Aspiration

[Harry Bloomfield]

Kidney problems will leave you feeling wiped out and tired.

No, I'm chock full of energy, whilst sat here contemplating doing something useful It's only becomes a problem when when I start doing the useful.

 

[conny]

Good to hear you have reached a happy position Harry. Two of my sisters have the opposite, they produce too much iron and have to have venesection every couple of months. The condition is called genetic haematomachrosis and we all had to get tested for it in case we had it. Thankfully the rest of us don't.

I developed CKD just over 15 years ago. Started with swollen ankles and the GP I saw told to put my feet up for a few hours when I got home from work. Not the easiest thing to do when you are/were in an acrimonious marriage and you were working every hour going just to stay away from the marital home. Swelling kept spreading and said GP kept coming up with various reasons, (none of which were correct), until I saw a different GP in same practice. Sends me off to hospital and as soon as I walked in the room to see a 'medical' GP he sent me straight to nephrology. When I walked in the specialist told me my kidneys were the problem and I needed to get them sorted. I was put on a shed load of different tablets including massive dosage of steroids which made me move like Billy Whizz out the comic, in fact that became my nickname in work. Over time the swelling came down but I still retained a lot of fluid and weighed around 13 1/2st when my normal was around 10 1/2. I was terrified of hospitals so it wasn't until I moved to Suffolk in 2012 I was persuaded to get a biopsy done. Afterwards they quickly stopped half the medication I was on and began reducing the rest. My protein loss dropped my 1 gram per litre to around 0.1, my BP stabilised and I lost more fluid and came down to just over 11st These days my BP is perfectly stable at around 117/66 and my protein loss 18 months ago was 0.01 and stabilised. I have been 'in remission' for over 2 years now and only have an annual check up. Next one is due in March/April and consultant said it will probably be just a quick phone call to ask a few questions unless I preferred to go in and see her. Don't eat pre-packaged junk food any more, cut down the smoking, have one bottle of beer a night, (2 on a Friday ), and have a hell of a lot more energy than I used to. I take one tablet, (150mg Irbesarten), once a day just to help prevention of diabetes and thats it.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Not the easiest thing to do when you are/were in an acrimonious marriage and you were working every hour going just to stay away from the marital home.

I have had none of that, they keep reminding me to watch for it, but not even the slightest swelling. I was told to avoid salt, I have never bothered much with salt, ever.

Don't eat pre-packaged junk food any more, cut down the smoking, have one bottle of beer a night, (2 on a Friday ), and have a hell of a lot more energy than I used to. I take one tablet, (150mg Irbesarten), once a day just to help prevention of diabetes and thats it.

They don't seem all that sure whether I am, or I am not diabetic. Their blood tests show me as marginal, but they are unable to find any symptoms and they have more or less ignored the possibility since covid the past two years. They did call me in for a regular check before then. I'm on seven pills a day, eight alternate days. I used to really struggle to swallow pills, but I have become used to them, splitting them into two batches per day. Two of the 7/8 are to control stomach acid, which I had no idea I had ever suffered from as a regular problem, except one night my oesophagus lining was eaten away by the reflux, filling my stomach with blood, which suddenly and violently exploded at 2am, as I was in the newly decorated downstairs toilet and I blacked out for several seconds. It was an incredible mess, when I came round I struggled to work out where it had all come from - it looked as if the toilet had exploded. I had only got up, half asleep, to get a drink of orange and nip to the toilet.

I had to shout up for help from my partner, to get me sorted out, get me hosed down in the shower and ring 111 an emergency doctor, who turned up instantly recognised the issue, ringing 999 for an ambulance to rush me in with massive blood loss. I was kept in three days, on drips having a camera down my throat, then they discharged me with pills to prevent it and another appointment to check again with a camera in a few months.

Then they had me in again, to put a stent in my one functioning kidney, to try to improve it's performance, but they said it hadn't worked. In yet again for an op to remove a lipoma (fatty lump of tissue) on my back last July, which has left me with a 6" long diagonal scar.

I have also been told to avoid ready made food, for the sugar and salt it contains, to stick to home cooking. I only have ready made on the rare occasion when Wendy is a few days away. I don't think she did that much cooking, before she moved in with me, because her cooking has gradually improved over time and she has become quite experimental in her cooking. I suspect she has maybe not had the range of facilities for cooking she has here. Her latest experiment has been fish and chips - because we were not that impressed with the local chippies we were going to for them. They all seemed to use frozen haddock. The only places we could have decent F&C's was at Whitby, so she had a go at buying fresh from the local Tesco and doing them at home, trying various recipes. She has got it now, to as good as we could get in the best restaurants in Whitby, after a few minor fails. She uses my home-brewed beer for the batter.

We have the cooking down to a fine art - she preps everything in the morning, before she sets off for work, writes the cooking instruction on a bit of paper, then I put it on ready for her return from work at 6pm.

She was given a bottle of Pinot Grigio for Christmas, by the school where she works. We took one sip of it and no, we both much prefer my home made wines. She has put it to one side for cooking.

I stopped smoking maybe ten years ago. I didn't really smoke, so much as always liking a ciggy in my hand. The only cigarettes I had really enjoyed, were the illicit ones at the back of the bike sheds at school - so I had begun buying them as soon as I started earning, as everyone else smoked. One day I just decided it was such a silly waste of money and stopped, swapping it for mild vaping.

When I first began feeling fatigued, long after I had stopped, I was sort of assuming it was due to the previous smoking.

 

[conny]

Crikey that blood loss sounds frightening! Glad they knew what it was and got you sorted quickly. Health wise I think my whole family, (parents, sisters and brothers), have been very fortunate on the whole with no major issues that have restricted our lifestyles but we have never been ones to sit and vegetate in front of a TV etc We have all done some form of exercise throughout our lives such as walking, playing football or, in my case, cross country running when younger and swimming.
Harry, do you mind me asking how old are you? I'll be 66 this year and hope to continue working.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Crikey that blood loss sounds frightening! Glad they knew what it was and got you sorted quickly. Health wise I think my whole family, (parents, sisters and brothers), have been very fortunate on the whole with no major issues that have restricted our lifestyles but we have never been ones to sit and vegetate in front of a TV etc We have all done some form of exercise throughout our lives such as walking, playing football or, in my case, cross country running when younger and swimming.
Harry, do you mind me asking how old are you? I'll be 66 this year and hope to continue working.

74 and not out Wendy is 65

 

[Justin Passing]

I'm fine. A few misfires but there's still some O2 going round

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I mentioned yesterday (I think) that they had not seemed to bother much recently with checking my suggested diabetes. I guess the surgery must read this forum, because I got a call to make an appointment, for my diabetes check up.