My story begins in fall of 2001 at the time im 38 years old and im suffering with lower back pain that seems to be in my kidney area. I decide to go to my doctor for a check up, I began to explain what I was feeling. My doctor said it seemed that i might possibly have some kidney stones. My doctor gave me a prescription to visit a lab to get a kidney scan and some blood work done. So I did just that. A week later I went for a follow up visit with my doctor.That was the day i was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease. At that time the doctor had said it was very early stage and that I had just 2 tiny cysts and that my blood pressure was very elevated. My doctor was very concerned as he was also aware that my mother had Polycystic Kidney Disease and that my mom was in stage 3 renal failure.. My doctor prescribed a mild blood pressure medication for me and asked me to come for a check up in every 6 month's to keep track of these growing cyst's..
Life Style
It's important to note that in 2001 my advertising agency was around 3 years old and very quickly became a mid-sized fairly popular business. I have to admit my business life was fantastic and going full speed ahead just as i had worked tirelessly to achieve with tons of busy employees, meetings, traveling, new clients and growing demands and budget increases from our existing clients.
Life was great.. Though at the time I was in good physical shape my diet was really terrible, consisting mostly of fast foods during the day and large un-healthy dinners usually at restaurants in the evening's coupled with my smoking 1 pack of cigarette's a day.
I knew it was time to make some solid health changes but i never pulled the trigger on them and ignored it all and stayed focused on my business.. Fast Forward!
My Fiance and I enjoying our lives together 2012
Christmas Eve Morning 2013
The usual tradition in our family for the last 15 years has been that Christmas Eve dinner is at my home. Cooking has always been my hobby and something that I do fairly well, so well, in fact that several years ago thinking that I might at some point in my life go into the restaurant business. I decided to get a culinary degree from I.C.E.
Christmas Eve Morning, I usually wake up extra early at around 4:00 am to start prepping and chopping all my produce. This particular morning though, I was very much not myself, I felt extra tired and lethargic. In typical Gene fashion though, I brushed off my illness and kept moving, while orchestrating my cooking time's to perfectly coincide with the arrival of my 30 guests.. So type A.
I Felt Like Death
It was a long day of cooking and being on my feet and not feeling good, honestly I was very excited to see everyone I was ready to collapse. By the time my guests arrived all I wanted to do was go to bed. Not because I was tired, but because I felt like death. In any event, once again i pushed on.
My youngest sister had arrived at my house first. She took one look at me and said Omg' you look terrible. What's wrong with you? she asked. I told her it was a just long day that had finally caught up with me.
My sister said, do you realize you have a green tint about you? I replied, no.
That's when my sister who is also a lab technician at a hospital started trying to convince me to go to the hospital to get checked out.. I ignored her and said, I'm not going to the hospital on Christmas Eve but, I did promise her that I would go the very next day. Which I did.
Gene, Your Creatinine Is 13
It's Christmas morning our family and I are sitting in the living room exchanging gifts with all our kids and granddaughter.. Everyone is happy and are looking forward to the rest of the day. While I was personally screaming inside as my body was weaker than ever and I felt mentally confused and very cloudy. At this point I begin to realize that I was not able to eat the dinner that I had prepared for everyone the day before nor was i able to eat the huge breakfast that I had just prepared on this Christmas morning. I was hungry as ever but i couldn't seem to bring the food to my lips I was hungry, but any food was tried to eat was severally nauseating me..
Soon after breakfast my fiance and I decided to get over to the emergency room at our local hospital. The emergency room was a complete and utter madhouse as I recall it. There was about 20 people ahead of me to see a doctor.
During this waiting period I felt physically worse then ever before.. Finally' after 4 hours a nurse puts me into a room were I was seen very quickly by an intern who asked me, what are you feeling?. I replied; I feel like I might be in Kidney Failure..
He laughed out loud with a smirk of doubt, and said "how do you know that you're in Kidney failure? "I replied, i just have a funny feeling".
While the nurse was drawing my blood for testing, it dawned on me, that I had forgotten to mention to the intern, that I had seen and known Kidney failure first hand as i watched it overtake my own mother's life for 15 years before Kidney failure finally killed her at age 55.
The Harsh Reality Has Finally Arrived
After about 1 hour the intern appears back in my room with a very bewildered look on his face, he says Gene, you're a very lucky man. I replied back in my own sarcastic style as I normally would when ever someone says that I'm lucky..
I replied Doctor, "I'm not lucky I'm just talented".. Ha Ha he smiled and said, well today you're very lucky.
Gene, your Creatinine is 13 and you're very lucky to be alive...
For any of my readers that are not familiar with Creatinine.
Creatinine, is a chemical waste product in the blood that passes through the kidneys to be filtered and eliminated in urine. The chemical waste is a by-product of normal muscle function. The more muscle a person has, the more creatinine they produce. Levels of creatinine in the blood reflect both the amount of muscle a person has and their amount of kidney function.
Most men with normal kidney function have approximately 0.6 to 1.2 milligrams/deciliters (mg/dL) of creatinine. Mine was 13.. Most women with normal kidney function have between 0.5 to 1.1 mg/dL of creatinine. Women usually have lower creatinine levels than men because women, on average, have less muscle than men.
Peritoneal Dialysis
After a few short days of being in the hospital I now am under the control of the RWJ Kidney Transplant Team.. This team of doctors are some of the most ingenious people that I have ever met and I have met some smart people in my day.
The all agreed and recommended that I go immediately on Peritoneal Dialysis to rapidly reduce my body's toxicity and to preserve what kidney function I had left, as my body was still producing a fair amount of urine. Instead, I decide to go home and think about it..
The all agreed and recommended that I go immediately on Peritoneal Dialysis to rapidly reduce my body's toxicity and to preserve what kidney function I had left, as my body was still producing a fair amount of urine. Instead, I decide to go home and think about it..
During this time period I was 51 years old and in the prime of my life both in my family life and in my business life. The last thing a type A person like myself wants to be is a patient or a burden on my family..
So I checked myself out of the hospital against my doctors wishes and went home, immediately jumping back into my life and business.
That worked for me for about 2 day's.
The Burning Hunger
After an exhausting hospital adventure I decided to aggressively become immersed into my business. This was all in a gigantic effort to avoid what was really going on involving my health crisis. I justified to myself, after all who's gonna pay all these bills??
My first day back from the hospital I immediately start to realize that the whole day had gone by and I had not eaten anything. That's very odd for me, as I'm a person who normally has a very good fork and appetite..
This was not a normal time for me.
My first day back from the hospital I immediately start to realize that the whole day had gone by and I had not eaten anything. That's very odd for me, as I'm a person who normally has a very good fork and appetite..
This was not a normal time for me.
My burning hunger for food was also noticed by my fiance who decided to make me my favorite dinner in an effort to get some sort of nourishment into my body. She, had prepared for me Chicken Cutlets & Fettuccine Alfredo. This was my absolute favorite meal. I recall, dinner was beautiful and was platted so well it looked like a work of art at least to me.. I was starving.
We both sat at the table, said grace and began to eat. Something was really wrong.. I just sat there looking at my food. My fiance said' come on now start eating before it gets cold. It was in that very moment that I began to cry, the tears were streaming down my face and wouldn't stop. I was thunder struck in that moment and came to a very real conclusion that I was sick beyond my wildest dreams..
We both sat at the table, said grace and began to eat. Something was really wrong.. I just sat there looking at my food. My fiance said' come on now start eating before it gets cold. It was in that very moment that I began to cry, the tears were streaming down my face and wouldn't stop. I was thunder struck in that moment and came to a very real conclusion that I was sick beyond my wildest dreams..
Gene The Patient
They say, bad things sometimes happen to good people and that's just how it is.. Its my turn..
The following morning my fiance and I drove back to the hospital and without further delay I had a Catheter installed into my peritoneum and began receiving Peritoneal Dialysis Treatments..
The Transplant Team had me hooked up to a Peritoneal Dialysis Machine for 3 days 12 hours each day.. My blood was really poisoned! As I recall it these 3 days were draining and I had never been in a bed that long in my entire life..
At that moment I prayed very hard that this was not going to be how the rest of my life was going to be for me..
On the 4th day I am released from the hospital and sent directly to an affiliated Dialysis Clinic, where I am to be picking up a portable Dialysis unit for home use. The following morning I am required to report back to the clinic at 8:00 am sharp to receive an 8 hour treatment in a classroom so the clinic staff can train me on how to properly use my home Dialysis unit..
At this point all I wanted was to get back to my life, but no!
5 days at Dialysis school was no fun, but I must say' I learned a great deal about the kidney, Dialysis Hygiene and contamination dangers from my clinic nurse who has been doing this for over 20 years..
After 5 days of class I got a certificate of completion and everybody is happy..
Finally, I'm able to get back to my family to my life and my work. My dialysis treatments are 7 days a week for 9 hours a day.. Until further notice by my doctors..
This Was My Home Dialysis Unit
Here is what my normal day was like on dialysis. I work typically 6 days a week from 7 am - 4 pm get home at 4:30 pm start cooking than eat dinner by 6:00 pm, take a shower and by 7 pm. I'm in the bed getting my dialysis treatment until 4:00 am... Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
4 Month's Later
It's now been 4 months since I started Peritoneal Dialysis. During the past 4 months I had been visiting my kidney specialist once a month. The day before my visits I'm required to urinate into a large container for an entire 24 hour period. This test is to determine my overall urine outflow. My normal urine output was around 24 milliliters. It was very important for me to continue to produce urine to avoid Hemo Dialysis as it may have put me at risk for a non living donor kidney down the road.. In any event this particular month my urine output had declined precipitously to 18 milliliters.. Not Good!
The Kangen Water Machine In My Kitchen
For a year prior to my Kidney Failure. I had been protesting my fiance to get this machine out of my kitchen. I enjoy cooking and it was always in my way on our counter next to the sink..
At one point she had tried to convince me to drink water from it going as far as saying that it would keep my body in Homeostasis, but I refused to drink it, because I was skeptical besides I drank Poland Springs on a regular basis.. Honestly I thought it was snake oil that her best friend had sold her.. Man was I wrong..
That night I hook myself up to my Dialysis machine as usual and my fiance appears by my bedside with a gallon of Kangen Water and says "DRINK"..
I looked up at her from my bed and began to laugh and said "no thank you", I have my Poland Springs and I'll drink that. She gave me that look, you know that look I'm talking about?. She said' drink this water or I'll pour it on your head as you lie on that bed..
You bet! At that moment I became a Kangen Water drinker. After a day or two of drinking Kangen Water I had gotten used it and I really liked the clean taste of this Kangen Water. It was good tasting and I did feel a bit more hydrated, was sleeping better and felt more energetic..
In all truth I had no idea that just drinking this Kangen Water was going to Change My Life, as it did..
Doctor, Visit After 1 Month Drinking Kangen Water
1 month after my Kangen Water exposure. We are here once again at the doctors office for a check up and also to check my urine output. We're all now breathing a sigh of relief as the testing showed that my urination had gone from 18 milliliters and declining back up too 21 milliliters.. It appeared that I was getting better hydration and indeed felt much better and had way more energy. After explaining Kangen Water to my doctor he was very impressed with its properties and told me that since its the only thing that I have changed in my dietary lifestyle that I should continue drinking it. So i did..
12th Month On Dialysis
My health continues to improve my body has adjusted well to Kangen Water and to my 7 day a week home Dialysis treatments while my urination is still in the 20 milliliter output range.. Very Good!
My doctors now begin to discuss with me the possibilities of a Kidney Transplant and begin to put me through a battery of testing which lasts 3 month's. The transplant eligibility testing is rigorous and includes testing of the following things: Heart, Cancer, Prostate, GI & Mental.. Finally after 3 months of testing and re-testing, I get some awesome news. My transplant team sends me a letter, saying that, I am Approved.
The Gift Of Life
After many some heated discussions with my fiance to stop her madness in wanting to be a living Kidney donor for me. She was set in her mind and she simply was not hearing my concerns for her safety. She was on a mission. The mission to once again try to save my life. I felt that she had already done enough just by her insistence & persistence on my better hydration and her daily loving support of me during my period of illness.
At dinner one night she said to me Gino, "I'm going to get tested to see if we're a match and if we are a match you can have one of my Kidney's." I only need one Kidney to live anyway". I immediately went into a tirade and told her that flat out I simply would not allow her to put her life in danger for me and that she had already in my view done more than enough.
She laughed at me and hugged me and said, "I Love You and you are so worth saving".. In that very moment I just cried holding her tight and couldn't believe her total selfless commitment to me. This was that moment in all of my life that completely validated everything about True Human Compassion and Love to me. Never had I felt this happy and so yet afraid, it was an overwhelming feeling and in that moment I realized just how blessed I was to have someone in my life that cared about my life so much that she would be willing to risk her own life to save mine.. Just Wow!
March 3rd 2015 Transplant Day
Transplant testing on my fiance took 2 months and was completed in February not only was she approved to be an organ donor. She was also approved to be my living Kidney Donor.. Honestly I'm still astonished! My fiance's blood and tissue were tested 3 times because the match was so close that the doctors just wanted to be 100% certain before they gave her the great news.. Talk about a God send.. Astonishing!
We said a prayer together, and promised each other to be strong.
Me a few hours after my transplant
Its Worse On The Donor
After a 4 hour surgery and a 1 hour recovery we are both brought up the 8th floor the Kidney Transplant Unit. We are both in pain, but we're doing well post op.. The nurses are trying to get me to drink fluids as they want to make sure that I can produce urine, they also want to measure the amount of urine to make sure I have good normal production..
In order to monitor my kidney function, post op. I had to also have some of the following tests:
- Serum creatinine: This blood test measures kidney function. It is checked each day while you are in the hospital.
- Renal scan: This test monitors blood flow to the kidney and kidney function.
- Renal ultrasound: This test checks the kidney for any blockages or fluid collections around the kidney.
- Kidney biopsy: This test is used to check for rejection.
My body went from 30% to 100% just like that.. Amazing!
My fiance on the other hand was not doing so well. She had gone from 100% to 50% Kidney Function now having just one Kidney.. Here body in time would be 100% again she just needed more time to heal.. She is also historically a holistic health conscious person, and worked as a Life Coach & Health and Fitness professional.. She never takes medication of any kind. During and after the surgery her doctors have her on all kinds of drugs, including Morphine to help her cope with the surgical pain.
My worse fears are coming to life..
My fiance becomes suddenly very ill and is having many terrible back to back bad reactions to the medications. I request that the transplant team immediately put us in the same room. They agreed that it would be good for us both to do that.. After 2 days of watching her in this condition and trying to help her.
We both assertively requested that the doctors take her off all medication and allow her to heal naturally with just her Kangen Water.. Here doctors agree and she no longer was on any medication just IV fluids to flush her body.... Great news! By day 3 she was feeling much better! I was relieved..
That was such a close call.
40 Pills A Day For 5 Years
5 day's after my Kidney Transplant I am discharged with the following instructions. You must take these 40 pills every day for the first 5 years of this Kidney Transplant and we will need to see you every 2 weeks for blood work for the first 3 months.. 40 pills a day! Whaat?
- Here is my list of pills:
- Cyclosporine A (Neoral or Generic Formulation)
- Methylprednisolone (Medrol, Prednisone)
- Mycophenolate Mofetil or Sodium (CellCept or Myfortic)
- Sirolimus (Rapamune)
- Azathioprine (Imuran)
- Thymoglobulin
- Muromonab CD3 (OKT3)
- Nystatin (Mycostatin)
- Sulfa Tablets, Bactrim, Septra, Cotrim (Sulfatrim)
- Nifedipine, Adalat, Procardia or Amlodipine (Norvasc)
- Atenolol (Tenormin)
- Captopril (Capoten)
- Diltiazem (Cardizem)
- Furosemide (Lasix)
- Pantoprazole (Protonix), Omeprazole (Prilosec)
- Atorvastatin(Lipitor), Simvastatin (Zocor), and Pravastatin (Pravachol)
- Valganciclovir (Valcyte), Ganciclovir (Cytovene)
- Calcium Carbonate (OSCAL-500, Tums)
- Tacrolimus (Prograf or FK506)
8 Months Post Kidney Transplant
After enduring many months of post op follow up visits and blood testing to keep my Kidney health in check. My Transplant Team calls me into a meeting. They go on to tell me that they are Astonished with my recovery and that they are going to break post transplant medication protocol in my case specifically because of my amazing recovery. The Transplant Team has decided to take me off of all my medications except for Prograf which is my Anti-Rejection Medication. I am to take 3 -1 milligram capsules in the morning and 3 -1 milligram capsules 12 hours later for complete 24 hour immune suppression coverage..
Oh Happy Days!
Fast Forward To Now
Living My Dreams Again & Cooking Up A Storm
Here we are its now 17 months since my Kidney Transplant.. I feel Fantastic. I am living a healthy and happy life with my family & friends and my interest in life and business has never been more robust..
I'd like to say 3 very special Thank You's
1) To my amazing fiance who stood by my side through thick & thin and blessed me with her selfless gift of this beautiful kidney. Thank You My Love <3 <3
2) To Enagic ~ Our Kangen Water Unit is what has set the tone throughout this time of my illness in restoring my body back to Homeostasis. I truly believe with deep passion that I would not have made it.
I started drinking Kangen Water after a few months on Dialysis and a scary bout with dehydration and I'm still drinking Kangen as I'm writing this story.. Kangen Water is why I continued to produce urine before my Kidney Transplant and why I was later post kidney transplant taken off of 34 pills a day more than 4 years ahead of time..
Kangen Water is why I'm so healthy and living a healthy life today.. Thank You Enagic. Kangen Water Has Saved My Life!!
After enduring many months of post op follow up visits and blood testing to keep my Kidney health in check. My Transplant Team calls me into a meeting. They go on to tell me that they are Astonished with my recovery and that they are going to break post transplant medication protocol in my case specifically because of my amazing recovery. The Transplant Team has decided to take me off of all my medications except for Prograf which is my Anti-Rejection Medication. I am to take 3 -1 milligram capsules in the morning and 3 -1 milligram capsules 12 hours later for complete 24 hour immune suppression coverage..
Oh Happy Days!
Fast Forward To Now
Here we are its now 17 months since my Kidney Transplant.. I feel Fantastic. I am living a healthy and happy life with my family & friends and my interest in life and business has never been more robust..
I'd like to say 3 very special Thank You's
1) To my amazing fiance who stood by my side through thick & thin and blessed me with her selfless gift of this beautiful kidney. Thank You My Love <3 <3
2) To Enagic ~ Our Kangen Water Unit is what has set the tone throughout this time of my illness in restoring my body back to Homeostasis. I truly believe with deep passion that I would not have made it.
I started drinking Kangen Water after a few months on Dialysis and a scary bout with dehydration and I'm still drinking Kangen as I'm writing this story.. Kangen Water is why I continued to produce urine before my Kidney Transplant and why I was later post kidney transplant taken off of 34 pills a day more than 4 years ahead of time..
Kangen Water is why I'm so healthy and living a healthy life today.. Thank You Enagic. Kangen Water Has Saved My Life!!
3) To all my friends and family who supported us through this tough time.. We love you always and Thank You!
We love Kangen Water So Much And Hope You Will Too
To Learn More About Kangen Water Ionizers
Please Contact Us At 917-831-6310 Or Visit Our Website
Change Your Water.. Change Your Life..
HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH US
Disclaimer: The information, advice, statements, and testimonials made or mentioned on this web site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The information on this site and the products listed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease, nor are they intended to replace proper medical help. It is always recommended to consult with a healthcare professional before starting any regimen with any alternative products. User submitted testimonials are based on individual results and do not constitute a guarantee that you will achieve the same results - what works for one may not work for another.
No comments:
Post a Comment