The past year has been a very difficult year for me, jobwise and healthwise. I started my first year as a middle school teacher thrust into the job with very little support and no preparation. I completed my comprehensive exams for my masters degree and then started working two days later, moving everything from Beaumont into my new apartment in Waco before I started my new job. It was a very hectic couple months as I tried to get settled in and into a rhythm. It was very difficult and stressful. Having a kidney disease and high blood pressure, the stress really got to me towards the middle of the school year. I had 4 upper respiratory infections (all of which required strong antibotics), a horrible stomach bug, and several head colds from October 2015 to May 2016. Needless to say, I was so ready for the school year to be finished.
When I went into the doctor's office for my third URI, I had requested my doctor to do labwork on my blood and see how I'm doing. So we proceeded to do that and I was optimistic that everything was good. A few days after the lab was sent, I got the results from my doctor saying that I needed to see a nephrologist immediately. The last time I had seen a nephrologist was over a decade ago, when my IgA neuropathy seemed to have leveled off. So I was referred to a nephrologist the following week.
For those of you who are not aware of how your kidney functions, I will explain the best way I can. Your kidneys essentially are filters for your blood. The blood is pumped through the kidneys and the impurities and excesses are filtered out into your urine. There is a way of determining how well my kidneys are functioning by looking at my blood, specifically my creatinine levels. Creatinine is a waste product created by metabolism and has to be filtered out into your urine. It's normal to have lower creatinine levels in the blood than in the urine, which makes sense. Based on the bloodwork, my creatinine levels was around 2, while the normal range would be between 0.6 and 1.35. Using this number, they can determine the percent of functionality of my kidneys, which is below 50% at the present moment. After seeing the nephrologist a few times in the past couple months, a kidney biopsy was requested and I checked into the hospital last Tuesday morning for the procedure. It's actually a surgery with a long needle but I've always had the idea that a surgery is when a scalpel is used and it requires me to be put under, which was not the case with me. I was in and out in 15 minutes. Then I had to wait a long week for the results to come back, which seemed like an eon. I finally met with the doctor a week after the biopsy and was hit by some pretty distressing news. My kidneys are slowly progressing due to the build up of scar tissue. IgA neuropathy is the inflammation of the kidneys due to the IgA being blocked up in the capillaries. This happens when I get dehydrated, have a fever, or become sick. So I got sick quite a lot in the last year, which probably played a significant factor in the progression of my kidneys. There is no cure for the IgA nor is there any way to remove the scar tissue in my kidneys. The doctors gave me some medications to help with the inflammation of the kidneys and try to slow down the progression, if not stop it at all. If the creatinine levels keep climbing, then I will have to prepare for the possibility of starting dialysis or a kidney transplant.
I have to admit that it hit me pretty hard when the doctor told me this news. I'm 29 years old, in fairly good shape (to which some may disagree), and I work hard. So it just goes to show that it doesn't matter how you live your life, there will always be a few curveballs here and there. I also have to face the fact that I'm not 19 anymore and shouldn't be eating and drinking as I did when I was in high school. I've accepted the fact that my kidneys are not doing very well and I'm preparing myself for the possibilities in the future. I'm only a little worried, because of the whole kidney-being-a-vital-organ and everything. But I'm extremely grateful for is I caught it this early on instead of later when my kidneys have progressed more without medicine or anything else. I'm grateful for my doctor to tell me the cold hard truth about my situation and not sugarcoating it to make me feel better. I'm grateful that I'm still able to do so many things now and not have to limit my activities, which would be very difficult for me to do if it came to that. I'm grateful I have insurance and a stable job to be able to pay for all these things I need.
My course of action right now is to exercise daily, change my diet, and most importantly, be optimistic. I placed myself on a low sodium and low phosphorus diet, and have eliminated sodas and any drinks that contain high fructose corn syrup, and keeping track of my blood pressure. I've signed up for AllRecipes.com, Yummly.com, DaVita.com, and occasionally look through Pintrest for any recipes that are good for patients with Chronic Kidney Disease. As a result, the past few days, I've had more energy than before. Blood pressure is slowing decreasing and I'm feeling less tired in the day. I'm sleeping through the night more and surprisingly I haven't been craving sodas at all in the last 2 days. Those of you who know me so well know I cannot go a day without a Dr. Pepper or a Coke. It's going to be a tough few weeks as I get used to the new lifestyle, but like I said before, I'm very optimistic that I can stabilize the progression, or at least hold off everything for a while longer.
Being a Christian has a lot of advantages and faith in our Physician is one of them. There is nothing too great for Him and there is nothing too hard for me to handle with His help.
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