02 Sept. 2011

In the four days since my last entry there has once again been consistent symptomology.

About the only changes have been for the worse. One, the nausea just won't settle down. on Wednesday night/Thursday morning I had an overwhelmingly intense bout of nausea just smack me from nowhere. I took a half dose of the Promethazine, then thirty minutes later took another half dose. I then spent the next forty minutes leaning over the kitchen sink, ready and feeling as if I was going to throw up. After those forty minutes there was no let-up in the nausea, so I laid down in bed. Even then, I waited another fifty+ minutes before the nausea retreated, and I finally fell asleep. To say that this was a particularly nasty emetic episode would be a vast understatement. The only thing that could've made this one any worse would be if I actually threw up. Even with a full dose of Promethazine, it took nearly two hours to calm down. (Shuddering!...)

Two, my back over the kidneys has been extremely painful. The pain is only relieved by T3's. Sitting in my office chair helps relax things, but the pain is only relieved with the pain meds. As before, I still have no obvious *blood in my urine, and zero indication of kidney stones. (*I have continued to have a red tinge to the extreme foam created when I urinate in a toilet.)

My fistula continues to mature. I can now see the path of the super vein up to the crook of my elbow. I am still doing the strengthening exercises every day. When the vein is clearly visible on my arm, I will post a pic here so everyone can see the end result.

My sleep remains poor in its quality, and in my declining ability to control my dreams. About the only time I sleep deeply is when I've got a lot of the anti-emetic in me--like Thursday. I awoke from my sleep at about 1230p, then settled in to watch a three hour broadcast of Australian Rules football (AFL)--a far, far better game than the NFL or college ball--and after one quarter (20 minutes) began getting sleepy. I turned off the TV and promptly fell into a deep, groggy sleep that lasted another 4.5 hours. As usual, when i awoke my brain was foggy, and I stumbled around a lot...but hey! The nausea was gone for a little! Woo-Hoo!

My appetite is still terrible. I rarely snack anymore, and my liquid intake remains poor, as well. When I do eat, it is usually around a cup of food in total; and that is only once per day. I am having more and more difficulty deciding on something to eat. Most foods are tasting extremely bland, and my appetite is shut down by anything that might be considered a little off-putting such as coming across an artery in a chicken breast. Plus, I can't smell most foods now [because of the ammonia]; so I very rarely have my appetite stimulated by food smells that are obvious to everyone else.

I had my blood drawn today for Tuesday's nephrology appointment. The labs done today are for Iron, Renal Panel, and CBC. My blood appeared to me to be darker than normal, and cloudy. As always, I'll fill you in with the results after the appointment.

That's all for now. I'll likely do an entry on Monday so that on Tuesday I can only talk about the results of my Doctor visit.

Have a fun, but safe Labor Day weekend. I wish I was going out and about!

Good Health to All!

ScottW