Initial Diabetes Treatment

The day of my release from the hospital after the biopsy, my nephrologist told me to call my PCP to set an appointment to see Dr. Triue to manage my diabetes. And that is what I did as soon as I get home. I made an appointment the next day. When I got there in the morning, Dr, Triue teased me saying: You must be very special because Dr. Lerman himself phone me about you! I said smiling, maybe :-). From there he told me he would take care of my diabetes instead of seeing an Endoctrinologist. That sounds good to me. I was blessed with nice , kind and good doctors to care for our/my health. Anyhow, we are working together to get my blood sugar level down. He put me into Lantus (a once a day shot insulin) that looks like a glucometer and it is easy for me to give myself a shot than the usual syringe with big needle (ouch!). So far, the first week went okay, except that my blood sugar level was still the same that is why hubby and I decided to increase the dosage. It went down a little bit which was good. After once week, we would need to go for a follow up visit to see what would Dr. Triue would say.

Biopsy's Test Result

Finally, my most awaited day of the week has come. Matt and I went to see my doctor to get the result from the renal biopsy done a week ago. I was eager but not nervous, not nervous because I have prayed to my Father in Heaven for the result. I prayed that whatever would that be, I will gladly accept it because I know in my heart that He has a reason why things happen. Anyway, the result was back and it came out normal. There was scarring to the transplanted kidneys but was normal due to the mismatch they did when they tested my blood for a match. Since the kidneys came from a cadaver donor, scarring in my kidney is normal and there is nothing my doctors can do to treat it. He said that kidney from cadaver donor would most like to last only last from 10 to 15 years if I am lucky, whereas if it came from a living donor, the chance would be a maximum of 25 years. With the outcome of the biopsy, I am satisfied and could never ask for more. I am glad my worries about losing my kidney is over because they have found no signs of rejection. We are happy and satisfied and that's all I want. Till then, will update more on my next post.

Immuno Suppressants and Medications

When I was discharged from the hospital, I went home with bunch of medications where three of them are immuno suppressant to keep my body from rejecting the new kidney transplanted in me. Not only the medicines are to many, but very expensive, too! Thank goodness, I was covered with Medicare on top of our health insurance...we only spent $250 bucks for everything. I'll say, that we are blessed to be living in this country where advanced technology is available for those people who have life threatening disease like me. Who would have thought that I would get new kidney for such a short wait. I am still taking medications...and will be taking for the rest of my life or at least the life of the kidney.

Hello New Kidney, Goodbye Dialysis!

Eight months later, I was blessed to get new kidney from a baby (Thanks to You, My Donor). It was in March of 2006 (3am) when I got a call from Medical City saying that they've found a donor that would possibly be a perfect match for me. I was very happy and thank my Heavenly Father for GREAT blessing and an advanced birthday present for me since my birthday was ten days away. Hubby and I got up early, went to the hospital and waited for the result whether the kidney was a match or not. There were three of us there waiting which one of us will be getting the kidney. Fortunately, I was the one who perfectly match the donors kidney! We were elated...so after eight hours of waiting, finally was admitted and wheeled me to my room where I waited for the surgery to be done. The surgery lasted for hours and thank goodness, the kidney started working already! I stayed at the hospital for more than a week, then went home.

Pregnancy and Kidney Failure...

Seven years ago, when I got pregnant with our first baby, my OB-Gyne found out that I was spilling fair amount of protein in my urine and that was very alarming since it could be a sign of kidney failure. And so, she sent me to a specialist to watch me and the baby. Unfortunately, we lost our baby and that broke our hearts. Then, we got pregnant again the next year and luckily, we were blessed with a son who was born premature. He stayed at NICU for a month. Six months later, I started having terrible headache. That was when we decided to see our PCP. We've found out that my blood pressure was pretty high and I was retaining liquid in my body on top of spilling more protein. My Nephrologist decided to do a biopsy for once and sure enough, I had a FSGS, a rare kidney disease of which they don't have any idea what the causes was. My kidney started to fail rapidly that I had to go to dialysis. I was on dialysis for eight months. It was a sacrificed on my husband's part and a nightmare for me every time I go to dialysis 3 times a week. And I don't want to go back there again ever!