12/16/2010 Susan update

Yo-Yo day

Posted Dec 16, 2010 8:02pm

No, not the duncan kind. I've talked before about the ups and downs of this journey as we go through the weeks, but today had it's own ups and downs.

We were somewhat hopeful that the lab results would show a slight increase in creatinine, but it was up to 5.3 which is about .7 more than I expected to see. The BUN is holding steady at 57 or so, which is still high but it's not climbing.

I got the lab results via text which was pretty tough to look at, and had to be the one to tell Walt. As I said, we were expecting bad news, but not quite that bad. We were asked to come to clinic right then and I simply asked what's the point, what's the plan? The response was "the plan is to start dialysis". So looks like I was not too far off on my estimation of when it would start. After further discussions with the director of transplant center, she didn't expect to see his numbers drop right away. The new plan is to drink lots of water and continue to test. Personally, I don't think his numbers will change drastically until next week.
Walt looks better today than I've seen him look in weeks. He says he feels better too, in fact he didn't nap all day so that itself gives me a little insight as to what's going on inside.

We've decided not to tell the (younger) kids exactly what's going on until after Christmas. There is no need to spoil one of their favorite days. What they know is that dad has to go to the lab a lot, he goes to clinic a lot and that's it. He puts on his happy face, musters the energy to be upbeat with the kids and so will I.

Walt is doing his best to drink as much water as he can, which could really impact his numbers. He's like an overfull sponge, but he continues to drink. We have agreed to approach the next few days with cautious optimism.

I wanted to get this posted before the kids come home - cause that's the end of the health stuff for today. :o)

Enjoy one another!
~Susan