New here

[fredg]

Hello all!

I am not on dialysis at this point but it may be in my future from all that I have read and studied. Here is my story in a nutshell:

44 Years old, Febuary 2006 I had a heart attack, vfib, had to be shocked twice to “bring me back” as I was clinically dead.
Had a quadruple bypass 2 days later. This seemed to go fairly well…. Until
One week later I coughed real hard and blew open my chest incision, lots of “stuff” pouring out.
Back in the hospital where they reopened my chest and left it open for a week packing the wound every 12 hours.
I now had a nasty case of MRSA infection in the chest wound. This made the whole heart attack deal a walk in the park. The MRSA almost killed me.

I was put on strong antibiotics, Vancomycin and Rifrmafrim (sp) which made me even sicker with my liver becoming very unhappy. I was in the hospital for 6 weeks.

By about May of this year I seemed ok and went back to work (desk job). Had blood test done in June and all looked good.

About a month ago I started feeling real bad, tired, nauseas, short of breath etc. They did some more blood tests a couple of weeks ago and found my Creatinine at 4.9 and my BUN at 77, my hemoglobin was 8.2.

A few days later I was readmitted to the hospital for tests, sonogram, biopsy etc. I am now waiting until next Wednesday to find out the results. They have me on Prednisone and gave me a weird shot I the belly for the anemia. I am still was exhausted but am at work and functioning (although I did fall asleep at my desk today as one of my bosses walked in).

I guess the hope is that I have some kind of ARF as opposed to CKF and that it may reverse itself… meanwhile I wait on the edge of my seat for the test results….

Thanks for listening!

Fred

[Joe Paul]

Welcome Fred ...Man, you been through the mill. Keep fighting, it'll be worth it one day.

[goofynina]

Hey Fred,  WOW,   i am sorry for all you have been through and i am so glad you found us,  we are an awesome website but an even better support group.  And JoePaul is so right,  dont give up cuz it is worth the fight in the long run, it will get  better my friend, one day at a time, one day at a time.  Lookin' forward to hearing more from you and one more thing,  WELCOME

[Sluff]

 Hang in there Fred. Welcome to the site.

[anja]

Hello Fred, welcome to our site.  You wrote a great intro. of all your harrowing experiences!  Hoping with you that you receive good news.  Whatever it is, please share with us as we support and  help each other in this community, it is like no other that I have visited!   

[Rerun]

Hi Fred.  I sure hope it is ARF (Acute Renal Failure) because yes this means that your kidneys may come back.  Stay off dialysis as long as possible, but even if you have to go on it, there are people with ARF that come off dialysis and do fine.  Let's pray you never have to go on it.  You have been through enough already.   

[Bajanne]

Welcome to our community.  This is exactly where you should be after going through experiences like that.  This is a site for survivors!!  We are hoping with you that you don't have ESRD.

[angieskidney]

That shot in the belly was Epo They give that and it works!  It must be given under the skin in a muscle so that is why they do it in the belly or the leg muscle.

Anyway, I hope things improve for you! Do lots of research so you know what options you have

[fredg]

Thanks for all the welcomes! The past and next few days are going to be the worst! I feel like I m on the edge not sure of which way I am going to fall!

While I was posting my host of probs I forgot one of the biggest annoyances I have... when they closed up my chest wound after the infection they had to use a "muscle flap", meaning they actually cut ,the right chest muscle (pec) from my arm and folded it over the hole in my chest. They did this because my strurum is not longer connected as they had to remove all the wires that were holding together the left and right sides. So now my chest still hurts and the 2 halves of my chest kind of slip all around each other. Fun fun!

QUESTION: With my Creatinine at 4.9 and my BUN at 77, how hosed am I really? I seem to get conflicting info from all that I have read, it seems it depends on the person, but from what I can tell these numbers are in the "real bad" range...

Fred

[Zach]

Hey Fred, welcome to the community!  I do hope your situation improves.
As for your numbers, you're right, they're not where they should be.  I don't know much about ARF as opposed to CKF, but if this is an acute situation, then the numbers should improve gradually.

[mallory]

Fred, Welcome to the site!  Your creatinine and BUN levels are about the same as mine at this point, and I'm not on dialysis yet.  I, however, have CKF and my levels won't get better.  With acute kidney failure you still have a chance that your levels will improve.  Do what your doctor tells you, and don't take any ibuprofen.  When my kidneys first started failing I was taking a lot of ibuprofen (Motrin) and it took months for a Nephrologist to tell me that it is very, very hard on your kidneys.

Good luck, we're here for you!