It's confirmed : her kidneys have revived!

Oh happy, happy Sunday!
Her blessed kidneys are processing toxins, and still producing good volume of urine even without the aid of lasix. Her water retention is starting to subside. Potassium and albumin levels have gone up to normal. It's such a wonder!

While we're all heaving huge sighs of relief, we know there is still a long journey ahead.

She still gets low-grade fever once in a while, especially if the room gets too warm. She's got sore spots from lying in bed for three weeks. And her muscles have stiffened up.

She doesn't want to talk. At first we were worried that she was losing her speech muscles. She wouldn't respond to anyone! Then she suddenly surprised us by asking about the boy who brings in the meals. Her speech was clear and perfectly normal. Glad it hasn't deteriorated :)

The next chapter is the miracle myeloma drug : Lenalidomide. It's due to arrive and I think she should be well enough now to receive it.

Mom has been moved to room C620. Still on same floor, in same Block.

Body aches

Mom is complaining that her whole body aches. This is caused by the low potassium in her blood. She's getting a drip to rectify this so it should be better soon. It's a good sign that she can complain :)

Her urine level is still good, in spite of the reduced lasix. When it reaches 2 litres, they will stop the lasix completely and then her kidneys are on their own.

They're doing a blood test now to check level of toxin. Hopefully, the level is still low enough that she won't need dialysis today.

As she hasn't been talking much, we're starting to be able to read her many faces! Here are some of the more frequent ones :

• A glare, then a toss of her head and look away : "Of course I know who that is" (when we ask her about her visitors)

• A straight expressionless look, then calmly look up at TV : "I see you but the TV is more interesting" (when Dad and Sonny arrive)

• Corners of eyes droop, then lips form a slow quivering pout : "Oh, I'm so miserable, everything's not ok" (classic 'poor thing' look reserved for Janet)

She looked so much more alert and comfortable yesterday. It was such a relief to all of us. Now praying that her kidney's recovery will continue and that she'll be able to come home and start the new miracle drug for her myeloma.

Many thanks for all your blessings and prayers.

BTW - I've corrected the day and date on the blog.

GREAT NEWS!!!

SATURDAY noon : Her blood test showed no need for dialysis today! This is a sure sign of her kidneys recovering.
Thank God for answering our prayers :)

Friday was good

Mom was much better yesterday. The doctors are very happy that she's passing more urine now. And the urine is clear, not cloudy with infection. This is an improvement!

I'm down with flu so didn't get to see her. When the family went at dinnertime, she didn't speak to anyone although she was awake. Well, maybe the TV was more interesting!

I just heard from our wonder maid-turned-nurse Robena that mom slept well again last night. Hopefully the blood test today will show low toxin levels, and no need for dialysis.

A third session of dialysis

Mom had to undergo a third dialysis yesterday (Thurs) as her kidneys are still not removing toxins yet. She has water retention and bloating in arms and legs and is not as alert or fresh as last week :(

Her PEG stomach tube is working fine, and healing fine. She's taking a low-protein food concentrate for kidney patients - Nepro.

Lung infection seems to be controlled. She gets the nebuliser three times a day to break up the phlegm in her lungs but she can't cough it out so they suction it out every few days or so. She doesn't like this at all.

I am down with flu :( so I'll be staying away from her today. Can't risk exposing her to more germs!

She hasn't been talking much and I think she's in quite a bit of discomfort with all the tubes, catheters and bloating. But she hardly complains.

The Lenalidomide should be here soon so that is something to hope for. If that can control the myeloma, hopefully, her kidneys can revive. That's the only thing keeping her in hospital now.

She slept well last night so I hope she'll be stronger today.

If you feel you must visit, please don't stay too long. She will play 'host' and struggle to stay awake while her visitors are there.

Peaceful Tuesday

Yesterday was a quiet day. The doctors wanted her to just have a quiet time to rest. So no blood test, no lipid profile.

She's passing more urine, but still not as much as the doctors would like. We're still praying that her progress continues and her kidneys will revive. She's starting to bloat from water retention and says she feels heavy, poor thing.

Another session of dialysis

Although her kidneys are improving, they're still not removing the toxins from her blood yet.

She had to have another session of dialysis yesterday. This left her quite tired and feverish.

Her Haemotologist Dr. Puru from Ampang Hospital came over and spent two hours at Pantai talking to the Pantai doctors and observing mom. She's quite satisfied with the care that mom is getting and she will work with Dr. Rajban to control her myeloma.

Mom slept well last night so I hope she's feeling better today.