Now what

[justagirl2325]

My husband (Type 1 diabetic) has been on dialysis since July, fell and broke his tailbone in September (healed), had eye surgery (vitrectomy) in December - results still not known, had fistula surgery last week (ok so far) but now his Nephrologist had him see a doctor of Internal Medicine.  They did an ultrasound on his liver and spleen.  What else could be wrong now?

[Jean]

Whatever it is, I hope it is not serious.

[del]

Hopefully everything will be okay. 

[PrimeTimer]

Maybe a lab result showed elevated or high liver enzymes or they are checking for infection settling in the spleen. Sometimes high blood sugar levels can cause high liver enzymes over time. Or maybe they just want a "baseline" of his liver and spleen in case he needs future ultrasounds, they'll be able to see whether or not the liver or spleen have become enlarged. One example is when people are prescribed steroids such as Prednisone longterm, a doctor may want to get a baseline ultrasound of the liver and spleen as part of the monitoring process. Hope things go better for both of you.

[justagirl2325]

He's been scheduled for an xray skeletal survey on Monday...they are looking for multiple myeloma.

This would just be devastating.  All those years of doctors telling him his kidneys will fail due to diabetes and now that may not have been the case?  Multiple myeloma causes kidney failure.  Are you kidding me?  This could have been found and treated earlier!!!

They better be wrong.

[PrimeTimer]

He's been scheduled for an xray skeletal survey on Monday...they are looking for multiple myeloma.

This would just be devastating.  All those years of doctors telling him his kidneys will fail due to diabetes and now that may not have been the case?  Multiple myeloma causes kidney failure.  Are you kidding me?  This could have been found and treated earlier!!!

They better be wrong.

I hope they are wrong, too! Maybe because your husband is so young (42) and his tailbone broke when he fell, they are suspicious about his bones being weak. Hopefully they are just being very thorough and want to rule out anything too serious or, if it is myeloma, they want to treat it and get ahead of it quickly while he has some "fight" in him. You said his tailbone had healed from the fall so that's a good sign, especially since he has Diabetes. Sometimes people with Diabetes do not heal so well and infection settles into a bone. Hopefully in your husband's case they won't find anything. Please keep us updated, please don't hesitate to come here for support, we're all here for you!

[cassandra]

       

[justagirl2325]

Today was an awesome day.

I went with him to see the "blood doctor."  The first question she asked us was if we knew why his nephrologist referred him to her as she knows this nephrologist is "a man of few words."  We said no. 

As it turns out all the testing is to get him cleared for a transplant.  (No donor identified they haven't even started that yet I am hoping I will be a match.) 

And everything looks good so far.  She has more test results to come in but everything looks good she said she will see him again in March and will likely write up an all clear for transplant letter.

We also saw the fistula doc and it is doing well.

We saw his home hemo nurse and they are going to try to get him started on nocturnal dialysis.  My job is very demanding and let's just say getting home early enough in the evening has been tough at work, and if I get home late sometimes I'm up with him until 1am and then up again at 6am.

On top of all that we are heading to Vegas on Saturday for a quick four night trip.  It will be his first foray of dialysis out of the country.  The hotel email us a room upgrade even before we got there so now we have a huge suite at the Mandalay Bay.

There should be more days like this.

[Bambino_Bear]

 

So glad for your good news.  Have a great trip!

[PrimeTimer]

That's great news! Happy that they are moving forward with getting your husband on the transplant list. Now you'll be able to relax and enjoy your vacation. Well, for some of us four nights away would be a vacation. Have fun! The more, the better!

[iolaire]

On top of all that we are heading to Vegas on Saturday for a quick four night trip.  It will be his first foray of dialysis out of the country.  The hotel email us a room upgrade even before we got there so now we have a huge suite at the Mandalay Bay.

There should be more days like this.

Congregations, a little travel should help clear the head and allow you to focus on fun together. 

One word of warning, you might know, but on the strip things are VERY far from each other.  Everything looks close but generally to cross an intersection you have to walk in a ways to find some over pass and then walk back out to the street. 

If you like Thai food and are willing to go a few blocks off the strip there is great strip mall Thai food.  Lotus of Siam is well known by the frequent traveler community (who go to Thailand).  When we went it was closed on Sunday so we visited Komol Restaurant which is in the same center and had a great spicy Thai meal.

[Simon Dog]

On top of all that we are heading to Vegas on Saturday for a quick four night trip.  It will be his first foray of dialysis out of the country. 

Which clinic will you be using?  I've had good luck with Desert Inn Dialysis in Las Vegas (though, despite the name, it is a freestanding clinic and not in any hotel or inn)

[justagirl2325]

The hospital here recommended Red Moon Dialysis so we are going there (6:15 am Monday Morning)