Hemo Rhymes with Chemo

For those who aren't fully up-to-date on everything going on, we sincerely apologize. Life has...(how shall we put it?)...been a little on the hectic side for the past several months. Here's a quick recap, though, to catch you up:

• The Christmas season began to approach (way too quickly, as always) and Joe's vision became a little spotted.
• Joe decided to visit the eye doctor to see what is wrong.
  
• The optometrist told him to go to the ER right away because of high blood pressure (which was causing his optic nerve to pull away, thus causing spotty vision).
• Joe was admitted overnight for observation. The original plan was to get him on blood pressure control medication and send him home.
• But days passed and, after many tests, x-rays, ultrasounds, bloodwork, and a kidney biopsy, it was decided that he was in the end stages of kidney failure, or End Stage Renal Disease (which I will refer to as ESRD from now on).
  
• They discovered (somehow) that his ESRD was caused by a disease called Glomerulonephritis, specifically IgA Nephropathy, more specifically Rapidly Progressive Glomerulonephritis. I've researched a LOT about this, but don't want to go into TOO much detail right now, otherwise this post will be a bojillion pages long.
• As a result of this disease, in which the immune system progressively destroys the kidneys, they decided to put him on chemotherapy (to sort of "attack" his immune system so that it would stop harming his own kidneys).
• After two rounds of chemo, Joe's lab results showed that his kidney function was getting worse.
• His doctors sent us to a modality class, which explain different methods of treatment for ESRD
  
• The options (and I'm TOTALLY paraphrasing here): Hemodialysis (a process done in a lab in which they remove the blood, filter out the toxins and return the blood to the body), Peritoneal dialysis (a process you can do yourself in which a solution is infused into the peritoneal cavity, the solution then acts as a magnet for all the toxins in the blood and then the solution with all toxins is removed from the peritoneal cavity), Transplantation, or no treatment (which would, obviously, have the worst effects).
  
• Joe's preference (in order): transplantation, peritoneal dialysis, hemodialysis
• Because of the negative results of Joe's most recent bloodwork, he got a call late on Friday saying that they needed to start dialysis right away and, because of the urgency of it all, hemodialysis was the option available.
  
• Normally, in order to start hemodialysis, an arteriovenous fistula needs to be formed in the arm to allow for maximum blood flow. This is where a vein is fused with a major artery in the arm to make a sort of "SuperVein". This fistula, however, takes at least a couple months to mature and become strong enough for treatment.
• So....the only way to get quick access to Joe's blood was to put in a venous catheter in through his neck. It sounds kind of gruesome, but isn't that bad. It is a little scary to think about since the catheter goes in to the superior vena cava of the heart (for those who don't remember from 7th grade science class...it's the major vein that carries blood directly to the heart)...but it's something that is temporary...to be used until he has a chance for a fistula to mature.
• Catheter was put in on Monday morning.
• First dialysis treatment was this afternoon and...so far, so good. Joe's relaxing on the couch now with Lucy laying across his lap (she's FINALLY calming down).
• Now he begins treatment 3 times each week in addition to a very strict diet. FUN! At least we'll get to keep cooking new things and learning how to be more healthy (hey...I'm trying to put a positive outlook on this!)
  

Sorry for the earful....I just wanted to keep you all informed as best as I can for now. I don't know when dialysis patients start to notice results, but his first treatment was today, so hopefully there will be notable difference in his next round of lab tests. I've heard that a lot of people start to feel so much better, healthier, happier, having more energy, feeling less sick, etc. etc. etc. Ideally, Joe would like a transplant. And, since he's so young (and has 3 beautiful and healthy sisters who, we believe, are all willing to donate), he's a great candidate for transplantation. But [in the interim] I really hope this treatment works well for him because...well...that would just be wonderful if it did!

So wish him the best and MORE...

We'll definitely keep you posted.

Until next time,
XOXO