Time for an update. Things have happened. My last kidney function test was 11%. I’m hoping for a bit of recovery, because I had just recovered from 3 week feeling ill with Covid (probably – no-one tests these days). But I need to roll back a bit.
Since 2019 my slightly sloping plateau had continued despite the pressures of loosing 2 mum’s, and Izzy our dog. Selling 3 houses and buying one. Moving my mum into a nursing home for 15 months before she died, and Sandra’s mum into a different nursing home for about 4 hours before she died. And moving to a new village. So lots and lots of stress. Oh and Sandra’s slow but steady decline with her MS Fybromyalgia and Arthritis. She also has a bilateral knee replacement in March 2023. But, this is about me …
SO my kidney function slipped from 14-12% typically with one or two fluctuations. It was 13% before it dropped to 11%. In Feb 2022, I was listed for transplant. Its a complex decision because its a balance between trauma and rate of decline. I wasn’t actually listed but I had the option to switch the list on and off whenever I liked. I had a lengthy interview with the transplant nurse who painted a quite grim picture of the process and how it all worked. Around the same time I had a discussion with the dialysis team who outlined what was required for peritoneal dialysis, which is basically an operation in anticipation of dialysis being needed, but that people could be maintained to low levels of kidney function with altering blood chemistry as low as 4%. 8% was typical and was 10 years away at the previous rate of decline. Nice!
Also around the same time I was visited by the community renal nurse. She was very helpful, because I had decided that transplant wasn’t really viable for me. But it was an opportunity to fully explore the do nothing option, and also how home dialysis would work. There was an interesting conversation about the far end of dialysis in that after a few weeks of dialysis your last remaining bits of kidney pack up and you are dependent on dialysis. If you stop then you will die within 2-3 weeks and they will keep you comfortable and allow its quite a peaceful end. This appeals!
In July 2023 I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. Stage 3 but no treatment recommended and frequent observation in place. This immediately took me off the transplant list. Also, some types of treatment would be difficult with my renal issues. Hopefully its the type that men have when they die, not the type they die from. PSA level is 6.8 at the last test, and previously 6.08.
We’ll see.