Neil: Living donor test day

Today was a very long day. I went down the hospital for a full battery of tests. I had to do three swabs to see whether I have MRSA and another urine test and blood sample. Then I had a GFR test, which involved having a baseline blood test, followed by an injection of some radioactive substance into my left arm, I then had to go back after 2, 3 and 4 hours to give blood through a cannula in my right arm to see how well my kidneys are functioning. I also had a CT scan, chest and abdominal x-rays, and an ECG. I also saw the nephrologist, who was brusque and didn’t mess about.

It is strange going to the hospital when you are healthy. Everyone looked very ill. After six hours of wandering around the hospital and waiting in windowless rooms I was quite fed up. Walking past the palliative care department wasn’t very cheery either. Ruth brought Jasmine down mid-morning to give me some moral support, which was really nice. However, in the afternoon there wasn’t room in the CT scan waiting room for babies, especially when Jasmine started to scream after I put on a blue surgical gown, which stressed me out. So, they went to wait in the main entrance and when I finally came downstairs Ruth was a bit tired as Jasmine had vomited and pooed her way through all the spare clothes – including Ruth’s.

Yesterday Jasmine had her clinic at GOSH. Her dialysis has been reduced by half an hour to 12 and a half hours, so that will be brilliant. Her fill volume and last bag fill were both increased as well. Jasmine had her folic acid dose increased, and swapped her phosphate binder from calcium acetate to calcium carbonate to see whether it helps with her vomiting. The doctors and nurses got a first hand demonstration of Jasmine’s vomiting whilst we were there. We also did a dialysis adequacy test, as Jasmine has been on dialysis for a year. We had to take  in a sample from Jasmine’s drain bag to see how well she is clearing various waste products.  We went to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription and then we got some lunch.

Jasmine hasn’t been sleeping so well on dialysis lately. She has been waking up at 4am or 5am and crying and vomiting for the rest of the night. This has been very tiring for whoever has been on dialysis duty looking after her. Hopefully she will get over it, or the change in dialysis will help.

Leave a Reply