Advent . . .
In the Presbyterian church, Advent is the season of watching and waiting, and I'm ahead of the game this year, because that is what I have been doing for the past weeks.
I'm happy to share with you that I did not have to have surgery after all. The day before it was scheduled, I passed a fragment of the fragment! This was good news indeed and it meant that the potassium citrate was doing its job in dissolving the stone. The doctor postponed my surgery, and I saw him again a couple of weeks ago after another CT scan, which showed that the fragment was gone. All the swelling was gone from my kidney and ureter. There were a few tiny bits left but they were not enough to warrant surgery.
YAY!!!
I have another CT scan on Monday morning and that one will tell the tale, I believe. If everything is gone, then I think I will finally be given the go-ahead to do my next 24-hour urine collection. This is the test you need to learn what changes will need to be made. That I've made two different types of stones now just complicates things in my mind.
There is additional reason for concern - there is another stone. A 4mm one that is hanging out in my kidney at the moment. It is my and the doctor's hope that it is also a uric acid stone. If it is, the potassium citrate should be working on it, as well. If it's not, well, it's going to have to be addressed at some point. Cross your fingers.
The reason that I'm really wanted to do the 24-hour urine collection test is that I really need and want to be eating better and - at the moment - it feels like I don't know how to do that. And because I feel so helpless, I'm not making very good choices all the time. That it's the beginning of parties and holiday food isn't helping.
What is helping is that this past week I was finally able to go back to the health club to start working out with my trainer again, and this morning I was able to start back doing Tai Chi. Yay!!!
So, I'm hanging in here :-) And I've been listening to Todd Rundgren a whole lot lately.
I'm happy to share with you that I did not have to have surgery after all. The day before it was scheduled, I passed a fragment of the fragment! This was good news indeed and it meant that the potassium citrate was doing its job in dissolving the stone. The doctor postponed my surgery, and I saw him again a couple of weeks ago after another CT scan, which showed that the fragment was gone. All the swelling was gone from my kidney and ureter. There were a few tiny bits left but they were not enough to warrant surgery.
YAY!!!
I have another CT scan on Monday morning and that one will tell the tale, I believe. If everything is gone, then I think I will finally be given the go-ahead to do my next 24-hour urine collection. This is the test you need to learn what changes will need to be made. That I've made two different types of stones now just complicates things in my mind.
There is additional reason for concern - there is another stone. A 4mm one that is hanging out in my kidney at the moment. It is my and the doctor's hope that it is also a uric acid stone. If it is, the potassium citrate should be working on it, as well. If it's not, well, it's going to have to be addressed at some point. Cross your fingers.
The reason that I'm really wanted to do the 24-hour urine collection test is that I really need and want to be eating better and - at the moment - it feels like I don't know how to do that. And because I feel so helpless, I'm not making very good choices all the time. That it's the beginning of parties and holiday food isn't helping.
What is helping is that this past week I was finally able to go back to the health club to start working out with my trainer again, and this morning I was able to start back doing Tai Chi. Yay!!!
So, I'm hanging in here :-) And I've been listening to Todd Rundgren a whole lot lately.
Comments
All the best to you, Annie! My thoughts and prayers are with you. Please say a prayer for me as I will be having a mastectomy in January. Cancer reared its ugly head a second time for me.
Janice H.
Janice H.