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Didn't want to write about this until I had more info, but some of it will be a while in coming.
The night of February 21, my mom called to talk about her latest doctor visit (nephrologist), and let me know that her kidney function was at 14%. Total failure is at 10%. Brothers got to know over the span of about a week or two, so she could get up energy for each conversation, I expect. There was a lot of conflicting information going on between different medical specialists, which is why I'm not posting this until now.
Lots of drama over getting a person to go to appts. with her (the drama queen being a friend of my mother's who basically was having control and self-esteem issues), lots of tests, including an ultrasound to determine what type of shunt she can have for dialysis. Veins are too small for the newer, smaller ones, so she'll be getting a graft tube, which has a 50% chance of rejection after the first year and then has to be replaced, among other possible complications. Also a longer recovery time from the procedure to get it put in than for the smaller one, before treatment can begin.
Some sources say patients have more energy after treatments, some less. Lifespan on dialysis depends on the individual and his/her outlook and how well he/she does on eating well, etc., but ranges from 2 to 5 years. And of course it completely changes one's life because dialysis is 3 times per week. Treatments will probably last about 3 hours per session, as she is a petite person. We are not predicting the upper range, certainly not until she has gone through the surgery and started treatment so that we have more data points.
She is currently planning for 2-3 years, and accordingly I'll be flying to CA in June for two weeks. She's been working on organizing things, donations, etc., as well as handling a few book sales from her book. Yes, did I forget to post that she finished the book and it's published? So that's one less time/energy suck. I'll be going through some things with her and bringing some small stuff home with me, as well as doing some lifting for her. Don't worry, heavy-lifting for my mom is generally boxes that weigh no more than 20 lbs. Her birthday is in June, so we'll have a nice little family gathering as well.
So, the more can be done this year, the more free time she has for more important things that sorting through stuff. She is still hoping to come back East in the autumn for a last visit; we'll see if that works out. She has a few other health issues like a hip that needs replacing (not likely now), which have kept her from traveling for a while. Next year, if she's doing not-so-great, she wants me to come out again, and then one more time for the funeral. We'll see how that all goes, too.
My flight departs for CA on June 5 and returns on June 19.
That's all I've got at this point, aside from that she seems to be handling it pretty well at the moment. Oh, and I sent her more stinging nettles, which she is now taking daily. It helps remove uric acid from the blood, which should help until she finally gets onto dialysis, probably sometime in May.
The night of February 21, my mom called to talk about her latest doctor visit (nephrologist), and let me know that her kidney function was at 14%. Total failure is at 10%. Brothers got to know over the span of about a week or two, so she could get up energy for each conversation, I expect. There was a lot of conflicting information going on between different medical specialists, which is why I'm not posting this until now.
Lots of drama over getting a person to go to appts. with her (the drama queen being a friend of my mother's who basically was having control and self-esteem issues), lots of tests, including an ultrasound to determine what type of shunt she can have for dialysis. Veins are too small for the newer, smaller ones, so she'll be getting a graft tube, which has a 50% chance of rejection after the first year and then has to be replaced, among other possible complications. Also a longer recovery time from the procedure to get it put in than for the smaller one, before treatment can begin.
Some sources say patients have more energy after treatments, some less. Lifespan on dialysis depends on the individual and his/her outlook and how well he/she does on eating well, etc., but ranges from 2 to 5 years. And of course it completely changes one's life because dialysis is 3 times per week. Treatments will probably last about 3 hours per session, as she is a petite person. We are not predicting the upper range, certainly not until she has gone through the surgery and started treatment so that we have more data points.
She is currently planning for 2-3 years, and accordingly I'll be flying to CA in June for two weeks. She's been working on organizing things, donations, etc., as well as handling a few book sales from her book. Yes, did I forget to post that she finished the book and it's published? So that's one less time/energy suck. I'll be going through some things with her and bringing some small stuff home with me, as well as doing some lifting for her. Don't worry, heavy-lifting for my mom is generally boxes that weigh no more than 20 lbs. Her birthday is in June, so we'll have a nice little family gathering as well.
So, the more can be done this year, the more free time she has for more important things that sorting through stuff. She is still hoping to come back East in the autumn for a last visit; we'll see if that works out. She has a few other health issues like a hip that needs replacing (not likely now), which have kept her from traveling for a while. Next year, if she's doing not-so-great, she wants me to come out again, and then one more time for the funeral. We'll see how that all goes, too.
My flight departs for CA on June 5 and returns on June 19.
That's all I've got at this point, aside from that she seems to be handling it pretty well at the moment. Oh, and I sent her more stinging nettles, which she is now taking daily. It helps remove uric acid from the blood, which should help until she finally gets onto dialysis, probably sometime in May.