Monday, January 08, 2007

Yup, still growing

I had an ultrasound today to check the growth of my kidney cysts. Yes, they are growing, as are my kidneys. My right kidney is bumping up against my uterus, whereas my left kidney is displacing all my intestines as it extends medially into my abdomen. I don't know why I feel discouraged by this news, or even all that surprised. PKD is a progressive disease. I'm progressing.

I guess I just thought that it would stablilize, or something. I don't know why I thought that--wishful thinking? Denial?I had a 5cm cyst on my right kidney which is now a 7.5 cm cyst. My kidneys themselves are too big to measure completely accurately with ultrasound, as the transducer is not big enough to project the kidneys on the screen all at once. Great.

A 24 hour urine test next week will tell me how things are going with my kidney functions. Hopefully that will bring good news.

Hey, at least my BP is low. That's good.

We just take it one day at a time, I guess. One day at a time.

6 comments:

Melanie said...

I'm sorry to hear your news isn't as good as you'd hoped. You'll be in my prayers.

I hate to sound like a broken record--I know I've made comments on the 'nacle about this before--but I highly recommend Elder Bednar's talk "In the Strength of the Lord" (available at speeches.byu.edu). I just "happened" to listen to it on my iPod just before my own diagnosis with cancer...it has been a great reminder that with the Savior's grace, we can handle things that would ordinarily be beyond our own abilities to deal with.

Good luck next week.

SusanS said...

Good luck. I love you.

Anonymous said...

Hi, You don't know me, but your blog struck a chord with me. Today I had a conversation with my nephrologist that seemed very similar to what is going on with you. This is the first time I have been on the internet looking for answers, I' sorry to say it but I am really glad there is someone going through this I can talk too. Thank you for being so brave, and generous, in sharing your story. I am currently dealing with flank pain, which is new, have you had pain also? What did you do? I am so thankful I found some information. God Bless

Heather O. said...

Colleen--
Yes, I had flank pain, and still have it occasionally. I have noticed that for me, it is linked with how much caffeine and chocolate I have. Also, exercise and a strict regimen to a low sodium diet seems to help. My favorite exercise is yoga--all the stretching helps tremendously.

Good luck!

Lisa M. said...

I hope your 24 hour test comes out good, and that function is okay.

SOrry about the growth of the cysts.

I'm glad to know you have found a regimin that has afforded you some painfree or less pain, filled days.

You'll be in our prayers-
As always-

Anonymous said...

I have been trying alternative pain control and have found "heat cupping"It is a form of Acupressure ,it seems to be working !