Kidney Now!

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J.S. said…
Uh.... funny?
May 16, 2009 at 12:56 PM
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October Update

So. Today I went in for a couple of procedures that I have known were coming for a few months now. For those not up to date, I have long had cardiac issues stemming from my even longer-term kidney issues. For those who are up to date, forgive me for repeating myself a bit.  Luckily until this year I have not had any symptoms. This spring I started feeling bad.  Shortness of breath, a strange scratchy sensation in my chest, coughing, and just running on an even lower level of energy than usual. In July I had a left heart catheter. At that time my cardiologist determined that my lower left ventricle was working extra hard to keep blood out of the upper ventricle and by turn out of my lungs. This is referred to as Mitral Regurgitation . The plan was for me to pull as much fluid as possible at dialysis to relieve some of the pressure in my heart. I did start feeling a bit better due to this action in the past couple of weeks, but we still needed to go back in and check that pressure under
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Cardiac Update

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This is not part of The Diagnosis, but I'm sure I'll incorporate it at some point. I wanted to document yesterday (well really the past few months) for myself, but also to have an easy thing to point to when anyone asks what's new with me. I believe when promoting the last chapter of The Diagnosis (Matters of the Heart: the Second Part), I described it as "wrapping up the cardio portion of the story". Something in the back of my head told me not to phrase it that way, that I was tempting fate, and yet I did it anyway. Friends, always listen to the back of your head. I am indeed not done with this cardiac mess. Sometime starting last spring I started experiencing occasional shortness of breath along with some hard to define other symptoms and more pronounced fatigue. (I am a mostly functional human being, but I do require lengthy naps in the afternoon to be  functional.) At the time, I chalked it up to seasonal allergies or the seasons changing. It is not uncommon
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This is just a quick update on my cardiac post from last week. Yesterday morning I had a follow up appointment to discuss the results from last week's catheterization and to make a game plan for the future. I mentioned that Dr. Levy wanted me to pull as much fluid as I could tolerate at dialysis so that I would essentially dehydrate myself and make sure there was no fluid to back up into my lungs. That is the plan for the next two months. I may have already met this goal as I have been pulling an extra kilo (2.2 lbs) of fluid this past week during treatments and last night I woke up with a foot cramp - a sign you are pulling too much fluid.  At the end of September I have a follow up appointment to reassess and to schedule another catheterization. After that we may do a transesophageal echocardiogram. I'm not sure why that is different than the cath in terms of gathering data, but it must be. And yes, that means they stick a transducer down your throat. Trust me, don't Goog
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