure and he was to get to his Doctor immediately! * SHOCK*

The Doctor was quite confused with the report as Boyd did not display and visible signs of kidney failure .... eg. swollen ankles/legs and nausea. He was sent for a re-run of the exact same tests ..... the results came back the same.
Cholesterol .... 9
Blood Pressure ..... extremely high
Creatinine .... 260 umol/L
eGFR .... 23 mL/min

Boyd was diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome and told he was in Stage 4 Kidney Failure.

* TOTAL SHOCK *

" ...... we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:3

I'm keeping it real!

I will endeavour to be honest in every post. My writing will report about the 'ups' and the 'downs' of Boyd's kidney failure. Some weeks there may be less good news and a whole lot of bad news. But that is what comes with being real!
I have been blogging elsewhere for 4 years and I have always kept it upbeat and light, but here I want to tell it as it is!
I hope this blog will be a source of information as well as an encouragement to others that are going through similar situations.

A new chapter unfolds ........

Yes .... and so it has ! This blog is about Boyd and his failing kidneys. Boyd is my husband of 15 years and my best friend. We have had many different hurdles to overcome in our marriage. Some we have taken in our stride yet others we are still attempting to negotiate successfully! Are we going to throw in the towel .... no ways ..... we are both fighters(in the good sense) and stubborn! This new chapter in our lives will bring tears, heartache, laughter and joy but we will embrace it with full assurance that the Lord is with us every step of the way.


" ...... we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:3