March 13, 2017
Well it sure has been awhile since I have posted here! We have had quite a year so far and we are only towards the middle of March! Mike has had three hospital visits this year. His first stay this year was due to his blood pressure. Doctors have had a difficult time getting his blood pressure under control.
His second visit/stay was a difficult one! While Mike was at dialysis on a Monday morning, Mike went unresponsive. After a lot of tests including an MRI we found out that Mike had suffered multiple strokes all over his brain. This has been difficult for Mike to come back from. He has suffered some memory issues as well as his sleeping has been severely off. He spends anywhere between 12-18 hours in bed. He will get up and he is still tired. This has been so difficult for him.
During this stay in the hospital I received a phone call that at this time because of his health he no longer qualifies for transplant referral right now. He has to go 3-6 months without going into the hospital. At that time after being considered "stable" they will reconsider his referral and we will finish the process. This all happened at the end of January beginning of February.
A month later Mike ended up back in the hospital! This time due to an infection in his blood and the perm cath that he has for dialysis. He has a fistula but they still aren't able to use it because it has to mature. So they use a perm cath in his chest to receive dialysis. We also found out that Mike has a blood disorder that could be a cause to some of his issues that he has. It is incurable.
So to date he has had many diagnosis as well as many setbacks including:
Diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, high blood pressure, hyperthyroidism, Renal failure, congestive heart failure, broken ankle on both sides of one foot (not healing), multiple TIAs (mini strokes), and the newest diagnosis is Homocysteine and MTHFR Mutation (hyperhomocysteinemia)
October 25, 2016
Well Mike has been home for a week and we are continuing to push through. When Mike fell ill and went downhill about four or five months ago they began having major problems getting his blood pressure. He is on three different medications of which he takes them all twice a day and it isn't touching it! He is struggling with this and I feel so bad for him. When he came home we were excited that he was going to continue getting physical therapy from home. Well each time that they have come they check his blood pressure and because it's so high they can't work with him. So sadly he is unable to receive therapy. I am slowly seeing a decrease in his strength since he has been home. :( I'm so sad to see my husband going through this.
On another note. We thought that this site would be a good stepping stone for him and to get this word out about this horrible disease. Renal failure has hit our family hard. Mike continues to fight for his life everyday. As long as he continues to struggle with the issues they will not put Mike on the transplant list. They will not approve him because he is not stable enough for surgery.
Please pray for Mike. His kids need him here with us, healthy. I need my husband.
Thank you all so much!
October 20, 2016
Hello everyone! It has been almost a week since Mike came home. And we are trying to get into the routine of things again! So strange to think or to even say that we have to readjust. But, Mike was gone for 6-7 weeks and everything changed in that time. We are all hanging in there and awaiting the next stage of what our lives are bringing. Things have been rocky along the way. With everything that Mike has endured I am doing everything that I can to help him. This is one way. I don't want him to worry how things are getting paid and that everything is going to be ok. Again, we appreciate all the prayers and the positive thoughts! God Bless!!!
October 15, 2016
Well after seven weeks of a lot going on we have moved into a new home and Mike finally came home! Mike fell and broke his right ankle. To be exact he broke both sides of the ankle and the fibula. He underwent surgery and after three weeks in the hospital he had to stay in a nursing home for rehab. He also was unable to come back to the home we were living in due to the safety. During his time away I was able to find us a new home thanks to help from amazing people with finding and getting me to this place and then help with moving we got in just in time! Now that Mike is home the work does not stop. We will be having a nurse come into the house twice a week as well as physical therapy. We have a long road ahead of us with lots of obstacles as well as a lot of financial obstacles as well! I appreciate everything everyone has done for us. God Bless you all!
September 21, 2016
Well Mike has been in the hospital for almost 2 1/2 weeks now! He had surgery on his ankle putting in plates and screws in both sides of his ankle. He had a perm cath put in his chest and is waiting to have a fistula put in his arm for hemo dialysis. Mike will have to go to a rehab facility which we have prepared ourselves for. But we are waiting to have the ok for a dialysis center. As long as he doesn't have that he will unfortunately stay in the hospital. I am still looking for a new place for us to go to as well. With so much going on we are both trying to keep our hopes up that things are going to work out soon. I am so ready to have my husband close. If he can't be home with us at least he could be in town. Thank you all that continue to pray for us as we continue this journey.
September 15, 2016
It has been a busy last almost two weeks. Mike has had surgery on his ankle, had a procedure to have a perm cath put back in his chest and then today he had his peritoneal cath removed. Mike is still at Lutheran Hospital awaiting a dialysis center here in Huntington so that he can have his dialysis done. I am still looking for a new home for us to move into. And while I am home caring for our children and home life he is being taken care of there. Thank you all so much for everything! We appreciate it so much.
September 12, 2016
Well as many of you know on Monday September 5, Mike was admitted back into the hospital. Mike's tremors started back up making him very weak and unable to walk much at all. On Monday Mike was simply walking back from the restroom using his walker which up until 10 weeks ago never had to use, and his legs began shaking to the point that even I couldn't help keep him upright. Next thing I know his legs folded under him and he was on the floor. I had to have our friend from next door come over and with the help from him and his daughter we were able to get him back into his chair. Because of diabetic neuropathy he was unable to feel that there was something really wrong with his foot. A couple hours later we tried to help Mike get up and that is when I looked down and saw that there was something really wrong, Mike couldn't stand much less walk. There was no way that I was going to get him out to the van. I had no choice but to call for an ambulance. They transported him to the hospital to discover that Mike had broken both sides of his ankle and his fibula!! We could not believe this! From Huntington they had to transport him to Ft. Wayne. The next morning Mike underwent surgery. He had to have plates and screws on both sides of his ankle to hold his ankle back in place. On Wednesday Mike underwent surgery again this time having a perm cath put back in his chest. After seeing the nephrologist they felt and discovered that Mikes blood was not being cleaned well enough through peritoneal dialysis. He needed to have his blood thoroughly cleaned and then had to receive another blood transfusion. This has helped tremendously! He has not had anymore tremors. Now comes the next tough issue. Mike will be wheelchair bound for up to three months! He is unable to put any weight on his leg at all! Because of his other health issues healing time may take longer than normal but we are hopeful that he will heal from this! Mike is unable to come home though. I am in search of a new home for us while he is in the hospital. When they release him from the hospital he will have to go into rehab for awhile, at least until I can find a safe home for him. So, I ask you tonight please pray. Pray that our finances show up and that we find a home that Mike can come home to be with his family until we get his transplant and we can continue our lives.
Thank you all so much for all the prayers. We love you all so much!
September 5, 2016
Hello! Things have been a little rough lately. A little more so than I even realized they would be. In a matter of 8 weeks Mike spent every other week in the hospital with some major health issues. First stay Mike had an issue after we tried to start the cycler machine for his dialysis treatments. His bowels got wrapped around his PD tube and then that caused an infection. After that things just seemed to snow ball. Leading to a lot of changes. He also suffered a small stroke. With all that being said we are still fighting through. We will get through this together. Dealing with so much we can't say enough how much we appreciate the prayers. There just seems to be so much we are dealing with. If I could ask for a prayer this evening if you are reading this I would ask for a better, safer home for Mike and our family. Finances are pretty tight right now and our home is not good. We are living in a three bedroom home that all the bedrooms and the only full bath is upstairs. With the decline in Mikes health have prevented him from being able to get up those stairs. I love my husband and I will continue to do everything I can for him. I fight every day try to make things light. I don't want him to have to worry about everything else but his health. That's what he needs todo right now. So if you could please join me in the prayer of being able to provide for my family a little more I would greatly appreciate it. If you have anything that you would like to ask just send me an email!! We are thankful to those of you that continue to pray for Mike and for our family as we continue to battle this illness!
God Bless.
September 5, 2016
Hello! Things have been a little rough lately. A little more so than I even realized they would be. In a matter of 8 weeks Mike spent every other week in the hospital with some major health issues. First stay Mike had an issue after we tried to start the cycler machine for his dialysis treatments. His bowels got wrapped around his PD tube and then that caused an infection. After that things just seemed to snow ball. Leading to a lot of changes. He also suffered a small stroke. With all that being said we are still fighting through. We will get through this together. If you have anything that you would like to ask just send me an email!! We are thankful to those of you that continue to pray for Mike and for our family as we continue to battle this illness!
God Bless.
July 13, 2016
Well it has been quite some time! We were so excited to get put on to a cycler machine that would do Mike's treatments during the night! Well on Thursday June 30 we finally able to do it! Well, it ended up becoming our worst nightmare. First his treatments were lasting a lot longer than they should have as well as his draining went way down from when we were doing them manually. These exchanges are what helps pull off fluid off his body and keeps him healthy. Taking place of what everyone's kidneys do! Last week on Wednesday, July 6th, Mike began to experience some severe pain that would not go away. He was unable to stand up much less get up to try to walk. I ended up having to call for an ambulance to come get him and take him to the hospital. I requested that they take him straight to Ft. Wayne Lutheran Hospital. We spent 8 hours in the emergency room and then they admitted him due to having an infection! Mike spent five days in the hospital to try to get the infection under control. While doing an exploratory surgery they found that Mike's bowels and intestines had gotten wrapped around his catheter which was causing some major pain as well as a lot of problems for his treatments. After spending those days in the hospital and going through surgery we noticed that Mike had began to put on water again. We noticed it going up before he even went into the hospital, but continued to get worse. So, after talking with his nurses at his clinic we all decided that our best options would be for us to begin manual exchanges again. We felt that this is the safest and best resulting. On Monday Mike was able to come home and we have been doing manual exchanges since. And today July 13 we had another nurse clinic. Mike is retaining more fluid now than he was when we began dialysis in February! So, the next three days we have to do 8 exchanges a day. Four of those treatments will be regular exchanges with dwells no more than two hours and four exchanges at rapid dwells. He will dwell no more than thirty minutes. With these we are hoping that it will begin to pull off the extra fluid faster. We are praying that this won't put us too far back.With these issues we have taken a few steps backwards, but we are keeping our Faith that God has us through this as well.
Going through everything we know in the end we will be better than ok. God has us through every aspect in our lives. I pray for my husband every day more than once a day. I pray for every aspect of our lives. Even in my darkest times I know that we will be ok.
June 23, 2016
Tomorrow we go for more testing! Mike will go through a stress test and then they will be able to begin testing for a live donor. Praying that things work out and Mike will have a live donor! The minimum wait list in the state of Indiana for a kidney transplant is four years! So prayers that a live donor will happen!
June 13, 2016
The next step of our journey....
On Wednesday June 15 we have another nurse clinic. The clinic day involves Mike having more blood drawn to make sure that his levels are still doing ok with his PD treatments. At that time we will talk about beginning the machine. Right now we are doing at least four treatments throughout the day manually. When he gets on the machine the treatments or what they call them exchanges, he will be able to do them only at night while he sleeps! This will be amazing for him!
On June 24 we have our next step in the process of getting on the actual transplant list. At that time he will have a stress test done, a CT scan and an ultrasound.
On June 25 we will see his Kidney Doctor. Dr. Joseph is an amazing doctor and has been so great with us with all of our questions and concerns.
