Saturday, January 31, 2009

What's In A Name ???


I finally have a definitive diagnosis to my ongoing health issues: Minimal Change Disease. Which, my family and friends have all decided is a totally lame name! The name comes from the fact that there is "minimal change" between the biopsied tissue of a regular functioning kidney and the biopsied tissue of a kidney with MCD under a regular microscope. It takes a high powered electron microscope to see the disease. However, the name is very misleading because the disease does MAXIMAL change to one's body! Thanks for continued prayers. I Should be out of the hospital in a few days...

Friday, January 16, 2009

Not Much Of An Update, Update.

I finally received the results of all of my tests today. (I actually had to repeat one of them a third time because it was processed incorrectly!) The nephrologist has ordered a kidney biopsy which he will hopefully probably perform on me next week. Soo, its not much of an update...just more tests and more waiting!

Friday, January 09, 2009

Testing 1, 2, 3

I'll explain my recent absence on the blog in a minute but first some good news. David had his ENT appointment this week. The Doctor's recommendation: NO TUBES! Whoohoo!

Above is a picture I took from our driveway on Wednesday afternoon. I couldn't help but think that if there was ever a visual image of what my week has been, this would be it! I've been lamenting over this post for a few days now trying to figure out exactly what to say. Forgive me if is a bit broken up or hard to understand...

In my sick kids post, remember me mentioning that I didn't feel that great myself? About the time Wesley was diagnosed with RSV, I also had a bad cough/chest congestion as well as a sore throat. I went to my regular doctor who told me I had a sinus infection (no big surprise there-I've betting getting them about every two months). She told me to take an OTC decongestant, drink plenty of fluids, and get lots of rest (that's almost laughable to me as a stay at home mom).

Later that week I called back to tell her it had moved into my chest and I was wheezing a good bit. With that she prescribed an inhaler and an antibiotic. I felt like I was getting better but I still had a lingering cough as well as bad headaches and some flu like aches and chills.

Another week passed and my right knee started bothering me. At first it felt like I "tweaked" it the wrong way, but then it started swelling and causing me a great deal of pain. I finally decided I needed to see an orthopedist about it. I was going to call the next day until I noticed my forehead was swollen. I thought maybe both areas of swelling could be related. It was a Sunday evening and Jason was home from work so I figured I would try to take care of it that night so he wouldn't have to take any time off of work. The closest walk-in clinic was already closed for the evening so I went to the ER. The doctor did not think the swelling in my head and knee were related. Instead he focused on my head and ordered a CT scan. I was informed that I had sinusitis in my head and I was told to see an orthopedist about my knee. I was sent home with an antibiotic.
A few days later I finally went to see an orthopedist about my knee. He told me I had probably just overused my right knee (carrying kids up and down stairs etc.) and overcompensated for my left knee (which I have had two previous surgeries on and tend to favor). It was at that appointment that I noticed my right ankle was also swollen.

Then next day I noticed both my feet, ankles, and hands were swollen. On New Year's day I tried to go to the walk-in clinic once again, only to find them closed. This time instead of going to the ER I decided to wait until the next day to go back to my regular doctor's office. By chance I saw a different doctor this time who ordered some tests. The problem pointed to my kidneys but further testing needed to be done. Over this past week I performed a myriad of tests and waited for the results to come back.

With my files and test results in hand, I saw a nephrologist today only to find out he wanted to repeat all of the testing done by my primary care physician! Its very frustrating waiting for all of this to pan out, but I know I am finally in the right hands and exactly where I need to be. Hopefully I will finally get some answers next week.

Anyway...this is all the reason for my absence on the blog lately. I hope my blogger buds will understand my lack of commenting as well. Earlier this week while filling out paperwork at a doctor's office I had to laugh at one of questions I was to answer- "What are your hobbies/favorite activities?" Jason said I should put down, going to the doctor, but I decided just to leave it blank ; )