21 June 2012

Yay!...It's only been a brief five days between entries.

Unfortunately, there is little that is positive to tell you about. Read on...you'll see what I mean.

I will once again begin with Exhaustion. The best words I can use to describe it are:
-Pervasive
-All-Encompassing
-Constant
-Overwhelming
Yeah...that pretty much sums it up. I go to sleep exhausted; I awaken exhausted; my naps are now averaging over four hours in length (on top of 8.5 hours sleep per night), plus any little fifteen or twenty minute naps that happen throughout the day. So...Exhausted.

Next, let's talk about Edema. I felt my feet feeling weirder than normal yesterday, and placed my finger on my R ankle to test Rebound, and was greeted with a good half inch of edema before I hit bone...and it was squishy. I hadn't felt that kind of edema in anybody since my paramedic days. I even withdrew my hand and gave an audible, "Eewww!"
For now, most of the edema is in my legs. I do see it in my hands, but not much.

Feeling Ill. I don't know if I am feeling ill more because of how constantly exhausted I am, or because of the renal failure happening...or both. I just know that I have been feeling especially lousy the last four days. I can still push through this most of the time to keep myself busy; but it is getting really difficult to keep moving forward. Every so often I let myself really feel it, and it makes me miserable. So, I push myself mentally to get up and be somewhat productive. I fear that if I give into feeling lousy that I may not be able to pull myself back up to a good place. It's a fight...every day.

Food intake is still all over the place. In the last five days I had one that I ate nothing at all (not even any snacks), and one that I ate more than normal (and paid for it with feeling worse than normal!). Most days I snack in the afternoon, eat a small dinner, and maybe eat a pice of toast at night. That is pretty much it. On average, I am eating about 1.75 cups of food per day. That's up a little bit; but I am also trying to eat a little more every day.

My headache, now 31 months long (and counting), is averaging a nice 9.75 every single day. The only things that could make it worse are greater intensity, and making me sensitive to light a/o sound.  My T3 usage remains at 6 per day. I am hoping that dialysis will at least reduce the headache to a less painful level, if not eliminate it altogether. I have not read anything about dialysis relieving the unremittent headaches...I am just hoping.

The bilateral flank pain continues to be ever-present and always painful. The cysts on my kidneys must be huge and nasty looking!

My breath has become worse. My wife tells me that it has intensified way beyond what it was a month ago. I believe her because I can taste it in every morning especially. It is grossing me out! If it is doing that, I can't imagine how it smells to others.

My urine remains about 10% darker than it has been. Plus, it is still as foamy as ever. I am not seeing many particulates in it lately, though. I don't know why that would happen.

And,...that's all I can think of. I'm tired, sleepy and worn out.

Good Health to All!

ScottW