Signs of Kidney Failure

I thought I better write a PSA type post to everyone so they can identify any early signs of problems with their kidneys. 


1. Exhaustion - Total exhaustion even if you had a whole night sleep. (i experienced this i was so tired i even had to stop to take a nap at the side of the highway) 


2. Loss of Appetite -  Sudden loss of appetite (this happen to me i stopped eating dinner)


3. Water Retention - if you feel or see your leg become visibly swollen or see the condition below that is water retention (pitting endema) (i did not experience this)

4. High Blood pressure (i experienced this)

5. Anemia - Because damaged kidneys make less of a hormone callederythropoietin (epoetin, or EPO). EPO tells the bone marrow to make new red blood cells (i experienced this)

6. Frothy Urine - This is more for the men. If you find that you pee is very frothy like beer everytime after you pee (standing up that is) it basically meant that there is protein in your urine if this happens constantly please get it checked out. Protein should not be in your urine. 

Becareful everyone make sure u all take care. 

For a more technical look at CKD here is a link to Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_kidney_disease 

  

What Happens During a Session of Dialysis

The Definition of Dialysis from Wikipedia is as follows

"In medicine, dialysis (from Greek dialusis,"διάλυσις", meaning dissolution, dia, meaning through, and lysis, meaning loosening or splitting) is a process for removing waste and excess water from the blood, and is used primarily to provide anartificial replacement for lost kidney function in people with renal failure."

This is the actual definition but what really goes on in a session. let us begin at the start (this is a patients eye view not medical or technical) I am talking about hemodialysis. Below is a basic diagram from wiki too..

First all the patients do we take our vitals. Weight, Temperature and Blood Pressure. Then the nurse will ask whether you have had any complications at home or not? The standard question the nurses ask is "Kat Rumah ok?"

After these pleasantries not the fun really begins this part is my "favourite" part Cannulation this is where the nurse has to use the needle to cannulate/ prick you to get into your artery and vein. 2 of these needles have to be cannulated, if you all were wondering the size is as below.

Quite big huh?

if everything goes well then we start the 4 hour session. During this session we are free to do what ever we please... some read books/ newspapers, like me I watch movies and read emails some do work, some sleep and sometimes we chit chat between patients as well. The cool part of dailysis for me is meeting friends. Everyone from nurses to the patients we spend 12 hours a week together.

I must praise my nurses here they really brighten up my days. I love the banter and back and forth we share lets me practice my Bahasa Malaysia and makes the 4 hours go by faster.

Alot of people have asked what happens in this 4 hours. Basically it is a big elaborate machine to filter your blood. (this is my own understanding of it) It does it by osmosis through a filter called a dialyzer as below

My blood flows into the dialyzer and through the small little tubes us see above inside the osmosis draws out the bad liquid and lets the rest past through. \

Basically that is it. A normal session is 4 hours and after completing this we have to check our vitals again and if everything is alright we get to go home. (complications I keep for another entry.)

On a side note. I wish my friend who is in hospital as of right now a swift recovery. This person also suffers End Stage Renal Failure and I wish him all the best. As I always believe "Do your Best, God will do the Rest". Don't worry too much for all u know things may get better. Sometimes when we stand in the storm its hard to see the silver lining. 

Please feel free to ask me anything. 

The Story So far

It has been and interesting year and a challenging one to say the least in the past year i have been on a emotional and physiological roller coaster. About 9 months ago I was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Failure... Big words i know. This just meant my kidneys don't work very well anymore... to be honest the reality of the situation was and still is kinda of hard to swallow but now dialysis is part and parcel of my daily life.

Want to know how my kidney's came to fail? if you do listen up. To be honest it was my own negligence of my own health. I was negligent in taking care of my hypertension (another big word for high blood pressure) so because of my hypertension being too high my kidneys gave way... they tend to do that if your blood pressure is not controlled...so for people out there suffering from hypertension be careful see your doctor often... don't be like me...

The was diagnosed was funny as well. I was having dinner at a restaurant and I was not feeling too good. I was tired and had a persistent ache in my abdomen area. To be honest I had been feeling tired for months (persistent exhaustion is one of the signs of kidney failure). At dinner i didn't have much to eat and my aunt who was visiting remarked that i look remarkably pale and anemic (anemia is another signs of kidney failure). We thought we have to get it checked and went to see a doctor. I was diagnosed to be suffering from appendicitis and was admitted. Then upon further inspection (blood test) it was discovered my Creatinine was 1400++ and thus explained all the malady's that I was suffering.

This whole situation happen to a point in my life which was interesting too... My wife and I just bought a house and baby Eva had just turned 1 we were all looking forward to the future and what it might bring. then suddenly this big bomb was dropped... and it hit home and it hit home hard. i know Mum and Kah Peng cried alot but they never showed it in front of me... they always tried to keep a brave face but you could see it they were hurting. I cried too first time in my life i was really unsure what the future held... thoughts like "would i make it?", "what i am i going to do?" all this scared and for the first time in my life i think i cried uncontrollably for 2 nights... i was in the HDU (High Dependency Unit) and at night it is a lonely place... You were left with only your thoughts... and i have to admit i was scared s***less (pardon my language). Everything was happening so fast... we had so much to deal with suddenly... At this juncture I have to really thank everyone who has visited and sent stuff and wishes. I have to really thank my family friend Aunty Sharon that spent so much time to explain and really put some of my fears to rest. I would like to thank all my uncles, aunts and cousins who have offered help in one way or another.. I can never repay all of your kindness. The 2 people who have supported me the most has been my mother and my wife they have supported me financially and emotionally. They are my heroes and I would have never coped if not for them..

You know the main thing i learnt from this the sooner i stop asking "Why Me?" and change to question to "What can I do?" it put the power back in my hands and one starts to feel a sense of control again. Thus began my adventures in dialysis. You know the saying behind every cloud there is a silver lining I believe this is true. Life is about perception i started dialysis still feeling sad and depressed that i had to sit through 4 hours of treatment but now it is not so much a chore but an opportunity to meet new friends (we dialysis patients even have a whatsapp group) and nurses (ha ha ha please no dirty fetishes here). The nurses and patients have become fast friends (some are on my Facebook) and dialysis seems to be pass faster. We really felt the pinch financially and my salary and mum's salary really went into paying for my treatment and it even made us abandon many plans of holidays and also made us contemplate selling the house my wife and I purchased. Recently my Socso subsidy application was approved and now the future seems brighter. The finacial burden has lifted somewhat and it seems things are falling into place. For now we can once again dream... the future does not look too bleak...

Sorry for the long post.. if anyone has any questions feel free to ask me...