Last Thursday: GI doc
Monday: Clinical Trial doc
Wednesday: Kidney doc
Friday: Family doc
And, lucky me, I get to get another pap next week on account of the abnormal pap from a few months ago.
So, let's recap everything, shall we?
My GI doc is pretty sure I have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) as well as collagenous collitis, due to the fact that I have fairly regular nausea nearly every morning, along with all of my other symptoms. So, he's had pretty good experience with his patients taking Xanax in order to "calm the bowel". I know...sounds strange, right, but I'm game to try it, as long as I don't become some sort of numb zombie.
Then on Monday, I had my last in-person appt. with my clinical trial doc,which I've already written about.
Since that last post, I've gotten my lab results back, and they pretty much suck.
24-hr proten: 12865 mg/24hr
Albumin: 1.5 g/dL
Creatinine: 0.9
Potassium: 3.1 meg/L
Calcium: 7.5 mg/dL
Cholesterol: 401
Triglycerides: 220
HDL: 58
LDL: 300
Holy hell. LOOK AT THAT CHOLESTEROL NUMBER!!! And I'm already taking Lipitor. THIS number scares the hell outta me. I don't wanna die of a heart attack!!!! I've always had a higher-than-normal cholesterol number because my HDL was always so high, so I didn't freak out all that much if it was over 200. But for some reason (damn kidneys) it's dropped by almost 100 points and my LDL is skyrocketing. I kinda knew this was happening, but it's scary to see the actual numbers.
My nephrologist kinda wrapped everything up. Nothing's changing too drastically. With a creatinine of 0.9, I still have good kidney function (and it was 1.09 back in October, so it's getting better). The albumin number is extremely low (as indicated by the bold EL on my lab sheet), and that's why I have so much swelling...nothing new there. My proteiniuria is relatively stable (October it was 14880), but my potassium and calcium are dropping....likely due to the extraordinary amount of diuretics that I'm on. No matter how many tomatoes I eat, it's just not going to be enough.
I went to see my GP this morning to go over my cholesterol results and create a plan of action. So now, I'm going to add another cholesterol med to the mix (Zetia), double my potassium, religiously take my calcium pills that I routinely forget about, and switch my Lexapro for Xanax. He prescribed an extended-release form of Xanax since I'm using it not necessarily for the mood properties, but to calm my gut.
The doctor's office today doesn't have electronic records yet, so I wanted to show you the size of my file. My nephrologist file is like this too (they're in the middle of switching over), but it's twice as thick. I was a little embarassed when the elderly woman in front of me had a smaller file than I did.
Thank God that they are going electronic, my file looks like that one and I have had to have it shipped around a few times. A lot less money when it's just a cd or two! :)
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