After two kidney procedures so far, my state of health is definitely improved; but there's still a ways to go, including at least one more procedure (probably late next week or early the following week). The pain level bounces higher after each procedure, then gradually diminishes over time. Last Monday, after the second procedure, and through Tuesday, my pain levels were very high, so much so that I was popping some serious pain pills like they were M&M's. By Wednesday it had retreated to a point that I felt able to do light work around the house once more, and at present (during the small hours of Saturday morning) it's bearable with over-the-counter analgesics rather than prescription medication. That varies on an hourly basis, of course. I daresay by this evening I'll have hit the hard stuff at least once.
While my kidney is the main focus at present, there's also the deterioration in my spine to deal with. That's going to be a lot more complicated, and a lot more expensive, thanks to disputes between Workers Comp and my medical insurance provider over who's responsible for paying for it. Lawyers will almost certainly have to get involved. In order to get things moving, I'll probably have to pay for the surgery myself, and then recover what costs I can as matters progress. If I wait for the lawyers, I'll never get it done! I'm preparing a GiveSendGo campaign to raise funds for that, which I'll kick off next week.
It's taken me a couple of years to get to this point, and it won't be resolved overnight; but the kidney procedures are dealing with one major problem, and the solution to the second (and more serious) problem is in sight, pending funds to pay for it. My way of dealing with it has been to keep chipping away at the legal and medical facade of the professionals who handle this sort of thing, insisting on their keeping me informed, demanding copies of all test results (which illustrate all too well that they sometimes tell you verbally things that are not confirmed or borne out by the tests), and generally insisting that my health is first and foremost in my hands, not theirs. (For some reason doctors don't like that perspective! They seem to regard such patients as "pushy". Well, when you've had as many encounters with medical professionals as I have, you learn the hard way that they don't necessarily have your best interests at heart, but rather what's best for the medical profession. To overcome that, judicious application of the old idiom "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" is the only way to respond. Squeak louder!)
I'll try to get back to regular blogging hours next week, until the next procedure, which will require another interruption to our regular schedule. Hopefully that will be the last for a while, until the next surgery in a few months' time, if all goes well. Thanks for sticking with me, and for all your thoughts and prayers.
Peter
Thanks for the update Peter. Best wishes for healing and recovery.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you, in "good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over."
ReplyDeleteGoatroper
Prayers for you...good luck & hang in there!
ReplyDeleteIn order to find out exactly why surgery was recommended last summer, I had to bounce up and down and go to three different offices to get the report. Looked at the pictures and said, "Oh. Yes, I"d like that out, please." And saved every scrap of paper associated with every procedure and follow-up.
ReplyDeleteTXRed
Prayers in-bound, weapons free. Keep fighting Peter, you're good to have around! 🙂
ReplyDelete>(which illustrate all too well that they sometimes tell you verbally things that are not confirmed or borne out by the tests)
ReplyDelete---
My GP sent me to a specialist consult in 2016. At a later visit, he mentioned something from the specialist's report that didn't make sense. I asked to look at the report, and it listed various problems I didn't have. (I'm not diabetic, for one thing...) It was so off-kilter I wondered if they'd printed someone else's data with my name on it.
The doc sighed and said that, unfortunately, such things weren't at all uncommon. Which is why I get copies of all labs and visit reports now, and keep my own records.
Oh, and in eight referrals in six years, the number of times my "Electronic Medical Record" was sent to the consulting physician ahead of time: zero.
Physicians (not including surgeons who are a different breed of animal)!
ReplyDeleteYou used get the best and brightest whose middle name was compassion; today you don't get either - unfortunately.
Why?
Half a century ago someone ran a poll:
Who do you trust the most?
The poll was taken about five years running; physicians always came out Number One. Lawyers (and politicians) scraped the bottom: they didn't like the results and set about changing it.
Now we're paying for their actions.
BTW: check with your GP; some of the OTC pain pills have a definite effect (not necessarily beneficial) on your kidneys and your liver.
As my cousins keep telling me: "Keep your pecker up, old thing."
Best wishes i=on your healing. Worked in the medical profession for twenty six years, all control is now in the hands of administrators and insurance companies. Anyone who approaches the modern medical system with anything but skepticism or complete mistrust is naive.
ReplyDeleteI recently went for an eye exam and was told I had serious cataract in my right eye. The doctor also told me that it had been noted in my previous eye exam and put in my records. I found this to interesting as the previous examiner had told me I had just a slight cataract in my right eye and it appeared to be slow growing. So he told me one thing and recorded something completely different.
My father-in-law was on the Harder for 5 runs, got kicked off the boat and was able to live to almost 90 years old. I had been curious as to the location of the Harder, I am glad to know.
ReplyDeleteDan N
Prayers up, do what you need to!
ReplyDeletePrayers up BRM!
ReplyDeletePeter, "Milk Thistle".
ReplyDeleteYou will thank me next month.