Kidney and Renal Failure

I don't know how many people read my Fibromyalgia blog but the last 2 posts on there were from about 3 weeks ago. I had written about how I had not gone pee for about a month now. The past 2 weeks have just gotten worse and worse. I became very sick and in a lot of pain and became very dehydrated. To make a long story short, my regular doctor sent me to get a CT Scan and an ultrasound done. When we did those the radiologist had said that there was absolutely no function coming from my right Kidney and very little coming from my left one. We waited it out threw the weekend but I became sicker and sicker.  Then I went to the urologist the next morning to get a scope done on my bladder. Well that's what I went IN for. When I got there I was throwing up and so weak and sick that I could not even walk from the waiting room to his office. We told him about what was going on and, how sick I had been, and he saw how dehydrated and weak I was, and when we told him when the last time I had been able to go pee he looked at me and looked at my mom and said " You are in complete renal failure." He asked me how much I had to drink that day and eat and I told him I had not been able to eat or drink anything because I could not keep anything down.  I had passed out at work the day before and feeling really horrible. Right then he had 3 other doctors on the phone. A Kidney doctor, A stomach doctor, and his nurse practitioner. All of them said " She needs to be admitted to the hospital right now. 

I was admitted for Renal Failure. My kidneys were completely shut down. I was so dehydrated  that it took 3 different nurses and 4 tries to get an IV in me because they could not find a vein. In the first 24 hours there they had put 11 IV bags that are 1000cc and I was still extremely dehydrated. Also, because my kidneys and bladder were not functioning they had to put a catheter in to drain my bladder. I still could not keep any liquid or food down what so ever and the pain in my stomach was still there. Because I am allergic to just about all pain medication there is but Demerol that was what they had to give me. The only problem with that is, is that I can only take it in a shot but not in an IV.. So I was getting that in my hips every 6 hours for 3 days. My hips are so black and blue and swollen I can not even lay on them. (Pictures will come soon)  On around day 3 another doctor came in to see me and he looked at the IV machine and said " WHY ARE THEY GIVING THIS FLUID TO YOU SO FAST?" I had been being OVER hydrated which means that all of the fluid was just being sent to all over my body instead of just the bladder. My face, hands, legs, fingers everything were so swollen. I could not even make a fist with my hand because they were so huge.  There was also some other scares that we had one night I was not circulating enough oxygen that my lips turned blue. Another night my right leg had swelled up so much that you could not even tell where my knee or ankle was. They think that was caused by the lesion in my stomach on the right side. They had to pack my entire leg in freezing wet towels and a ton of ice packs. I was beginning to develop blood clots so they had to put these wraps around my legs that were connected to a machine that massaged my legs ( Actually it felt really good I wanted to take them home!) 

Again, to make a long story short, They have my kidneys back up and running. Not how they should be but they are working. How they are going to keep them up and running and my bladder working how it should be they have to go in and place something similar to a pace maker but it is an electric stem battery that will trigger all the nerves around my bladder to keep going and working normally. I am going in next week to have them test all the nerves to make sure this will help. This will not be a surgery it will be something that they do in the office first. I will wear that little machine on my hip for a week and if it works then they will go in surgically and place it in me. It will be right in the back of my thigh and I will wear it the rest of my life. I am able to keep solid food and liquid down I still get very nauseated but they have me on 3 different meds to help with that. The pain in my stomach is not getting better. They had 3 different surgeons come into see me and they all ruled out appendicitis. They are however very positive it is a lesion that is on the muscle tissue around my ovary and Fallopian tube that has been caused by all the many surgeries I have had in that area. So what they have to do is go in surgically and cut it. We will find out tomorrow when that is going to be, I am sure sometime early this week.

Having something like this happen to me has made me realize how much I need to take care of myself. The doctor had told my mom that if it had been one more day that we came in to see him I would no longer be here.  This started out weeks ago and I never would have thought that it would turn in to this. It started out by me not being able to pee. Obviously I knew something was wrong but having it turn into Kidney and Renal Failure has scared the hell out me.  When they admitted me my spirits were so low I was so sick, and all I wanted was to go home. I don't know how to explain this and make myself not sound crazy but it was like I was there but my mind and body wasn't.  It was like I was this different person watching myself just sit there while all of these doctors and nurses and tubes and machines were being placed on me. I was so sick and in such bad shape that my mom would try and talk to me and I couldnt even get words out. I don't think that I really understood the extent of what was going on I just knew that I was sick and that something bad was going on with me. I have been sick and in the hospital before but the more I think about this  and what happened and was it still going on and what is about to still happen the more it scares the hell out of me.

The past few months I have really been questioning Heavenly Father, and people in my life, and feeling so low and alone. It was not until the entire bishopric came in and gave me a blessing, and my neighbors came in to sit with me anytime my mom had to go home and get rest, or my dad and sisters could not be there with me just so I would not be alone, and the many flowers that were sent, and my mom who stayed with me every night and missed so much work so that I would not be alone. Who rubbed my back and wiped my tears, and told me to not break down but to stay strong and Meagen, and my dad who were there for me, bringing me movies and things from home to cheer me up, and Madi even though she is in California called everyday to make sure she knew what was going on and that I was okay. and the many many prayers that were said for me that I knew how much I was loved and cared for. Thank you so much to EVERYONE who has put my name on the Temple Prayer Rolls, and the blessings that were given to me, and the all those who fasted for me, and the flowers, visitors, phone calls and thoughtful cards that were sent to me. 

While I was in the hospital my mom woke me up and told me that she had bad news for me. She told me that one of the Orem Owlz Players from a few years ago, who we got to know very well and who came over for dinner alot. Nick Adenhart who pitched for the Anaheim Angels this year was killed in a car accident by a Drunk Driver just a few days ago. He was just a year older then me. My sister Meagen wrote a really good post about him.. You can read it HERE

In a weird way having all of this happen to me, and hear about Nick has made me realize how precious and short life is. After all is done with these surgeries, the getting my kidneys back running normal, getting back to a healthy weight again I lost around 15 pounds in 2 weeks I want to start taking care of myself better. My life could have been over this week. Hearing that and experiencing what I just went threw scared the hell out of me. I know that going into renal failure and having my kidneys shut down did not happen because of something I was or was not doing but it just made me realize that again, life is short and I want to spend the rest of it healthy as I can be, and stop worrying about little things and focus on the good that I have around me, and appreciate the people who love me and care for me and do the same for them and others. I want my life to change for the better and if experiencing what I am going threw right now and having a doctor tell me that had it been one more day chances are I could be dead then that's what it takes. 

Again, thank you for everyone's love and support. We will find out tomorrow what is going to happen next with the surgery for my kidney and bladder and the surgery to cut the lesion. There is a chance that I may be admitted again but we will find out everything tomorrow. As of now though I am at home. Like I said my kidneys are working but just not as good as they should be. I will try and keep everyone updated as best as I can. I am sure that my mom will post on her blog everything that has happened and is going to happen with all the pictures that she took while in the hospital... You can read her blog at ridleyclan.blogspot.com or you can Email her at brendal33 at hotmail dot com. Or you can email me at holli dot ridley at yahoo dot com. 

I am not out of the woods yet so please keep me in your prayers. 

And soon there will be all the pictures from the hospital. There is a ton. You can thank my mom. Also, Thank you to everyone who came and visited me while I was in the hospital. I am sorry if I was completely out of it and not even coharent while you there. Thank you for still wanting to come visit while I was that way.