Sorry I have been away from the blog for so long. Recently I referenced an illness and if you are interested, I am ready to bring you up to date.

Earlier this year I was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Failure, which means my kidneys were not functioning correctly and fading fast. This means that toxins in my blood and my body were building up inside me and not being flushed out by kidneys as they should. This stemmed from battle with severe sepsis back in 2019 (detailed also in this blog). You see, when the body is attacked by an antibiotic resistant infection, it tries to defend it self by shutting down organs to protect from the infection. While I was fortunate to have my life spared by amazing modern medicine, it was too late for my kidneys which have been faltering ever since.

By the last half of 2024 I was increasingly ill due to the buildup of the toxins and it has been a difficult time. After several medical referral disasters and a number of insurance delays and denials (don’t get me started) progress was finally made as the calendar flipped. I had an operation which installed a catheter in my abdomen to permit dialysis. Dialysis is essentially an artificial method to clear the toxins when you kidney is not operating. There are two type of dialysis. Most people have heard of hemodialysis which cleans the blood through an external filter, usually at designated clinics. What I am doing is peritoneal dialysis, which I was previously unaware of. Here is a diagram explainer.

Simple concept but complicated process. It is usually performed as home and I started it a week ago after two weeks training at a clinic. The diagram shows the manual method while a mechanized cycler device is commonly used for home dialysis. It looks something like this.

It is a very intricate procedure with very strong requirements to keep a sterile field when dealing with the process. There is an incredible amount of equipment and materials required to carry out successfully. It is a nightly routine that currently takes eight hours of cleansing with an additional hour before and after to prepare and clean up after. I am currently a client of a corporation named DaVita who specializes in kidney care. I’ll be letting you know how they are doing.

While this should extend my life, the ultimate goal is to qualify for a kidney transplant which is a whole other kettle of fish.

As you can see, my corny, warped sense of humor remains intact despite my medical complications. I will leave the examination of kidney transplants for future posts, which I hope will be more frequent in the coming weeks. My sympathies.