It’s been quite some time since I last made a post here in DP. Some of you might think that I already lost interest in sharing my experiences on treatment. Well, this is not true and is not the case. Simply put, I have been busy this past few months and didn’t found the time to write articles and update this blog.

Let’s just say that I had a blogging hiatus of some sorts. The important thing is that I’m here again to write, letting my readers know that I’m still here, and still very much enthusiastic to share my treatment experience, as well as some knowledge I gain along the way.

Blogging Hiatus is a post from: Dialysis Postings

I had a recent hiatus from blogging and wasn’t able to update my blogs due to a road trip I just took recently. My aunt, the one who’s been supporting my treatment, came here in the Philippines and we went on vacation. We went to our hometown in Bangui, Ilocos Norte. I had a chance for a vacation and also got the chance to see tha Bangui Wind Farm. I’ll get to tell you more about my road trip on my other blog, but that’s for another time.

The crux of this article is that taking a vacation, though how short, would be good for you as a dialysis patient. Taking a time off from the routines of treatment will help you lessen the stress you’re already feeling. And if you’re lucky, it will also wipe off the depression that’s already starting to creep behind you.

So, whether you’re a patient or not, I advise that you take some time off from all the stresses in your life. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

A Road Trip That Did Me Good is a post from: Dialysis Postings

This is my mantra whenever the rainy season sets in. Influenza or the flu is more rampant during this season and being a dialysis patient puts me in a much higher risk of contracting the virus. People with kidney failure have weak immune systems, so therefore we are more susceptible to contagious diseases such as flu.

What is the Flu?

• Fever and chills
• Severe muscle aches
• Headache
• Overwhelming fatigue
• Sore throat
• A dry cough
• A runny or stuffy nose.

Somebody who catches the virus should not ignore the symptoms and take steps to hold it in check. A kidney failure patient catching the virus must consult to his doctor for further medical advice. The point of the matter is that the symptoms of the virus should not be ignored, especially by those who are immuno-compromised.

Tip: Many other severe health problems—like sepsis (blood poisoning)—also start out with “flulike” symptoms. If you feel like you have the flu, you need to see a doctor.

Your Best Defense is a Good Offense

They say that prevention is the best way to counter any disease. True enough. But what if you’re already past the prevention stage? What if you’re at high risk from contracting it? Being on the offensive is the best strategy you could do against the virus. And the best offensive is having yourself immunized. A normal person needs a single dose of Flu Vaccine, while dialysis patients needs to double the dose administered.

Flu Complications

Even though the flu is a virus, it can lead to bacterial infections:

• If your teeth or cheekbones ache and your nasal mucus is green or yellow, you may have a sinus infection.
• If you cough up yellow or green mucus, are short of breath, and/or have stabbing chest pain when you breathe, you may have pneumonia.

In either case, you may need antibiotics, and you need to see your doctor. Pneumonia can be very serious. If you have trouble breathing or you can’t keep your fluids in balance, go to the hospital. Let them take care of you for a while until you feel better.

Tip: Keep a list of all drugs you take and their doses, and a copy of your health history. Bring it along if you need to go to the hospital to save time and help ensure that you get the right treatment.

It’s already hard enough for a patient to battle the complications that kidney failure and dialysis brings. Adding other conditions would only worsen a patient’s situation, along with his perspectives and will to fight the battle. So make it habit to note the things and conditions that would greatly affect you as a dialysis patient. And always keep it mind that prevention is still the best way to counter a threat to your health and to keep you fighting the battle.

- image credit / - Flu reference: Home Dialysis Central

Don’t Let The Flu Get You is a post from: Dialysis Postings

It’s raining again outside our house and it just seem like a good time to make a post about it, and reminisce my past experience about the rainy days here in the Philippines.

Tropical storms or Typhoons are common occurrences here. When the season sets in, nobody could predict the effects it would bring. Sometimes it’s just the usual downpours we Filipino’s experience. Wet, cold, and a nuisance to travel. But every now and then, all hell breaks loose. Just like what happened last year here in Metro Manila when Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) decided to pay us a visit.

So if you’re living here, you should always be prepared for such things. The past rainy season taught me lot in terms ofpreparation. I now make it a point to check my stores for emergency purposes like candles, matches, batteries for flashlight, etc., and make certain it’s always ready and accessible. I also view the sites that gives information about the weather like storm2k, typhoon2000, JMA, JTWC, etc. I never rely on our local weather bureau, which is PAGASA, because in my opinion they’re inaccurate and inefficient.

Much more, I am a dialysis patient and my treatment schedules doesn’t recognize any type of “Typhoon Holidays”. Ilearned it the hard way last year and taught me a couple of valuable lessons. So I compiled some tips which I implement myself and hope it could be useful to my fellow patients and readers as well.

[good_list]

• Always stay updated whenever a storm or typhoon is coming in.
• Tune to your reliable weather resource for information and take notice of the typhoon’s path if possible.
• If it’s going to pass your location, know it’s ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) ahead of time so you could compare it with your treatment schedule.
• If there’s a conflict, and the typhoon that’s coming in is strong, call your clinic and ask for a re-schedule if possible.
• If not, be sure to have someone with you when going to the clinic and pack some extra clothes. You’ll never know what would happen or whether you might have to stay in the clinic for a while if things worsen. It’s better to be ready than sorry.

[/good_list]
Well, I hope the things I’ve listed above would be useful for you. It served me well in facing the other storms that passed our country after Ondoy, and I hope it could do as much for you too.

-image credit

Gearing Up for the Rainy Season is a post from: Dialysis Postings

I started my dialysis treatment on September 2003 and has been through it for almost seven years now. I have experienced so many things all that time, have seen fellow patients come and go , but still I’m at it up until now. A friend once asked me if I ever get tired of dialysis? Of course I do. But for someone who’s been through a lot and fought all the way, succumbing to weariness is never an option.

If you’re wondering if I ever experienced depression, well the answer is yes, I did. I was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Failure at 26 and for someone who’s merely starting to make something of his life, the reality of my predicament is just too much to handle. I guess anybody, under the same circumstances, would feel the impact and would think about what tomorrow might bring. In fact, almost any patient (not just with kidney failure) would go through some form of depression or another. Maybe it’s simply human nature to ask the “Why’s” whenever we’re faced with life-changing events.

I did go through a state of depression while I was still at the early stages of my treatment. I still go through it now from time to time. The only difference I made is that I never let it show, not if I can help it. Depression, for me, is a mind set. The more you think about it, the more you would feel it’s effect on your life. I’m not saying that I’m numbing myself from all the pain and the weariness. All I’m implying is that when depression sets in, it’s still your choice whether to fight that feeling or simply succumb to it and allow it to conquer you instead.

I’m still here, fighting as best I can and looking forward to win an uphill battle someday. Need I say more that I chose the former? That I never allowed depression to take the most out of life, eve through the most wearying times of my treatment? They say that I’m an optimist and I tend to look on the brighter side of life. That I am. Why wouldn’t I? I’m already living on the side of life where darkness just looms beyond the horizon. Believe me, I wouldn’t deprive myself the pleasure of looking on the bright side.

I hope you would too.

- images courtesy of RLHyde and ktylerconk

Do Patients Ever Get Tired of Dialysis? is a post from: Dialysis Postings

I had my monthly laboratory test for the month of June taken last week and only just now did I find the time to post it here. The past week had been quite busy for me, redesigning Dialysis Postings and my other blogs - Private Corner and Itlog de Arina, and my grandfather being rushed to the hospital due to uncontrolled Diabetes. But that’s all behind now and I’m here once again updating DP, posting my recent lab results, and trying to spew bits and pieces of information that I hope would be quite useful to my dear readers.

Enough with the chatter. My hemoglobin is down to 8.2 gm/dL. Anemia is on the rampage again and there are numerous factors that might be causing it. It might be that I’m not having sufficient doses of EPO injections, or my body’s not responding well to my current EPO therapy. Either way, I should resolve the issue immediately or risk the possibility of my hemoglobin’s further decline and the need for blood transfusion.

My creatinine level’s a bit high at 14 mg/dL. I might be the culprit on this one because I’ve been consuming more protein than I’m allowed recently, especially red meats. The solution – stricter protein intake, less or no red meat, and back to eating fish more often. The others – Phosphorus, Calcium, Potassium, Sodium, etc. – are fairly under acceptable levels.

I also had my Hepatitis Profile taken together with my monthly laboratory. Both the test for the virus – HBsAg and HCV – turned non-reactive, meaning I don’t have Hepatitis. The only sad outcome is that the test for my antibody against the virus – Anti-HBs – also turned out non-reactive, meaning my body’s still not producing enough antibody to have me protected.

To sum it up, I’m still doing fairly well with my lab results and treatment. Although there are certain adjustments I have to make and try to implement them as soon as I am able. But it’s all good and I’m still in business with the my battle against kidney failure.

image credit – positivenation.co.uk / webMD

Dialysis Update – June Laboratory Test Results is a post from: Dialysis Postings

The past few months has been difficult for me as a dialysis patient, simply because I’m having a hard time tolerating the excessive heat brought by the El Niño Phenomenon. It has always been a struggle on the aspect of transport for every treatment schedule I had these past few weeks. I am on the 3rd shift of the day, which is about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. That means I have to leave home at about 2:30 pm. I’ll let your imagination work on the scenario but to put it all in one word – it’s nightmarish.

But recently, cumulo-nimbus clouds has been frequenting the skies in Metro Manila, and has been accounted for the overcast weather we’re experiencing from time to time, and, on fortunate days, rain falls to soothe ailing body of yours truly. Even though humidity is still at its peak and it’s still oven-hot at certain days, a reprieve from these is always welcome to me. To be honest, I’d very much prefer the rainy season over summer simply because I am a kidney patient. And most kidney patients, me included, finds it very hard to tolerate heat brought by the summer months.

Ah well, my aching body (and nape) was just so relieved by the recent, if not adequate and frequent, rain that I decided to write something about it. Call me overreacting or hopelessly pathetic or anything that you want, I don’t mind.

That’s me.

- image courtesy of Central Basin

Heat Reprieve is a post from: Dialysis Postings

Based on randomized, controlled data, omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil are now routinely used to prevent the progression of IgA nephropathy, the world’s most common glomerulopathy

Image courtesy of Club Marine

I was surfing the net and happen to pass by this article about Omega 3 fatty acids. Being a kidney patient, I am always careful on what I eat, and try to follow my prescribed diet as best as I can. Having fish in them is a good choice, if not a must. It doesn’t only gives you the protein your body needs, but fortifies your heart and brain health as well. Another advantage for dialysis patients of substituting fish for beef or pork is that you could get a much bigger portion without as much by-product or waste.

It’s true that red meat offers a higher quality of protein than fish do. But for people who have malfunctioning kidneys, acquiring protein from a source that generates less waste after being broken down by the body could mean a lot. It doesn’t just helps you keep your Creatinine level checked, but it also lowers your Triglyceride level and reduces your risk from Heart Disease.

I, for one likes fish. Since time immemorial, fish courses was already a staple in our family table. The only difference, now that I’m suffering kidney failure and under dialysis treatment, is the way I prepare or eat them. Before that, fish in any form of preparation would do. May it be fried, dried, soured, sautéed or raw like sushi, I’ll eat it no matter what. But now is a different matter because of the factors to consider. My advice for my fellow patients is that it’s best that you’ll be the one to prepare the dish. That way, you could stick with your diet restrictions without sacrificing the taste of your food.But if you can’t cook, try to explain how would you want your fish done to the person who would do the cooking.

Among the fishes that are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids are Mackerel, lake Trout, Herring, Blue fin Tuna, Salmon, Albacore Tuna, and Sardines, to mention a few.

A word of advice for my fellow dialysis patients – always try to consult with your renal dietitian or nephrologist regarding your diet for the simple reason that every patient has unique dietary and nutritional needs. What’s good for others might be bad for you.

But all in all, fish is good for you. Let’s make fish a part of our diet and pave a way for a healthier life.

Fish be with you all!

Fish be with You is a post from: Dialysis Postings

In a few hours I’ll be off to my dialysis treatment. I’m already planning in advance how I would conduct my travel from our house in Manila, to the clinic in Quezon City. It’s only about 30 minutes away from our home, that’s if you have your own car, which I don’t. I take public transports (Jeepneys) and it takes 3 transfers before getting to the clinic. It’s tedious for patients like me, but there’s no getting around it, and besides, it’s a lot cheaper than taking a cab.

~ Image courtesy of www.a2gov.org

But it’s not the travel that bothers me. It’s the heat. You can’t hide from it whenever your outside, and even when you’re in the shade, you still can palpably feel the heat. It’s summer here in the Philippines, and to make matters worse, we’re currently under the El Niño Phenomenon. I have posted before on this blog the effects of summer and heat on dialysis patients. Today I reiterate it once again that excessive heat and humidity has a significant impact on dialysis patients.

We find it hard to tolerate the heat simply because we have a higher body temperature than normal people.

Mean oral temperature in hemodialysis patients was higher than in healthy individuals [98.7 degrees F (37 degrees C) vs. 98.4 degrees F (36.8 degrees C); p < 0.001], as was the mean average axillary temperature [97.7 degrees F (36.5 degrees C) vs. 97.5 degrees F (36.3 degrees C); p = 0.02] and mean left axillary temperature [97.9 degrees F (36.6 degrees C) vs. 97.6 degrees F (36.4 degrees C); p < 0.001].

~ Pub Med

And, if bad comes to worse, when our tolerance for heat comes to an end, the first thing that comes to mind is to beat the heat – that is, to drink water to quench our thirst and alleviate the heat we’re experiencing. It’s all good and well, drinking lots of water to rehydrate oneself and avoid the dangers and perils of dehydration or heat stroke. But for us with malfunctioning kidneys, drinking too much water tells a different story and would be quite dangerous at some point.

But don’t despair my fellow patients. There are lots of ways we could tolerate excessive heat and avoid the dangers that comes with it. Here are some that helps me survive the day, and I hope would be helpful to you too.

• Stay in the shade and stay away from direct sunlight, especially from 10 am – 3 pm, where it’s the hottest part of the day. If you’re not working and don’t have anything important to do outdoors, it would be best to just stay in the house.
• If you really have to go outside on the hottest part of the day, bring adequate protection from the sun, like an umbrella or sun shade. Also, don’t forget your towels or an extra piece of clothing, as you might need it.
• If you’re quite thirsty and finding it hard to regulate your fluid intake, go ahead – drink some water. But remember, sip and don’t gulp. But if your fluid intake is really ‘that’ restricted, try sucking on an ice cube, or some sour fruit like lime or calamansi, or brush your teeth to freshen up your mouth. It somewhat relieves your thirst.

These are some tips that worked for me and I hope would be helpful to you too, although every person is unique and has different needs. Summer time is somewhat of a punishment for us patients, but there’s no getting around it. So what can we do?

If you can’t beat ‘em… try to enjoy ‘em! A wonderful summer to you all!

El Niño – Maximum Tolerance for Dialysis Patients is a post from: Dialysis Postings

It’s been quite some time now since the last time I’ve posted on this blog. My last post, Blogging Again, is somewhat of a filler, and is actually not what you may call “article”. I may be accused of neglect. Well, I might have, and might have not. I have been busy with my dialysis treatment these past few months, among another thousand things (including Farmville in Facebook… hehehe.)

But all being said and done, I’m back to blogging. I missed postings here, the journals that I write down as I travel the life in dialysis treatment. Along with the helpful and informative articles I hope I’m able to write and provide, not just for my fellow patients, but for those interested as well. I have been fine throughout this hiatus and the same I could say for my treatment.

It’s nice to be back and writing again, that’s for sure!

Hiatus is a post from: Dialysis Postings