Filling My Days

I have now been in Churchill for 11 days. Having spent much of that time in ICU and now on the Renal Transplant Ward. What exactly goes on in the day and how do I keep myself occupied? The day starts at about 6am when blood pressure, temperature and SpO2 readings are taken. These will …

Moving On

I have a new home in the Churchill. Yesterday afternoon I was discharged from ICU and sent to the Renal Ward. ICU Renal Ward I had been off noradrenaline for 18 hours. Although my BP had dropped during dialysis it had otherwise remained above 100 and with a good MAP throughout the day. Before the …

Off the Meds

Last night I was taken off noradrenaline, the medication which has been controlling my blood pressure. So far so good the blood pressures remain good. The systolic needs to be above 100 and has remained so even on sitting and standing. The MAP (in brackets) needs to be above 70. This hopefully means that today …

Trying in Vein

Today I had another ultrasound scan of the kidney and bladder. As expected the bladder is not visible as it has collapsed (the catheter draining it so it is essentially empty). The kidney was visible and showing good blood flow. The fluids are gradually perfusing into the kidney. There are areas where the kidney is …

The Call

I was awoken just after 6:30 with a call from The Churchill Hospital. A kidney is available for transplant. As before I needed to make the hour long journey to Oxford from my home in Milton Keynes. I phoned work to let them now I wasn’t coming in and set off. However, due to the …

Myeloma : Then and Now

One of the programs we like to watch here in the UK is “Call the Mdwife”. It’s not my usual genre of TV, but it is a fascinating watch. The link to the title of the blog may seem tentative, but there is a point I assure you. Please read on. The plot of “Call …

Monday, Wednesday, Friday Nights

The routine is well embedded. It doesn’t matter if it’s the holidays or if I’m off work (through illness or other reasons) as I am today. Every Monday , Wednesday and Friday I leave home at 4:30pm to arrive here at 5pm for four hours of dialysis. prior to departure about an hour before, I …

Filling in the Blanks

I realise that between May and December of last year I somewhat neglected this blog so this is an attempt to fill in the blanks. In May I took up Couch to 5K and made good and steady progress reaching Week 8 and completing several 30 min runs. I was doing really well until at …

Bed Blocking

Sadly all has come to naught. They had the kidney, the tests were good but they had no beds. At 6:30pm the surgeon came to see me. She was extremely frustrated. After hours of negotiations and fighting for a bed they had one. However, the patient who was due to be discharged had developed complications. …

The List

Today has not turned out as expected. Today I have had the call. The long expected call. The potential transplant has arrived. I have been on the transplant list since the Spring, but the list was backdated to last December (when dialysis started). The Oxford team predicted that within a year I would get the …

Matter of Routine

I have settled into the routine. Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening I get dropped off at 6pm for a 4 hour session of dialysis. At a time which varies but is usually between 10:30pm and 11:30pm I get picked up and go home to sleep. Those of you who are mathematically minded will notice …

Infection

I have been admitted to MKUH following a bout of gastroenteritis which left me feeling very unwell. It possibly started on Monday when my Tesier Line became very sore. The first symptoms came Wednesday when during dialysis I suddenly became extremely cold and started shivering uncontrollably. This lasted quite a while and led to body …

Sudden Change of Plan

Following a phone call this morning and in view of my health Dialysis is starting today! A two hour session from 2:30pm to get me started. Then we go from there!

Fistula

Yesterday I travelled to Oxfordshire to the town of Banbury. The purpose of the journey was to undergo an operation on my arm to create a Fistula. The first stage of a process which will lead to Dialysis. The past couple of weeks have been challenging as I have come to terms with the magnitude …

Washed Out

A reflection on the past few days