Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Hard times and Good times

Amy was having a hard time later today. She was in a great deal of pain. They have given her medications and a sleeping aid tonight to help her rest and to take the pain away. She is really hanging in there. I think the first night she did not have enough pain suppression and now it is catching up with her. We all feel bad that she is experiencing so much pain. But the doctor said that many times the donor takes longer to recover.  Everyone is different. 

Tomorrow Amy will walk some more and we will try to get her home if possible. I think she will rest better away from the hospital so our goal is to get her home (GCAC). 

Mike is now at 2.5 Creatnine. The doctor is real happy with his progress and he may be able to come home tomorrow night or Friday.  He has made great progress but he has an
amazing kidney to work with and he is very tuff. 

Overview:
A physician uses a blood sample to measure the amount of creatnine in the blood. Creatnine is an important measure of kidney function.

Detailed Information:
Creatnine is a waste product of muscle tissue. It is produced at a constant rate, and excreted by the kidneys.

Creatnine levels only decrease once 50 percent of the kidney’s nephrons have been destroyed. This makes it a more reliable test for diagnosing kidney failure than the BUN test, since BUN levels can be affected by dehydration, liver failure and other non-kidney related factors. However, since 50 percent of nephrons must be destroyed to elevate kidney levels, the kidney can be malfunctioning long before this test the disorder. The two tests often are ordered in conjunction with each other to minimize these discrepancies. While a physician might use BUN tests to diagnose kidney problems, creatnine tests can be used for long term monitoring.

Creatine level Percent of nephrons destroyed
0.6-1.5mg. 0-50 percent (normal value)
1.5-4.8 mg. 50-75 percent
4.8-10 mg. 75-90 percent
Over 10 mg. Over 90 percent

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad things are going well! The Amy in recovery post brings tears to my eyes - what an amazing thing she is doing! Best of luck to Mike:)