Things are not going too well...

......the last two weeks, my kidney function has been decreasing. The Dr. thinks that it is inevitable that I will be going on dialysis in the near future. I will meet with them in 2 weeks and discuss going back on the transplant list or looking for a new donor.

I had two procedures done yesterday involving my drains and am awaiting the test results. I will post when I find out anything new.



From Sandy,


It is more fun to write of good news….but I am afraid that we did not get good news last Friday. We learned that Dan’s kidney “is not functioning” and that “dialysis is inevitable.”

Dan has been extremely tired and nauseous for the past two weeks and each blood test showed a rising creatinine level but we had reason to believe that he had a blocked tube coming from his uronoma (pocket of fluid by the kidney) that would cause pressure on the kidney thereby causing the creatinine to rise. So we went to UNMC on Monday to have the tube replaced.

You know it is not good news when the radiologist wants to speak with you in one of those private rooms after the procedure…the tube was fine. It was not blocked. When Dan got out of out-patient surgery recovery we went to the transplant clinic and a PA told us that the kidney is not functioning.

We were not surprised but it is very hard news to take. This has been such a long, hard ordeal.

So we came back to Kearney. Dan has another blood test today and Monday he will see his nephrologist Dr. Hranac to discuss dialysis. On May 21st we will go back to UNMC to check the urinoma tube and the tube coming out of the kidney. Hopefully they will be removed.

Then we go on to the transplant clinic to talk about getting back on the transplant list. We imagine that he will have to qualify again. They wonder if we have another donor (we don’t) and we wonder if they can count his time on the list from July 2006 to present day since this transplant wasn’t successful (they brought that up once.)

We are a little more positive about dialysis than we were….if it makes Dan feel better then it is worth it. He has struggled with fatigue and with edema in his legs. It really is limiting. There is reason to hope that he can get by with one dialysis treatment a week. We are so ready to have a “normal life” and we would dearly love to travel even if it is in a limited way.

We don’t say it often enough….but we are so grateful to friends, family, and medical personnel who have supported us in this undertaking. You have made a difficult time easier to bear.