K too high, in ER

[RichardMEL]

RightSide - I see what you're saying - but I also experienced the exact opposite when I first saw a  neph back in 1993. I had done a routine physical for work and they found protein in the urine. Me, being 22 and ignorant, thought "so what?" - well we all know what it's about now. Anyway they referred me to this neph and I walked in (luckily I had my mother with me too) and the VERY FIRST THING this bloke said was "Well you've got two years." FULL STOP. I never did know if he meant I had two years to live, or two years till dialysis or what. Later in the meeting he said something like "We're required to give you ALL the facts and the possible outcomes" - well yeah... if I was in denial before I sure as hell wasn't then - but then again if I had continued with that jerk I might have given up there and then thinking "what's the point?"

I'm not sure that being told how you can live a full and mostly normal life with dialysis is going to affect anyone in denial one way or the other - since at some level they just won't think it's an issue that will affect them because "it's not happening"

oh just on me and the dentist - I wasn't in denial so much - I knew the longer I left it the worse it would get - but I just hated dentists so much I didn't want to deal with it!! Anyway I finally got my act together and went in (this is like 10 years ago now) and fessed up at how bad I had been. Good thing they caught a couple of things in time before they became major. The dentist said if I'd left it much longer I could have been in deep trouble. It's stuff like that, and a few experiences post dialysis that have definitely convinced me that it's better to get checked out rather than not - even if it ends up being something minor.

[paris]

Hi sweet Texastyle.   I am busy catching up on posts and just read through this entire thread.  I think you knew this day was coming.  I am glad he is in the hospital and others are carring for him now.  You need a break.   He is dealing with a boatload of junk but unfortunately, it is because of his own decisions.    Keep leaning on our dear Richard. He is so kind and so supportive.   We are all here for you.  I think we all just ache for what you continue to deal with.   I am sure he is a very good man.  Now, he needs to understand how much this is hurting you.   Praying for better days for both of you.  You are such a sweet person and we all love you.   

[RichardMEL]

hell yeah!!! who needs  a wonderbra when you've got me??! 

[texasstyle]

Morning gang. I'm so glad for the support here. AND the honesty. I'm pretty worn down but starting to get myself together. We're all a lot stronger than we realize. Fro what I understand now, they are starting a dialysis series on him today. His lungs and heart in better shape than they were, but there is low oxygen in the blood. I don't know much about that. They did a can to rule out a pulmonary embolism and that was negative. He is on double oxygen. The thin tube under the nose and the bigger mask on top of it. Ate a dinner in the chair last night then zonked out there from the pain killers lol. They sure have done an awful lot of dializing in the last few days. Today will be his I think  5th time since 3am Friday. What's up with the low oxygen? Has anyone gone through tthat problem before. They call it the oxygen saturation. I assume if the oxygen is low the carbon dioxide is high. Hhhmm... What are the possible complications that could arise. I think his level is in the 60's-ish. Bloop pressure still hanging pretty low. Was 87/45 yesterday afternoon. He's awake and talking pretty good for a person who is ill. Can getting extra EPO in your dilalysis session help with the oxygen levels? He is seemily "ok" with an extra session and i think this was his fiall wake up call. I mean when the surgeon tells you that you were as close to death as you can be with out actually dying, and that you wuld not have lived through the night, it's better be your wake up call! Geez.... Richard, oops... I mean wonderbra lol, most people really don't realize how imperative a protein count can be. Especially at 22. Anyway, I'm habing in waiting for my plumber to come fix a minor situation with my shower valve. (hopefully it's minor) lol. Thanks gain for all the support. it's been a wild ride....

[RichardMEL]

whoa.... his sats was in the 60's? that's MIGHTY serious!

To divulge for a bit.. my mother DID have an pulmonary embolism (caused by a DVT in her leg that moved up to her lung) and in the end that's what killed her. Yep, it's that serious. Anyway the day she was admitted to hospital she simply couldn't breathe and could hardly move. She struggled to walk over to the hospital (about 100m walk from her place - very close - yet it took her apparently half an hour). Anyway when they did her sats she was at 72 - and they said that was the lowest they had ever seen a patient who still managed to stand - so 60's... well that's VERY low.

I don't know a HEAP about it, but epo stimulates red blood cell production, and red blood cells carry oxygen around the system, so I am certain the two go hand in hand. He must have had a very low hemoglobin suggesting that he just wasn't getting enough oxygen to his cells, due to low red blood cell count, and perhaps other reasons. If the cells are starved of oxygen, erll.. bad things happen.

The normal sort of figure for the sats is 97+. Last time I had mine done it was 98% - so even with a not normal red blood cell count you can still have normal sats - that's why I think other stuff was going on - perhaps the fluid around his lungs and heart was also affecting the flow of oxygen around.

hmm TS are you sure the plumber is only coming to look at your shower?  (hmm I must go do a course then offer to check your valves... 

[texasstyle]

By the way Wonderbra, I love the new profile pic! No embolism apparently and that's a good thing. He's not struggling to breath but they got to get to the bottom of this oxygen thing. I may have a couple of girlfriends over Thursday that I haven't seen since high school. They moved across country and are in the area. One is a chef. Yummy... I think I'll invite her over for dinner, tell her I burnt it, then SHE'LL be forced to whip something delicious up! HAAAAA!!!