Hello world, its me Kainty

I am sure all of you (2 of you?) have been dying to know the results of my breast biopsy last week. I actually got the call on Wednesday because my biopsy got a rush put on it since I am the squeaky wheel and all of that. Both lumps are fibroid adenoma's (I probably misspelled that) and nothing to worry about. Even the one on the right that had gotten bigger since the previous biopsy. It was certainly welcome news and I was happy that I didn't have to worry about while I was gone on vacation.

Vacation? Yes, vacation. Although some might argue that my entire life right now is a vacation, we are leaving town for approximately two and a half weeks. Dialysis fluid is being delivered to each location we will be staying at. First, we are driving from Kansas City to Denver and spending the night with Ben's aunt. The next morning we will drive to Hurricane, UT (near St. George, UT) and stay for two days with my Aunt Karla. Then off to Salt Lake to stay until Sunday the to Boise, ID to see Little G!! He is turning 2 on 9/11 and I am so excited to see him. Margaret, Dad and Lydia will also be going so it will be a fun road trip. Mom is flying out to Boise today and we will see her in SLC next week. It will be nice to get away and not worry about things. Maybe I just want to get away since I spent the majority of about 4 months in the house except going to dialysis. Full report will be written on my return..or while I am gone.

What else? Oh, I've been trying to go to Curves at least Monday through Friday. Margaret and I are starting to walk every morning so we can walk in the 5K kidney walk on October 9th. Anyone who wants to join us or donate money to a great cause can e-mail me at kantrun@gmail.com I am not much of a seller or someone who can ask for donations easily. Sometime I should write about my absolute failure as a girl scout just to prove the point. But this is for a good cause and something I believe in which also helps me out right now. Its awesome the types of programs there are but I am sure they could use all of the help they can get.

I am off now to do some more e-mails, my job for my brother and indexing on Family Search. Loves!

One good thing

about Peritoneal Dialysis is that once I am hooked up I can't run into the kitchen for midnight snack.

Thoughts?

Hello World!

I can't believe its been four months since I last posted on my blog. I promise I haven't given up on it but these last few months have been rather difficult for me. I haven't felt like doing much, even reading or sitting at the computer to do anything. I am finally feeling better so here is the latest from my neck of the woods.

If you have been reading my blog you know that for the last six months or so I haven't felt very well. I would have periods where I felt fine but for the most part I wasn't feeling like doing anything. Things came to a head in January when I was admitted to the hospital for dehydration and acute kidney failure. I thought that perhaps my kidney would kick back in after being re hydrated but that wasn't the case. After a kidney biopsy it was determined that my transplant, which I've had for 12 1/2 years had finally started to fail. This was something that we knew would eventually occur but of course took everyone by surprise although I had feeling that was what was wrong for a few months.

Being on the kidney failure diet isn't something I would recommend even though I've lost weight, not being able to eat really, really is the worst. If I would eat, most likely I would be bowing to the porcelain god before long.

After visiting with Dr. Stingo (my kidney doctor) it was determined that I should start dialysis as soon as possible. I saw him on a Tuesday and on Friday that week I was at the dialysis access center getting a central line so I could start dialysis. I started hemodialysis on February 9th and I think I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I am starting to feel a little more like myself than I have in about 6 weeks or more.

If you would like more information on kidney failure, dialysis or transplants please visit kidney.org which is the National Kidney Foundation's website. They have lots of information on anything related to kidneys.

Although I am not happy with this recent turn of events I know that everything will be all right. The Lord is aware of me and my situation and will bless me even during this difficult trial. I am so blessed to have family and friends who support me. Even more, I would not be able to do this without the support of my wonderful parents. This is stressful for them as well and yet they manage to love and support me. I love them more than I can truly say in mere words. I appreciate all they do for me.

In other news, Margaret went back to work so we are tending my little niece Little L. She is the cutest EVER and Mom and I are having a great time watching over her. I am sure that Margaret is glad that she knows Little L is somewhere with two people who love her as much as she does.

I guess that is all the news to tell right now. Love to you all.

11 years and counting

Today is the 11th anniversary of my kidney transplant. I would be very ungreatful if I didn't say Thank you to everyone who supported me during that time.

Thanks to my family and most especially to Liz who gave me the kidney to start with. They stood by me and were so sweet. Margaret was a great "nurse" and Ken was always on hand.

Thanks to my friends who came to see me and those who, even though they hated hospitals came anyway.

I'll never forget getting fake flowers from Jared and visits from Caroline and Shane when I was feeling particularly low. Liz made the trip out to the hospital when I was feeling bad. Seth came even though he had medical problems of his own. Sometimes I would wake up and Heather would be there after working her night shift. She would stay with me for a couple of hours and then go home.

I am truly blessed to have this second chance at life and I will be ever thankful for a sister who was unselfish enough to give me part of herself.

Vindication!

I went back to the urgent care last night and I do have some type of bronchitis but its still hard to tell what it is. Especially since I have this on again off again low grade fever. I stayed home today..hopefully that was a good decision and I think I am feeling better today than I have in a few days. I got some nice narcotics to help me sleep and not wake up coughing every 2 hours. Instead I just woke up every 4 hours. Fun times. I haven't been at Seminary for the last 2 days and I miss the children very much. I am looking forward to going back tomorrow. :-)

Sick and Tired of Kaiser Permanente!

The reason I haven't been blogging (GRRR I keep wanting to write bloggering) is because I haven't been feeling so well.

It all started two weeks ago when Dad started feeling crummy. Eventually he went to the dr who diagnosed him with Bronchitis--an inflammation of the lungs---gave him antibiotics and sent him on his way. Meanwhile, who starts hacking up a lung? ME. Of course because my immune system doesn't play well with others I almost always catch whatever is going around. On Thursday last week I start coughing and doing what dad had been doing a few days prior. I HATE going to my primary care doctor for anything because I just hate Kaiser which is an HMO that I have my insurance through. I decided I was just going to let it run its course, which never works, and tough it out. Monday morning I wake up with yellow junk oozing out of my eye and since the very same thing happened to Dad I decided that I should go to the doctor. This was a mistake.

I called and got an appointment, not with my regular dr but with some other chick. Needless to say I left that appointment VERY angry. The dr told me I have allergies. I KNOW I don't have allergies. I have siblings who have awful allergies and THIS. ISN'T. THAT. But would she listen to me? NO! So I left with prescriptions for nasal sprays. I was thinking to myself, I'll be back next week! But I think I'll just die instead of going back there. Not really but I was very frustrated by her attitude and the fact that she didn't even listen to my very valid concerns. Do I look stupid? Do I look uninformed? GRRR. So now I feel worse, my cough is worse and ITS. NOT. ALLERGIES. DOUBLE GRR.

THEN, I have been trying to get my procrit injection from them for a few weeks but keep running into road blocks. I wrote about it here. Finally, I had the lab work done and I had contacted my dr about coming into the office for the injection. I received a call back from the nurse who told me that I needed to have blood work drawn again because I hadn't had it done since the 14th of March. I told her there really wasn't any point since I hadn't had the shot. Is it going to go up? NOPE! So she agreed and she hung up only to call back later and tell me that I had to get the labs because it could change in 10 days. I am seriously pissed at this point. I am so mad at Kaiser and all their rules and their uncaring attitude.

Happy Kidney Day

Today, March 8th, is World Kidney Day. Most of us take for granted what our kidneys do until we no longer have functioning kidneys. I know that I did before I lost my kidney function to a kidney disease when I was 20.

Early detection is the key to preventing and treating kidney disease. If you want to know more you can visit the National Kidney Foundations website here.

Don't take your kidneys for granted.