Saturday, February 15, 2020

Kidney Saga part 21

I can't entirely avoid current events, although they are making me ill in ways that have nothing to do with my kidneys. Thus, on Wednesday, Feb 5th, I made this little joke: "I think it's probably just the prednisone messing with me, but I swear I was just informed that my messed up kidneys actually won the Iowa Caucuses." It quickly got a lot of amusing responses that kept my spirits up for some time, including a campaign ad:


The morning went really well that day, but I had a really really bad office visit at the kidney doctor. Fortunately, everyone was very understanding. Unfortunately, the prednisone didn't let me relax at all and I felt awful mentally the rest of the night. As horrible as I felt, the next day wasn't any better and while I really wanted to see Eric's mom, the fact that the mountain passes prevented her visit didn't disappoint me as much as it could have. I really wasn't fit for company.


The morning medicine hit tends to take me out for at least an hour. I have to avoid sunlight and garlic, so I'm a vampire. I have lupus, so I'm a werewolf. And the medicine turns me into a zombie. What other monsters have I become?

During the office visit on Wednesday, the doctor made a small tweak in one of my medicines. Just upped the dosage a tiny bit in the hopes that it will start working. As it's a very dangerous medicine while my kidneys are weak, we have to be super careful with it, but it wasn't doing the job it was supposed to be doing. As of Saturday, it started working. And included some side effects I'd been told about in the hospital by a nurse but hadn't experienced in the hospital. Including one that I dubbed "flaming butt" once she explained the sensation. Yeah, I got it. Ouch.

When I got a new prescription of the tutti-frutti Satan spit, Eric told the pharmacist that I hated the taste, so they gave me an oral syringe to try. It is AMAZING! I can squirt most of the stuff over my taste buds and have only a little aftertaste of it. The joy of not having to actually taste the stuff is supreme. I never thought a tiny change could be so nice.

By Monday, Feb 10th, it was clear the dosage tweak was working, giving me some hope for the future. With mother-in-law due to arrive on Tuesday to give Eric some relief, life seemed to turn a slight corner.

The presnidone memory dumps that day were very odd. Back at Dimmitt Middle School, there were groups of kids who would breakdance before school, at lunchtime and after school in one of the main lobby areas. I don't recall stopping to watch them much, but apparently they made a lasting impression on some of my memory cells. To my utter amazement, I can even remember some of their faces. Those were much better memory dumps than what I had been getting.


The blood draw on Monday went smoothly, which was a nice change, and then there was nothing to do but wait for results.

Full Kidney Saga

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