Latest BK Levels and Foot Fix

From a kidney standpoint, I’ve been doing well. I had 3 negative BK urine tests in a row, but the last one 2 weeks ago was positive for 5800 copies. Not bad, but another negative would have been better.

I still have some residual burning in the fingers from the nerve damage due to the Leflunomide I was on to treat the BK, but I’m off that now, and I can live with it. It’s interesting to note that I never had a negative BK Urine, but once I was off of it, I eventually had 3 in a row. It doesn’t mean anything as it’s anecdotal, but maybe they will do more research on BK to figure out a definitive treatment.

I am a RN Case Manager, and deal with several transplant patients, and a lot of patients with hypertension. I was able to “pick the brain” of a Nephrologist today who specializes in hypertension. I was not aware of this, but Prograf, which is a calcineurin inhibitor, is a potent vasoconstrictor. That means that it causes arteries to get smaller, thus raising blood pressure. Thus, the best antihypertensive choice would be one that causes blood vessels to relax.

I am currently on Lisinopril for my bp, as well as another antihypertensive, Inderal, which is used to treat my hand tremors that worsened after the Leflunomide damaged my peripheral nerves. It’s still not great, but my BP is controlled. I’m going to work on shedding a few pounds, so that should help a lot.

The latest big story is my foot reconstruction.

I had a major foot reconstruction of my right foot in November, and of today, for the first time in many years, can now walk without any orthotic in my shoe.

It’s strange not having my ankle in a fixed position, and I pretty much have to learn to walk normally. I have a tendancy to not flex my ankle, but I know I eventually will be back in the habit of doing this when I walk, based on when I had the other foot reconstructed.

The surgery itself was very painful, and the recovery long (non-weight bearing from Halloween to after New Year’s), and I’ve been in a Bledsoe boot since, but it was well worth it. My foot is very straight now, and although still swollen, it looks great.

I’ve posted x-ray images taken in January, after the surgery, and as you can see, have a lot of hardware.

 

Medical Article Scan September 2008

MMR Vaccine Not Linked to Autism yet ANOTHER study disproving the link, although as this article points out, Although true believers in the theory of a relationship between MMR vaccine and autism will probably not be dissuaded…

Chronic Kidney Disease Heightens Medical-Error Risk this is a study of 250,000 patients in Veteran’s  Hospitals. Key points: the increased risk was linearly related to the severity of kidney disease, The researchers looked for records of 18 complications that are potentially preventable, and their data don’t distinguish between events caused by healthcare and those related to the underlying kidney disease.

Mother’s Flu Shot Protects Newborns when I first started out as a RN in Peds 19+ years ago, influenza was not really considered in infants that were symptomatic. In fact, flu shots were only given to those at “high risk”, such as those with chronic illnesses. Now, the flu vaccine is recommended for ALL patients in our practice up to 18 years of age. This study has concluded that pregnant mothers who get vaccinated while pregnant can pass on protection to their child prior to delivery.

Living Donor Liver Transplants May Drastically Decrease Mortality From Liver Failure Acute Liver Failure (quick onset as opposed to chronic liver failure, which is gradual) may be able to be treated with living donor donation for transplant. I’ve always said that I’m lucky; if I didn’t get a kidney, I could do dialysis; if I needed a liver and didn’t get it, I would die. I hope this pans out.

High Blood Pressure Takes Big Toll On Small Filtering Units Of The Kidney  Although this isn’t exactly previously unknown, scientists are getting closer to figuring out how the glomeruli are affected by hypertension. If you have high blood pressure, this underscores how important it is to get it treated effectively.