I’ve been lurking in here for a month or so, so thought it was time to post my first post. I’m a husband of a 57 year old lovely wife that recently had to go on dialysis.
This came as quite a shock for the both of us as we believed the problems the wife was having were related to an auto accident back in June of 04. At that time she was prescribed several medications to help relieve the pain she was having. Medications such as Vioxx then later Celebrex, Skelton and Neurontin were prescribed for her over a course of roughly 16 months.
The wife initially was complaining of being tired all the time, and we just took this, that her night job of talking care of an elderly lady was taking it’s toll on her. Other symptoms reviled themselves too us such as moderate to severe itching, but we didn’t know at the time that these were related to the kidney problems.
It was though the suggestion of an Independent Medical Examine that lawyers from the other side on the auto lawsuit that the road we was about to travel would manifest itself into kidney disease. His suggestion was to have lab work done to rule out rheumatoid arthritis or other collagen vascular disorder given the widespread myalgias/arthralgias that the wife had.
When this test was done (order by her chiropractor) the results showed “severe anemia, with chronic inflammation as the ESR and C-reactive protein levels were way above normal. Results were then sent to her primary care physician (who we have since fired) who then sent her to a hematologist. The hematologist suspect vasculitis and immediately placed my wife into the local hospital. Test were run…many tests…about 20 + blood labs, a bone biopsy, ultrasound of kidneys (showed normal) full x-rays of the body, CT scans, PET scan and numerous other tests.
Their suspicion change from vasculitis to MM (Multiple-Myeloma) during the testing phase, all tests came back negative for MM.
Then a kidney biopsy was ordered. The nephrologists suspected some sort of LCDD, but even that came back negative. What did come back from the Mayo clinic was:
Focal global glomerulosclerois with localized moderated interstitial fibrosis and chronic inflammation. The report also said the degree of interstitial inflammation suggests the possibility of tubulointerstitial nephritis.
Now the wife has never had any high blood pressure problems that can be seen at all or over a long period of time. She did have one episode of high cholesterol…values through the roof…but after 6 months of Tricor the values came down.
Both of these or a combination of the two (high BP/ cholesterol0 is what the nephrologists said was the cause of the wife’s failing kidneys. The chronic inflammation part he said could have been caused by the Vioxx and or Celebrex, possibility some of the other drugs that I listed.
It was at the first office visit with the nephrologists we were told the news. His words were I’ve got good and bad news. The good news is we can control the anemia though shots. The bad news is you’re kidneys are failing you and you will need to go on dialysis. I then ask how long, his reply; “About one year if her values hold.”
Two weeks later we had another office visit with him….and he really slap the both of us hard in the face. Her Bun level and Creatinine had increased 2-3 fold since the first visit. He told us she has to go on immediate dialysis or die within days. Emergency surgery was schedule for the next day to implant a catheter in her right chest area….which took longer than normally it would and cause some problems days later. Two days later she received her first dialysis treatment.
Both the wife’s body and mind fought back and she got sick beyond all description. That night she started to run a temperature of 102.5. A call was placed to her nephrologists and he finally was found about 45 minutes later. He said give her a Tylenol and if she gets sick again to take her to the ER.
His attitude at the time was don’t bother me, I’m busy getting ready for my New Year’s Eve vacation. That attitude and what transpired over the next several days cost him. The wife and I fired him has her nephrologists.
As it was, I had to transport her the next day to the ER for severe vomiting….it just wouldn’t quit. At the ER, tests were run and it was found that she had a WBC of 17K. Suspicion was placed on a possibly infection at the catheter site. Since this hospital doesn’t have a dialysis unit in house, the current policy is they can’t transport the patient back and forth from the hospital to the dialysis center located a few blocks away.
We were told that she would need to be transported to a hospital two hours drive from there, were they have, not only a floor specific for kidney patients but a dialysis unit in house.
We should have elected to be transport then, but choose to try admission to the current hospital and try Vancomycin as a first line of defense against a possible invading bacterial infection. This was recommended from the hospital two hours away. Over the next course of days, the wife’s care went to pot. The covering doctor for the nephrologists was a young Internal Medicine doctor who didn’t even bother to read the wife’s chart to know where the catheter was located, He started looking for it on her leg! I kid you not. He never order any blood work to see if the antibiotic was doing its job, I had to actually tell him it would be a good idea if he order such test, and also to see if the catheter was the site of the infection. The hospital two hours away suspected this was the cause of the problem. Of course after being on the antibiotic the test for the suspected site of infection would be screwed.
When the nurses came to draw blood from the catheter site, they didn’t know what they were doing as it is strictly taboo for them to mess with the catheter. They had to get the manual out.
That did it for me. Later that night the wife said she wanted to be transported to the other hospital. When morning arrived she told the guy covering for the kidney doctor she wanted out of there now. Orders were placed and 5 hours later the wife was on her way to a big teaching hospital.
She spent a week there getting her dialysis done and treatment for her infection. The infection site never was discovered, but was suspected it was coming from left over pneumonia from back in October were she was found to be anemic then, but no follow up test were performed and as I previous mention he too has been fired by us.
At this new hospital she was told not to get her hopes up too high, but there could be a million in one chance that if the Vioxx and Celebrex were the cause of her current kidney problems, treatment over time could help her recover some of her kidney function and possibly get her off dialysis.
Where the previous nephrologists gave the wife no hope, these new group of doctors and young interns gave the wife at least a microscopic amount of hope, Something that all patients should have…not false hope, but some hope.
The wife’s attitude towards her current condition and having to get treatments every other day has improved since seeing these group of doctors and interns, and now they have full control over her care.
Today she will be getting her 8th treatment. Her first was on the 30th of December.
As I said she’s doing better, she’s still tired, but not as much and she seems to have caught a 24 hour stomach bug that has been going around. The dialysis center suspects she caught it there as the other patients have been having the same symptoms of headaches and vomiting with some loose stools.
Our Christmas and New Year was filled full of despair and fear, but we know that the Lord is with us for we our after all His children
…and that is our story.
