My much anticipated meeting the kidney specialist took place this evening; I had been looking forward to this so much! Having an evening appointment was great for me as I didn’t have to take time off work.
Once I had checked-in at the “Zone B” area, I was called for my weight and blood pressure to be taken. Rachel and I had agreed she’d come in with me as I have a tendency to only remember the things I want to remember.
Bang on time Dr Findlay called me in. He asked me how I was and how the hospitalisation had gone. He remarked on how much urine was retained in my bladder, saying it was over 5 litres! This was even higher than the 3.8 litres the ward staff said it was originally. Dr Findlay went onto the all important creatinine readings which continued to show a steady decline ahead of saying they’ll probably level off at the 160 mark.
This shouldn’t give me any concern, I seem to be in good condition otherwise. Nevertheless there is permanent kidney damage and it was suggested this will be towards the lower end of the scale. Sounds pretty good.
There was a brief discussion on the prostate operation which I will be having soon and from that point it is hoped I’ll be able to manage without the catheter. Sometimes it takes a while for things to return to normal in the peeing department. Time will tell.
I was then pleased I asked about blood pressure. This is becoming lower and now in the normal range. Clearly the kidneys are working better and now and they apparently have a huge influence on the blood pressure
And then we talked about running!
I relayed the advice given in the surgical ward about not exerting myself in any way for fear of giving my kidneys something extra to do. I also explained I am getting withdrawal symptoms from running!
Dr Findlay said it was fine to start running again, just to take it easy to start off with and only if I feel able to manage the catheter. At this point I said how I’d been fixed up with a little tap to replace the leg bag, which is fine for short periods. The overwhelming advice was to start running as there are more problems caused through inactivity. He just stopped himself from starting to talk about the majority of patients who do absolutely no exercise at all and the problems this can cause. Instead he said he mentioned he had run a marathon over the weekend, first time since he became a father seven years ago.
So having Dr Findlay as my consultant is very positive and as he’s also a runner seems such good fortune. I did resist the opportunity of asking him what his marathon times are!
All in all a good result. The plan now is:
- Having the prostate operation
- Remove the catheter
- Further follow-up appointment in August
- Then six month checks for a while.
- And then if everything is okay, an annual check for life plus returning me to my own GP
EEK