I'm a little angry about this...

[kellyt]

Ok, so I had my surgery on the 16th of Dec. and had the stent removed from my ureter on the 29th of Dec.  I went in yesterday morning and had my labs drawn.
First off, let me go back.  After I had the stent removed from the Urologist he said "Get your lab done next week to be sure your kidney is okay and also try to get in to see your post transplant doctor in two weeks instead of on the scheduled date of the 25th."  Fine.
I get home and the next day I call my post transplant doctor and, of course, I'm directed to the nurse's voicemail.  I leave a message explaining all of this, making sure I say that my post transplant doctor is the one who referred me to the Urologist, I'm post transplant, blah, blah, blah.  I get no call back.  No surprise there (sad to say).
So I called them back on Monday and spoke with scheduler.  She was able to move me to the 13th, that's good.  I also told her that I would just use my other lab request that I was supposed to use one week prior to my original appt scheduled on the 25th.  She said that would be just fine.  Still no return call from the nurse.

Well, I received a call at 9 a.m. this morning from the nurse confirming they rescheduled my appt for the 13th and she asked if I had lab done recently.  Well, if you had called me back you would know.  I told her Yes.  She called me back this afternoon to say that the lab was received and my WBC is 14.  I feel fine, no fever, no pain, no problems.  Urinating fine.  I then asked her "What's my creatinine?"  She said "Oh, that's 1.6.  That's fine".  I said "Fine?  That's up from last time."  She said "On your last draw  it was 1.31, so it only went up to 1.6.  That's not a "flag" for me".  WTF?  It's a flag for me!!!!  I wish you could push a button and shock the person on the other phone in the ear when they say something stupid.  Any  increase is something to discuss you dumbass when you just had surgery and your stent removed when they originally said the stent would have to stay in forever it is concerning when your creatinine is up at all !!!    I'm starting to question every Nurse in San Antonio.  Did they all go to the same school?   

[nursewratchet]

I'm sorry.  I know this is not a good thing, stupid or lazy nurse and all, but I'm laughing hysterically at my desk right now.  Not at your expense, just at the way you put things, and I am picturing the shock on the phone.  I want to do that too.  I'm cracking up!!!!! 

[greco02]

Can you hook up with someone an design the TSD (telephone shock device) and your friends on IHD will offer them selves up to be product testers (just to clarify : givers, not receivers). We all have so many choices on who we could use it on it boggles the mind.   

[kellyt]

Glad I could make you smile.   

I think I'm going to recommend that during the "testing" phase for ESRD patients when they go in for all the tests and classes to get on "the list", that they should include in the classes  "Once you receive your new kidney, not only will you be taking strong medications for the life of kidney that will mess up every good thing you like about your body, but you will also be forced to deal with the most absurd, rude and stupid nurses your money can buy.  Now, are you sure you want a kidney?"     That would take a lot of the fear off the mediciations.   

[thegrammalady]

kelly, it's called the i'm just going to show up and get paid job philosophy.

[Jean]

I dont blame you Kelly. If I call my neph and ( always) leave a message for his nurse, she never, ever calls me back. So I told my health coach and she said, it is important to have a rapport with the nurse. Oh, okay, then would ya tell me how to develop a rapport with a fence post while you are at it? DANG!!!!

[jbeany]

Yikes!  Remind me to send a thank you note to Lindy at U of M, for actually calling me immediately whenever the labs show the slightest blip.  My tacro levels showed a slight drop a couple of weeks ago, and she called as soon as she got the labs to ask if I was okay, and what I was doing different from the past month and a half.  (We figured out it was changing because I was actually eating!)

I want a shock phone, too!

[MIbarra]

Kelly... after having issues with recurrent UTI's my creatinine rose about .5 points and the doctor said the same thing your nurse did. Of course I was alarmed and upset, but he said it wasn't enough of a change to worry about.. blah blah blah.. Anyway, it eventually came back down... Hope the same thing happens with yours!

[kellyt]

Willie, was it you that said you had UTI's but never had symptoms?  I'm wondering if it's a UTI.  I have no idea.  I have no symptoms whatsoever.  I'm urinating good - good amount, regular amount of times a day (I think), no pain anywhere or when urinating, no fever and no redness.  That about covers infections, right?  AND I'm on Bactrim daily.  That should knock anything out I would think anyways.

Also, I'd probably not be worried about it much if I had not just had surgery and a stent removed.  THAT's what bothers me most.  Also, she said so calmly "He'll be in on Monday and I'll show it to him then.  But you see him on Wednesday so you can ask him about the creatinine then.".  You're damn right I will.  I'm also going to ask who is on-call when he's on vacation or out of town.  Surely there is someone with more brain than her in charge.

[susan parry]

sorry your having trouble with staff (been there and done that too).  after my transplant my creatine was running 1.1=1.3  then it jumped to 1.6 and my surgeon was alarmed so he ran some other tests (that was when my legs were swollen-he checked for blood clots and did an ultrasound of the kidney to see if there was any fluid around it.  all was clear so when i asked him why it went up he said maybe(?) my native kidneys were failing even further (i have pkd and was not on dialysis when i got my transplant).  since then though my creatine has come down again to 1.1 so i think mine had to do with how hydrated i was. 

i pray yours will come down.  it is scary when anything is slightly off and they dont seem to care (which is why they became nurses in the first place wouldnt you think?)

thinking of you

sue

[kellyt]

Thanks Sue.  I actually saw the doctor yesterday and when he mentioned my creatinine I quickly jumped in and said "Deb didn't think it was a big deal".  He didn't even look up and said "Well, it is".     He said if I hadn't just had the lymphocele done and the stent removed he wouldn't be as concerned, but he wants to be sure there's nothing going on.  I go for labs again on Monday and they are supposed to call me with a sonogram appt next week.  It's the same nurse that supposed to call me by tomorrow to give me the date/time of the sono.  Who wants to bet she doesn't call tomorrow?

[Rerun]

Keep on her Kelly.

                           

[nursewratchet]

Do you see Dr. Hamner?

[kellyt]

Not any more.  He was my pre-transplant Neph and I did go back to him about 3 months after transplant, but he really isn't a post-transplant Neph, so he told me to go back when my creatinine started going back up.  That's when found the lymphocele.  I loved Dr. Hamner, but for now I'm going to stick with Mulgrew.  He's also with Renal Assoc, but over off Louie Pasteur.  But his nurse...geeze...

[TeenHatesDialysis]

The docs thought that Jaclyn's creatinine was up due to a UTI and they did a urine culture, but apparently couldn't provide the correct antibiotic, Cipro, until Urinanalysis was complete. I had a terrible time getting Jaclyn's lab results from the coordinator. All of Jaclyn's lab forms now specifically have written on them that her results are to be faxed to me immediately. I set up an account with www.efax.com and the fax comes to my email and I can view them on my cell phone. I know if Jaclyn's prograf is spiking. I used to call the Transplant Coordinator and notify her of the spike and ask for a medication adjustment for Jaclyn, but she has hundreds of patients and is too busy. UGH! I feel your pain. Sending positive vibes for a decrease in creatinine.

[kellyt]

Guess who I didn't hear from today...

And guess who'll be getting a phone call at 8 a.m. on the nose Monday morning...

[Romona]

Sorry you are going through this Kelly. I had some problems with everyone getting results. I ended up in the hospital for 4 days with a low white blood count about 6 months post transplant. My labs were going to a chirpractor in another state instead of my transplant team. I get it all faxed to me. I often get everything back the same day, sometimes a Progarf level takes an extra day. Now I call them when I am concerned about a level. I often see the results days before they do. I think anyone reading this thread should keep tabs on the blood work themselves and know what to watch out for. And Kelly you are awesome, you are not letting anyone walk on you.

[MIbarra]

Ugh! I hope everything turns out ok, Kelly... I love my doctor, but his nurse is horrible too!