Dan from Wisconsin i

Well my journey with ESRD started while I was on Active Duty as an AF Security Forces Chief of Police in Izmir, Turkey back in '06. I had episodes of edema and what I thought was possibly lactose intolerance due to some unfortunate incidences. Being that we only had a small clinic assigned, I was misdiagnosed (and sometimes ignored altogether). After having blood tests done (and "lost") I just followed the military's regime of “take Motrin and you'll feel better” since that is all they would give me. We used to call Motrin "Air Force Candy". This continued until Feb 08 when I decided to retire after 22years in. After coming home I was still sick, tired, and just felt beat down. I went to Great Lakes naval facility to complete my retirement physical which the AF thought I really didn't need. By May I was assigned a great PCM who didn't like my labs and ordered more.
On 8 May I was called at home by my PCM and my life changed forever. I was told "get to the ER right now and tell them your creatinine level is 9.8 and they will get you in right away". So off I went. My wife was at work so I had to call her and freak her out. She made it to the hospital in record time. The doctors took more blood and x-rays and confirmed the obvious; I had stage 5 kidney failure. bp of 220/113 and they couldn't figure out how I was functioning normally. To me, I felt fine. I was admitted right away and had the neck catheter first with my first HD taking 5Lt out of me. Boy was that fun. The next day I had the catheter removed and a chest catheter installed. So begins another fun journey, I was a mere two weeks from my official retirement and the military was scrambling with what to do. In the end they extended me on active duty and sent me to WPAFB, OH for 9 months and I officially retired on 15 Feb 09 with full disability from the VA .
While in Ohio I was able to come back home and get my evals done and get on the transplant list in Dec 08. I also had my fistula placed in my left forearm which lasted until this last Dec. I’m sure the vein looked like Swiss cheese after it was mangled so many times by people who were studying to interrogation specialists. I would have told them anything at the level of pain they were bringing. Guantanamo would be like a resort!!! Well, we made it home from Ohio and set out to find a new home since living in my mother-in-law’s basement was NOT a long term option. We found our dream home in June and promptly moved in the middle of the month. My center for HD is only 3 miles away and alternates aren’t all that far off. I haven’t worked since Jan 09 and it’s killing me. I know I can’t be a police officer any more so I’m looking at alternatives and even a whole new direction.
I kind of feel like a train wreck. I had a partial parathyroidectomy which brought my PTH level down from a disgustingly high 4400 to a reasonable 137. My first fistula completely failed 1 Dec which led to a new chest catheter and a new fistula which was reconnected just a few inches up from the old one. Looks rough with that big crossover lump but it seems to buzz just nicely. You would think it should work like a champ but the Gestapo seems to like to get it to NOT work. We’ve been using it for a week and it’s already having issues like the arterial wouldn’t work and I had some internal leakage leaving some wonderful swelling the last couple of days. I know by reading some posts that I have it SO much better than it could be. I like to hope beyond hope. Sometimes you get let down.
I should add that in no way would I have ever made it to this point without the support from my wife and family. My wife has really adapted things like cooking to make life so much easier (and tasty!). We went from not seeing each other much for almost two years while I was deployed to spending every waking moment (other than HD) together. I don’t know how she puts up with me!!! I couldn’t post anything about me without giving her credit for taking the very best care of me though all of this. She is my guardian angel.
I’m sure there is more (and as you can see I like to talk!)but I am sure that will come out in the future. As for my personal side, I like to fish, hunt, and generally be outdoors and ESRD hasn’t stopped me yet. Slowed me down a bit but will not stop me. Don’t hate me for being a Cubs fan and yes I’m still heartbroken over my beloved Packers loss. I’m also a Blackhawks fan but love any level of hockey. I’m hoping to get back into cycling but will re-evaluate my energy levels this spring. Ok, enough about me….