July 3: Urologist Visit (Informational)

Good morning everyone! I visited my urologist yesterday afternoon to discuss the results of my sonogram that the nephrologist took last Friday when I was in for my quarterly visit. I never really enjoy visiting the urologist, even though he is a very nice person.

He said that my transplanted kidney was looking pretty good. He was pleased with my lab results and said that it was very possible for me to get twenty to thirty good years with my transplant. That's always exciting news. The more years with this transplant, the better I think it will be.

First of all, the doctor did not believe that he would have to remove my native (PKD) kidney at this time. He said that he wants to go and do another cystoscopy (click if you like super-detailed medical info) of my bladder and possibly my native kidney as well. This time, however he suggested that we do the procedure in the hospital, instead of in his office. That way, if he does find something small that needs to be removed, he will be able to do it right then. He won't have to schedule a second appointment to go back inside, look around again and remove the problem.

It doesn't sound like he thinks he will find anything, but he wants to be on the safe side.

I was glad that he did not want to remove my other kidney. He said that removing it would always be a last resort for him. He doesn't like to put the patients through the recovery if they don't need it. He also said it meant that my medications would need adjusting again (to account for something, I'm sure).

I'm scheduled for the procedure on July 19 at 7:00 am (yippie). Guess I'll have to ask for that day off when I get back to work tomorrow. We'll be up in Frisco, so I get to visit a new hospital.

I'm hoping that the doctor either finds nothing, or that anything he finds is minor enough for him to take care of it while he is in there poking around. The best thing is that I should not have to go back in to have any more work done for a while. And, it's possible that he may be able to get rid of whatever causes random pain in my native kidney (which would be nice).

I'll update again after the 19th. Not that day, probably, as I'll be a bit out-of-it.

Thanks for your continued prayers!!

It's Been Two Years Since My Last Blog Post

First up, the good news: Everything is going great with my transplant!

Okay, now that I've got that out of the way, I can share a few other things with everyone. I've been seeing my transplant doctor (the nephrologist) now about four times a year since my transplant. They are very pleased with my health, and my creatinine is always very good for someone with a replacement kidney.

Also, I've still got my old kidney. You know, that one with the Polycystic Kidney Disease? It's hanging out in my right flank (lower back) where it's supposed to be. It doesn't do a whole lot, except hurt sometimes. A few weeks ago, it hurt A LOT. For two or three days. Then, it stopped hurting, and I began passing blood in my urine (not all that wonderful, I tell you).

This went on for a few weeks, until I saw my nephrologist. As part of my exam, before I had even mentioned any symptoms, they had me scheduled for a sonogram of my native kidney and a bone density test. I haven't checked the results of the bone density, but it's probably pretty good since the doctor didn't mention it while I was there. The sonogram, however, is a different story.

The doctor saw what he believed to be blood clots hanging out in my sonogram. Now, he's not the doctor that actually reads sonograms (not sure what that title is). He just looked and didn't like what he saw. He thinks that there are some blood clots hanging out in that old, bad kidney, and he wants to have it looked at my my urologist.

So, I am scheduled to see my urologist on Wednesday afternoon. I'll find out there if there are blood clots in the kidney and if we need to start talking about having that kidney removed. This would not be my preference, as the recovery will not be fun, and the cost will also be NOT fun. This is one of those times that I need to be part of the US Senate or House of Representatives. That way, I could actually afford surgery. But, I don't see "being a Federal elected official" in my future.

I'll know more Wednesday. Maybe I'll post again Wednesday, or maybe Thursday? We'll see.

Prayers would be for a good outcome on Wednesday from seeing the urologist. Blood clots would be bad.