May 2006 Labs

Well, it’s Friday afternoon, and it looks like it has been over seven days since I last posted. I have my lab reports from May for you today, as well as some information on the stomach ache front.

ALBUMIN – 4.6 (Goal is 3.8 to 4.5)

eKdrt/V – 1.56 (Goal is greater than or equal to 1.2)
Your eKdrt/V is adequate. You are receiving enough dialysis.

POTASSIUM – 4.1 (Goal is 3.5 to 6)
Your potassium level is normal. You are doing a good job with the potassium in my diet.

CORRECTED CALCIUM – 9.9 (Goal is 8.4 to 9.5)
My corrected calcium is high. Check with the doctor for more information.

PHOSPHORUS – 7.2 (Goal is 3.5 to 5.5)
Your phosphorus is high. Your Dietician will review high phosphorus foods to avoid. Take your phosphorus binders with meals and snacks.

HEMOGLOBIN – 13.2 (Goal is 11 to 12)

Average Fluid Weight Gain: 1.78 kg or 2.6& (goal is 3 – 5% of dry weight unless you have signs and symptoms of fluid overload). Your nurse will discuss this with you.

So, as you can see, everything is going fine, except for my phosphorus level. It had been under control for four months, but the last two months it has been high. The dietitian went over all of the high-phosphorus foods with me and discovered that my diet is very good in relation to high-phosphorus foods. I told her that I am taking two of the Phoslo pills with each meal and that I rarely snack. So, she gave me a sample of Fosrenol to try out. Fosrenol is an after-meal chewable pill that helps bind phosphorus without raising your calcium levels. It is apparently very expensive, so she wanted me to check with my insurance to see if it was covered. It is, so we will ask the doctor to prescribe it for me next week. That’s just one more thing to add to my list of medications.

In other news, I had a NM HIDA scan on Monday, May 1. That is a nuclear medicine scan on the gall bladder that tests to see how well the gall bladder is working. Mine apparently has a low ejection fraction (near 30%). I’m not sure what that means, or what a normal ejection fraction is, but mine is low. The gastroenterologist referred me to a laparoscopic surgeon to talk about surgical options for removing my gall bladder.

I saw the surgeon on May 11, and he said that my gall bladder is not working correctly. He also said that he would recommend me having my gall bladder removed because of my upcoming kidney transplant. He said that he would hate to leave the gall bladder in there and for it to cause an infection once I get my new kidney and my immune system is suppressed. He said my best bet was to have it taken out ahead of time.

He also referred me back to the surgeon who did my vascular surgery. It seems that he also does laparoscopic surgeries. I have an appointment with him on May 23 already, so I will just talk with him about my gall bladder then. Hopefully we can schedule a surgery for a Thursday, to give me the most time to recover (the pamphlet says that it can take 5 – 10 days to get back to work after the surgery, even though most people go home within a few hours of the procedure). It is laparoscopic, which means that they cut tiny holes which helps speed the recovery process.

Please pray for the surgeon as he looks over my records and decides about removing my gall bladder. Also, keep praying for my fistula. I go see the surgeon on May 23, and he should tell me whether or not the new fistula is ready to use for dialysis. If it is ready, then I can start using it and eventually get off of this catheter. Pray that the new fistula will work well and not have any problems.

Thanks for reading!