Angie got a transplant !!!

From Angie's site:

November 12

Anyway, not in a good mood right now. Just got home from dialysis and I am just fed up. First of all, as you all know, I pee now. But since I hadn't peed in 4 years my bladder is shrunken so I don't hold as much as a person who has peed all along. I sit in the dialysis chair for 3 1/2 hrs and when I had to pee they don't give you a bed pan as it is a self care satellite unit. They disconnect the lines, tape the needles to your arm so they don't flop all over, and let you walk to the washroom. Since they are not supposed to (not that they don't always .. sometimes they want to if I weight more than 64kg even though I pee fully) pull fluid off my BP is always fine. But on Friday and again today I had the same nurse, who is nice but not the best at time management. Both times she wanted me to hold it for the last hour promising to disconnect me early but both times didn't and today my bladder hurt so bad. I don't feel comfortable with this since the reason I lost my original kidneys were due to reflux and bladder infections. The thing is I even told this nurse that she better come by and check on me in 20 min to see if I can't hold it anymore if she expect me to hold it. She never came back til I was done an hour later. I was not happy. She ended up taping my arm anyway so I could run to the washroom because if she pulled the needles I would have to hold my arm first before going. So I don't see why she would have me hold it. It is not like it takes much extra work to disconnect me from the machine. I don't need any extra run back / rince back! I told her next time I will want to be let off to go to the washroom when I ask. She said, "but then you will come off early!" I looked at her and said no I would be put back on! Why would I be taken completely off? That doesn't make any sense.

I really wish I had not accepted this kidney ... it was better before when I didn't pee .. I mean .. now I got the worst of both worlds ... this sucks and is really getting me down! Then the nurse tries to tell me how once she had to hold her pee for an ultra sound .. That's nice .. once in her life .. mean while I have every dialysis from Friday on to look forward to this??

I am sorry but I am not happy right now. Actually, I am pretty pissed since things are just getting me down more and more and I seem to have less and less patience for anything anymore ...

November 14

Here is some info on ATN (Acute tubular necrosis):

Quote:
Acute tubular necrosis or (ATN) is a medical condition involving the death of tubular cells that form the tubule that transports urine to the ureters while reabsorbing 99% of the water (and highly concentrating the salts and metabolic byproducts). Tubular cells continually replace themselves and if the cause of ATN is removed then recovery is likely. ATN presents with acute renal failure to the point that the two concepts are used interchangeably.

It may be classified as either toxic or ischemic. Toxic ATN occurs when the tubular cells are exposed to a toxic substance (nephrotoxic ATN). Ischemic ATN occurs when the tubular cells do not get enough oxygen, a condition they are highly senistive to due to their very high metabolism.

Ischemic ATN can be caused when the kidneys are not sufficiently perfused for a long period of time (i.e. renal artery stenosis) or during shock. Hypoperfusion can also be caused by embolism of the renal arteries. Ischemic ATN specifically causes skip lesions through the tubules.

Mine is Ischemic ATN because my kidney lacked blood and oxygen from the get go as my BP was only 76/36 and they just told me the last time I was in London that it also lacked the oxygen because it lacked the blood at that time.

Hopefully it will recover but it has been 6 weeks and they were telling me that if it doesn't by 6 weeks ............

Quote:
A cadaver kidney transplant will occasionally perform as a "sleepy" kidney, a condition called acute tubular necrosis (ATN). This means that the kidney is temporarily slow in functioning because of being stored. You may need dialysis a few times, which will not harm the kidney. The "sleepy" kidney usually starts working in two to four weeks.