Neti Pot: How I Learned to Enjoy Pouring Salt Water Up my Nose

The other day I got my head cat-scanned. I’ve been so hoarse most of time I can’t speak above a whisper, and my primary care doctor wanted to see if there was a problem. Talk about hitting a fly with a nuclear bomb, but at least he doesn’t mess around.

The scans came back negative, but the possible diagnosis, “sinusitis,” got me to thinking. And when I get to thinking, I surf the internet looking for information. So I larned som’tin about my sinuses, so to speak.

Metabolism Meltdown and High Blood Glucose Levels

The last time I visited my primary care doc in December, he got on my case about testing my blood glucose levels regularly, something I’ve been slack on doing. Oh, I give myself the insulin, but figured since I’m always high, I’d save some money and just not buy the test strips, which are expensive, and just give myself a “standard” dose of insulin. So I’d been mainlining insulin without testing — a literal “shot in the dark.”

Yes. I know. I’m an idiot.

Zack Gets Brand New Health Insurance

Health insurance is always a challenge, when you don’t have it, as well as when you do have it. We’ve done both. The “year without insurance” nearly drove us into bankruptcy, since you get no discounts on medications, treatments, doctor visits or tests. Full bore retail charges, champ! The first time I had to write a check for more than $800 for a routine office visit and half a dozen lab tests, I nearly fell over.

No eating out for the rest of that month. As expensive as the premiums might be, I’d rather have the insurance than not.

I Hate Scales

So, I’ve been off dialysis for about five months now (blessed be my kidneys, for they still work!) and had two doctor’s visits with my nephrologist and cardiologist. Both of these worthies have been please with my progress, especially the kidney doctor, as rebound diuresis seems to be a fairly rare occurrence.

My blood work is pretty good, except for my stubbornly hard-to-control glucose levels, and those darned triglycerides. More aggressive dieting, more frequent glucose testing, and a new prescription for Crestor (and some fish oil capsules), added to an increase in my daily walks to 3 miles, should bring those down presently.

Exit Sodium: How Diuretics Really Work

The other day I got curious about how a diuretic works —  you know, “water pills” — that almost everyone with chronic kidney disease has to take (but dialysis patients don’t). I was on two of these meds before I started dialysis, then went off the meds when I started the Big D, then went back on one med when the doctor stopped my dialysis.

It’s been a while since I looked up how the medication actually functioned. I thought the meds encourage the kidneys to just get rid of water in your bloodstream.

I was wrong about that: what a diuretic actually does is stimulate the kidneys to filter out sodium — salt. As I understand it, when the sodium leaves the body, it takes the water with it, as the kidneys work to keep the salinity of the blood at optimum levels.

So Far, So Good

I‘ve been waiting to post until I had an update about getting off dialysis, which I received last week during a follow-up visit to my nephrologist.

Seems I’m doing just fine off the bloody (literally) machine. Lab work is disgustingly normal (for someone with kidney disease). Nutrition is balanced. Anemia is gone. All is working as it should, albeit with a huge investment in pharmaceuticals. But I’m alive, kicking and feeling pretty good these days, except for two things.

What a Surprise!

So I went to dialysis this last Tuesday prepared to learn how to self-cannulate. The most important part, getting all my proper “wincing” faces worked out, was done, although I managed to scare ZackWife and ZackKid pretty thoroughly in the process. I was pleased with the great faces I was going to make as I put a sharp object in my arm. After all, there is a different between tuning out while someone else does the deed, and doing it to your own personal body — while your personal eyes are watching!