Some bad news, health-wise

 

As regular readers will know, I've been battling a kidney condition, hydronephrosis, and associated kidney stones for just about a year now.  An ultrasound and two CT scans later, plus three surgical procedures, and I thought it was healed.  Unfortunately, that's proved to be a pipe dream.  A few weeks ago I began to get renewed pain in my kidney, and my waterworks began to dry up.  I was fed up by then with the lack of communication from the local urologist who'd done the work, so I asked my primary care physician to refer me to a top-level specialist at a major medical center, who could analyze what's going on and (hopefully) come up with a solution.

Yesterday my wife and I drove down to the DFW metroplex, and spent three hours at a facility there.  The new (to me) urologist ordered a further CT scan, which they were able to do within an hour (let's hear it for big city medicine and its abundant facilities!).  The upshot is, there are still blockages.  Some of them may, in fact, be scar tissue from earlier procedures that were "less than optimally performed".  Needless to say, I was not delighted to hear that!

I'm expecting to hear today or tomorrow from the scheduler in DFW.  It looks like I'll be having yet another procedure, this time an exploratory one to establish the extent of the problem.  That may include removal of stone fragments from earlier procedures, but it's mostly to get a good look from the inside at what the latest scan is showing.  Depending on what they find, I may be admitted right away for a more invasive procedure, involving going into the kidney through the back and digging out whatever bits and pieces are a problem.  If the damage to the kidney is already too great, then we may be looking at taking it out altogether.  That's not a desirable solution, of course, but there's no point in leaving it in place if it's just going to go on giving me trouble.  It's been dragging on for a year now, so it has to be resolved, one way or another.

Adding to my frustration is, as I've mentioned earlier, the further deterioration in my spine following my disabling injury two decades ago.  A detailed scan has revealed the need for at least two spinal fusions above the site of my existing fusion.  My medical insurance doesn't want to pay for them because the initial injury was paid for by workers compensation;  but workers compensation doesn't want to pay for the new surgeries because (it insists) it's impossible to prove that the deterioration is the result of the previous injury.  (All my doctors insist it is, but getting that past the lawyers and bureaucrats is a tale in itself . . .)

Therefore, I've been planning a fundraiser to ask for your help in paying for that surgery.  It's going to be very expensive, as well as painful, and I'd been putting it off until my kidney problems had been resolved.  Unfortunately, I can't afford to delay any longer, or I may end up in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.  Look for a fundraiser here within the next week or two.  I'll hopefully get some or all of the cost back from either workers comp and/or medical insurance at some stage, but that may take a year or two to get through the legalese and bureaucratic shenanigans.  I have to get this done out of my own pocket if it's to be done in the short to medium term.

All in all, I'm frustrated and annoyed right now.  This is a terribly depressing and miserable situation to be in.  I'm trying to look on the bright side and find light amid the clouds, but it ain't easy sometimes.  To those of you so inclined, please say a prayer or two for me now and then;  and I'll ask all of you to please spread the word about the fundraiser when it kicks off.  I have no idea whether or not I'll be able to raise enough for the surgery through donations, so my wife and I will be talking to our bank about a second mortgage on our home if necessary.  One way or another, with God's help, we'll make this happen.

To those of you who've been wondering when I'm going to publish more books - that's why you haven't seen any for well over a year.  My levels of pain and medical frustration have been so high as to interfere with the creative writing process (which is a very euphemistic way of putting it).  I have two books almost ready to go, but finding the pain-free time and energy to finish editing and put them through the publishing process is almost impossible right now.  I have every intention of carrying on writing and publishing, even if it does have to happen from a wheelchair;  so keep your fingers crossed, and tie knots in what you can't cross.  Every little helps!

Thanks for listening to me moan about life, the universe and everything.  Oddly enough, it does help to vent about it now and then.  Your support means a great deal to me, and to my wife.

Peter