17 August 2011

It's been twelve days since my last update--quite a long time. I continue to have internet connection issues, plus, I've been feeling so lousy that I haven't even wanted to try and solve the internet thing. Let's get started before my connection issues arise again...

(I won't go into specific days, since that would require me to remember things that I've already forgotten. So, we'll just talk in overall terms for todays blog.)

Overall....Lousy. Yuck! Lots of nausea (and Promethazine) just about every day, all day. When I'm not nauseated I just don't feel well. I've been trying to describe it; but have failed to put it into words. 'I just don't feel well.' That's the only description I've come up with.

The vertigo has been almost constant. Even sitting in a chair has been no relief. I'm still mobile inspite of the vertigo; but it is awfully difficult to do anything. As before, using my cane outside the house has increasingly saved me from  ground-level falls. Additionally, the vertigo adds to the nausea and ups that level as well. Woo-Hoo!

My headache has been terrible. Though I've actually had a few moments when I've realized the pain isn't too bad, this usually followed shortly with sudden increases in pain to the severe level. I've been using my TMD occlusive devices to continue minimizing any TMD involvement; but to absolutely no avail on the level and intensity of the headaches. On last count, my T3 usage has elevated to 4.16/day. Even at that level of use, I am tolerating a lot of headache pain--I just don't want to be using any more.

My breath, according to others, is increasingly smelling like urine. It's not an obvious odor...yet; but people are noticing. Those closest to me understand I can't do much about it beyond breath mints, so they never say anything that would make me feel bad...which I appreciate immensely.

The edema in my legs and arms is doing its up and down thing. No pattern to its increases. I suppose it's a good thing at this point that the edema isn't constant and severe as this would be a strong indication of organ failure.

I was looking in the mirror the other day and noticed for the first time (I think) that my face is looking thin, and my overall appearance finally reflects how sick I am. I told my wife about this and she agreed with my assessment.

As before, my vision gets better or worse, depending on how I'm feeling. I'm using my reading glasses a lot these days, but they're not always helping any more. I realize that my age dictates a certain decrease in vision; but it's the getting better and worse thing that is odd. I still personally believe that this is somehow tied in with the increasing symptomology of the PCKD.

My sleep is almost always restless these days. My dreams are almost uncontrollable now as my subconscious sorts everything. I do have dreams that are still 100% controlled; but these are becoming the exception instead of the norm. I awaken every day feeling as if I haven't gotten any sleep. Whether I've had six, four or even seven hours of sleep, I'm always exhausted now. Plus, over the last seven or eight days I've had a three+ hour nap every day. These have come on anywhere from a few hours after awaking, to several. There's no pattern to the naps; they just happen. And of course, I awaken from these also feeling as exhausted as when I went to sleep.

My food intake has been poor, to put it mildly. I've averaging about one cup of food per day. I actually had two days last week that I didn't eat anything. No snacks, either. I simply wasn't hungry. I know a part of these two days was because of how intensely unwell I was feeling.

My urine continues to be foamy, cloudy and odoriferous. The decrease in frequency and overall output remains. Additionally, I've noticed a number of times that the foaminess had a red tint to it, as if blood were in the urine, but not yet blatantly visible.   I have still had no apparent evidence of kidney stones--thank goodness! There's no pain on urination; no blockages of the urinary flow, etc.

I think that's about all. Overall, I'm feeling increasingly worse as each week passes.  I've got my next nephrology appointment coming up in early September.

I'll hopefully have my internet connection problems solved before long. Thanks for bearing with me through whatever is going on with that.

Good Health to All!

ScottW