Daily Journal #20 — Three Pounds Down, Missing Labs, and One Test I’m Not Looking Forward To

This morning’s health check is moving in the right direction.

I’m down three pounds from yesterday, which pretty much confirms what I suspected yesterday — I definitely had some fluid buildup.

That’s good news.

My blood pressure was still slightly high, and my pulse was significantly elevated. I’m not really sure why. I had been sitting and resting before I took the reading, so it wasn’t like I had just been walking around or doing anything strenuous.

I’m still dealing with some anxiety about all of the testing coming up, so maybe that is playing a role. I honestly don’t know.

For now, I’m watching it.

Another Near-Passing-Out Episode

I also had another episode yesterday that got my attention.

I was getting out of my recliner to go eat dinner when I suddenly became extremely lightheaded. My vision started closing in — that tunnel-vision feeling — and for a moment I really thought I was going to pass out.

I didn’t.

Thankfully, this episode passed pretty quickly. Within a few moments, I was feeling better.

It also felt different from some of the other episodes I’ve had. I wasn’t sweaty this time, and it didn’t linger nearly as long.

My first thought was that maybe my blood pressure dropped when I stood up too quickly. That would make sense, but that is only my guess. With everything else going on, I’m not going to pretend I know exactly what caused it.

It is another thing I’ll be mentioning to my medical team.

These are the kinds of symptoms that make all of the tracking feel worthwhile. If something happens, I can look back at my blood pressure, pulse, weight, medications and everything else instead of trying to remember it later.

The Blood Work Came Back… Mostly

I received the results from my blood tests.

Well, most of them.

I had something like eight different tests ordered, but somehow the renal blood work wasn’t run.

Of course.

That’s probably the test I’m most interested in right now.

I’m guessing the person who drew my blood somehow missed that order. I have my nephrology appointment on Thursday, so there is a pretty good chance I’ll end up having it drawn after the appointment.

It’s frustrating because, with everything that has been going on with my kidneys, those are the numbers I really wanted to see.

But there was another result I had been anxiously waiting for.

My PSA.

And thankfully, it was normal.

One Less Thing to Freak Out About

Prostate cancer runs in my family, so I was definitely jonesing for that PSA result.

Between the recent acute kidney injury and the blood I had in my urine, my mind had already gone down every possible road.

That’s what anxiety does.

You know there are probably several explanations for something, but your brain immediately starts working its way toward the worst one.

So seeing a normal PSA was a relief.

One less thing to worry about.

I still need additional testing on my bladder, though.

And there is one procedure in particular that I am not exactly rushing to schedule.

The Cystoscopy

Eventually I need to have a cystoscopy.

A cystoscopy is a procedure where a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube called a cystoscope to look inside the urethra and bladder.

Yep.

That means it goes from the outside into the bladder.

There is really only one route available for that journey.

Let’s just say I am not terribly excited about it.

I’m planning to wait until after my hip surgery before dealing with that one.

Is that partly because I have other medical priorities right now?

Absolutely.

Is it also because the procedure sounds like about as much fun as you would imagine?

Absolutely.

The Next Few Days

So now the schedule looks like this:

Nephrologist on Thursday.

MRI on Monday.

Hopefully, between those appointments and the missing renal blood work eventually getting done, we’ll have a much better idea of where things stand with my kidneys.

My hope is that we can finally put this AKI behind me.

Yesterday I was worried about fluid buildup and had another near-passing-out episode.

Today I’m three pounds lighter.

The PSA was normal.

There are still unanswered questions, but at least this morning there are a couple of things moving in the right direction.

I’ll take the wins when I can get them.