{"id":83,"date":"2009-07-29T04:12:48","date_gmt":"2009-07-29T04:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carmensrunway.com\/site\/?p=83"},"modified":"2011-06-29T04:13:14","modified_gmt":"2011-06-29T04:13:14","slug":"july-29-2009-%e2%80%93-crazy-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carmensrunway.com\/site\/july-29-2009-%e2%80%93-crazy-week\/","title":{"rendered":"July 29, 2009 \u2013 Crazy Week"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hello friends,<\/div>\n
Wow! What a week!\u00a0 Let me give you\u00a0the update-\u00a0 I want to apologize my emails are so long\u2013 there is so much to cover.\u00a0 This is why creating the facebook page will help.<\/div>\n
I had to redo my labs Thursday and Friday last week. I tell you, I was beginning to look like I used recreational drugs- with having both arms utilized. Sheesh!<\/div>\n
I had the delightful pleasure of meeting a new friend- this is my doctor\u2019s other young patient.\u00a0 This gal is younger than me, had the same disease and she celebrated one year Monday of having a successful transplant.\u00a0 She and I have been texting back and forth for about 6 weeks- it was really great to meet her!\u00a0 She and I are becoming fast friends and I am able to share my faith and witness to her.\u00a0 How cool is that!?<\/div>\n
I have shared many times how touched I am by the outpouring support of new friends- here are a couple examples of this last week:<\/div>\n
A friend read my email and called me, I shared that I was at my parents house and will be moving some stuff over.\u00a0 This person jumped in their car and headed straight over, eager to help.\u00a0 After an exhausting couple hours, I needed to call it a night and head home.\u00a0 This person insisted on following me\u00a0 home to make sure I made it safe.\u00a0 No sooner had I pulled in the driveway, my Dr. calls.\u00a0 Okay, it\u2019s 10:30 PM; why is the Dr calling?\u00a0 The lab place called her and notified her that my Potassium is critically high.\u00a0 I had to go the ER immediately to receive medication to get the potassium out of me.\u00a0 My friend that followed me home was still there and offered to drive me to the hospital.\u00a0 Wow, what a friend!\u00a0 I called my parents and asked them to meet me there.<\/div>\n
You\u2019re probably wondering what is the big deal about potassium?\u00a0 Well, in my education of understanding what all is happening\u2013 my kidneys are not able to flush out the toxins in my body.\u00a0 They are only releasing 10% of these toxins; the other 90% are staying in my body and causing havoc.\u00a0 Since the toxins are not being fully released, I have to really watch my potassium, phosphorus and sodium intake- this is where the fun diet restrictions come in. Having too much potassium is deadly- it can cause heart failure.\u00a0 My levels were critically high Thursday that I could have died overnight.\u00a0 I had to go the ER to flush this out of my system.<\/div>\n
It was not a fun night.\u00a0 The nurse missed the first attempt at getting my IV in; and had quite the trouble getting the second hole poked.\u00a0 I was in tears because of the pain.\u00a0 While I was enduring this, I had to drink this nasty, chalky gritty tasting thick liquid to help flush out the potassium.\u00a0 It reminded me of something along the lines of mylanta.\u00a0 Blech!\u00a0 I also had 6 viles of blood taken.\u00a0 So, I am just lying there, with the EKG machine thing, monitoring me, cords everywhere and a yucky taste in my mouth.\u00a0Thank God I still have friends that are awake after 11:30 PM to text with!\u00a0 The other example of the great support: My new friend I met earlier that day offered to come up to the hospital and sit with me so my parents could go home to sleep.\u00a0 I am truly amazed at this generous offer as we met just hours earlier that day.<\/div>\n
After a while, maybe 30-45 minutes, the ER Dr comes in and says: Good news, you are being released!\u00a0 You don\u2019t need to stay overnight.\u00a0 What probably happened was, when I took my labs earlier that day, the blood had sat too long and the cells began to separate.\u00a0 This had caused a much higher reading of my potassium and gave a false reading.\u00a0 Now, I know it\u2019s better to be safe than sorry; but come on.. going through all this and i didn\u2019t have to?<\/div>\n
I won\u2019t go into graphic detail- I spent most of the night in the bathroom getting rid of the potassium.<\/div>\n
I got all moved into my parents this weekend\u2013 it\u2019s an adjustment for all of us.<\/div>\n
I met with the surgeon yesterday- what a great lady!\u00a0 Since I am now at a very critical stage and trying to not fall into single digits; I will have to have a temporary stint put into my chest cavity to start immediate dialysis while my other catheter that is in\u00a0 my abdominal area heals.\u00a0 I am scheduled Friday, 7\/31 to have both catheters inserted.\u00a0 This is an outpatient procedure however, does involve anesthesia.<\/div>\n
Some great news- God provided a digital camera and He\u2019s working on the laptop!\u00a0 These are to make communication to you easier through all of this as I will be spending a lot of time in bed.(Thus the need for a new, comfortable mattress).\u00a0Made some temporary adjustments to the current mattress; hopefully this will work.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t put scriptures in the Bible for the fun of it- He wants us to use them. I took Mathew 7:7 to heart.<\/div>\n
I have received some great feedback from my emails\u2013 I am inspiring people.\u00a0I have had people ask to let them share my emails with their staff. Again, this will be handy with\u00a0facebook as you all can read\u00a0each other\u2019s thoughts.<\/div>\n
You are still asking how you can help\u2013 I feel sad and at a loss, now that I am moved back home.\u00a0 Seveal of you have already come to visit me, thank you.\u00a0 Many more are eager to.\u00a0 I ask that you be flexible as it\u2019s still hard to plan ahead, unsure of how I will feel that afternoon or evening.<\/div>\n
Here\u2019s something to think about: what creative name can I call my facebook page?\u00a0Many of you know me quite well.\u00a0Kidneys for Carmen is too boring.\u00a0Anything else you want to know about what I am going through or dealing with?<\/div>\n

Thanks again for your patience in reading my novels.\u00a0Your love and support is truly valued.<\/p>\n

Carmen<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello friends, Wow! What a week!\u00a0 Let me give you\u00a0the update-\u00a0 I want to apologize my emails are so long\u2013 there is so much to cover.\u00a0 This is why creating the facebook page will help. I had to redo my labs Thursday and Friday last week. I tell you, I was beginning to look like
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