Hello friends,
By the title of my blog, yeah, I have some not so good news. I had a follow up appointment with my Kidney Doctor, my Dietitian, and Social Worker Friday, 11/13 and based on my latest labs… I’m not doing too well. The Dietitian scolded me for how low my Albumin is…this helps regulate my protein levels and helps fight off infections. So much protein comes out during my dialysis, I have to eat more to replace it. I have recently bought some of the protein bars and some unsalted nuts. In fact, I’ll put this on my wall so when people offer ‘is there anything you need, Carmen”- I can say, “yes, get me some protein bars”. There are specific brands I can have. I may get some powder protein stuff to create smoothies or whatever…

I have to say the highlight of the appointment was getting to see Frenchie! I miss her so much! The clinic was so swamped Friday, she had to come in to help. It was crazy!

I told the Dr about my “dizzy pill” and she had never heard of someone having those side effects from that particular medicine. Yeah, I told her that I am the exception. She smiled and said, “Carmen, we love that you are so special.” It cracked me up. She gave me another brand to try… so far, it has been working well… no dizziness.

I received my belts in the mail however, they sent me the wrong size. I called yesterday and had the pleasure of speaking with the owner again… once I told him my name, he said: “is this The Carmen”? It made me smile… He felt horrible and mailed out the new order immediately. I told him it was okay… just a few more days of tape and maybe blisters for me… I have made it this far…

Sad to report, I don’t have any fun dialysis adventures that occurred the past week.:(

I will share that I have an awesome chiropractor! Dr Brenda Beaty of Fulk Chiropractic in Olathe…she stopped in the middle of my treatment to pray for me. How awesome is that?! I am so blessed with having such awesome doctors in my life! Speaking of, my PCP loved the goodies and told me I didn’t have to do that.

My social worker is lobbying for me to join the patient committee for the National Kidney Foundation. Some friends of mine keep bugging me to be ‘the poster child” for people with kidney diseases-We’ll see what God has in store for me…

I do have to share with you shall I say “my toxin moments”? I had recently bought a new phone as you know, the day I met the transplant team, my phone kinda died. A couple weeks after having the phone, I got an earpiece to make driving, doing dialysis, and other hands on activities easier while I make use of these times to chat on the phone. Apparently, this little earpiece decided to jump out of the pocket of my jeans and into the street of where I park my car. The next day I went out to my car and found the trail of evidence of its death…eight pieces. I gathered them up, put them in a little Ziploc and would take them back to the att store to exchange it. As soon as I walk into the store, I am greeted with a very warm greeting from one of my new friends and potential donors. He shouts my name and throws his hands in the air, excited to see me. How cool is that? The other customers look to see “who this famous person is…?” I love it! I hand over my bag of pieces to him and he asked if it was the remains of my phone? Thank goodness, no. They are the remains of my earpiece. I begged to exchange it. I was only one day over 14 days. He called his supervisor and to my great disappointment, I could not exchange it.

Later on that week, of all days, “Friday the 13th”, I had another “toxin moment”. I locked my keys in my car. Yep. Not only did I lock them in, they were in the ignition with the key turned. I was on the phone with a friend, had parked and turned off my engine. Now, let me share where I was..out at Village West, “the legends”. Luckily, I have a friend that works out there so I called them up. He eagerly and graciously came out with a hanger. Since I have an older car, it was impossible to “break in.” He offered to take me home to get my spare key. Well, my garage door opener was in my car- the only way I could get into the house unless my folks were home. So, I called dad; no answer. I then call mom, she was heading home, however was only going to be home briefly. So by the time I would have gotten there, she probably would have been gone. My friend offered me to hang out at their store while a locksmith comes. After perusing through the yellow pages, I had one of those light bulb moments– i have roadside assistance, duh! I called Att customer service to get the Roadside Assistant’s number. I call RA and ask if locking the keys in my car was covered? Yes, it is. After asking several questions, I am put on hold to find out what company is going to assist me. The lady comes back on, thanks me for holding and says: “Ms Reinke, you’ll get a kick out of this– the company is called Stranded and they’ll be there less than 30 minutes.” That is quite funny! I wait a few minutes and mosey out to where my car is because they told me to stay with the vehicle. Um, I don’t feel comfortable being out in a parking lot by myself where people think I may be suspicious and up to something… I decide to sit on one of the benches out front. I see a car with a yellow light on top driving slowly. Once it got closer and turned the corner, I saw the advertisement-Stranded. I flagged him down and he followed me to my car. Within five minutes, I was in my car and on the road again. I just had to laugh at myself!

Here’s my final toxin moment- this took place the next night. Still keep in mind, it’s “Friday the 13th weekend”… I went to a fashion show with a couple girlfriends and decided to use the bathroom before we left. I had been to this venue before;however, couldn’t remember where the restrooms were on the lower level. We ask the bouncers and they pointed upstairs. We walk up a couple flights of stairs, find ourselves in the “VIP area”-we walk in as if we’re VIP and head straight past the models and other VIPS to the bathroom. There were a few models still gathering their items as the sink counters were full of stuff and also had puddles of water. I hate not being able to set my purse and other things down on a counter while I wash my hands. I stuck my purse between my knees and place my new phone on top of the soap dispenser. Now as you know, there is a flat surface on these dispensers. As I am washing my hands, my new phone can’t take it anymore and commits suicide right into the sink where there is running water. I let out some curse words as any person would do that just bought a new phone a couple weeks ago, especially one that is collecting unemployment benefits. My friend grabbed some toilet paper and handed it to me so I could dry it off right away. I take out the battery and SIM card to dry them off and to give the phone a break hoping it would come back to life. I am still cursing and then begin to pray. Probably should’ve prayed first. I am praying all the way home for my safety and for my phone to come back. Once I get home, I contemplate using a hair dryer; however, have second thoughts because my parents are asleep and I didn’t want to disturb them. Meanwhile, I need to do my dialysis and pray that no emergencies occur as I don’t have a phone to call the after hours number. I plugged in my home also hopeful that by charging it will somehow rejuvenate it. All throughout the night, i heard little noises as it struggled to fight for its life. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep that night.

After church, I head straight to the Att store to pay my friends yet another visit. Thankfully, I had insurance and was going to get a brand new phone mailed to me. In the meantime, I was given a loaner for a couple days. I tell ya, once I got used to having a keyboard, it was challenging to go back to the old flip phone. I now have another new phone, its working just fine (to my knowledge) as I had not received a single phone call all day and evening…and I try very hard to always keep it in my pocket. Why I didn’t do that when I washed my hands, who knows….?

That is the latest and greatest this past week…