I am Going to Start Dialysis

Well, I saw my nephrologist today. He said, based on how I am feeling and on my lab results, that I should go ahead and start on dialysis tomorrow. He has set up for me to be checked in to the hospital for about a week so that they can do inpatient dialysis and monitor me closely. I will probably do three or four days of dialysis this week, and then be released and scheduled for dialysis at an outpatient clinic.

I did receive the results of my Glofil test. It seems that my GFR is about 10 cc/min. That puts me well within range of the UNOS criteria for transplantation. So, after I get my new insurance on the 1st, then I am going to start the paperwork part of the process for getting a transplant. The doctor is very hopeful for me. He says that since I am young and my disease only affects my kidneys, I should be an excellent transplant candidate. He also expects that once I do receive a transplanted kidney, I should recover quickly and be able to live a long time with that transplant (as long as I continue to take care of myself).

So, my fistula is going to get tested out tomorrow morning, and all week, in the hospital. They will monitor me there to make sure there are no problems with my heart rate or my blood pressure. There are several possible things that can go wrong (as with any procedure), and they want to keep a close eye on me to make sure that I am okay.

My prayer requests are:

• That I would have good results from the dialysis next week
• That my fistula will work and I won't need a temporary dialysis catheter in my chest
• That I will start to feel better once my blood gets cleaned out