Our Daddy,The Fighter.

Hello everyone , i just wanna share my husband's story on his journey on being a dialysis patient...and how it all started.

It was all started lastyear .. Seems everything is normal..like we used to .

We are together for almost 7years now.

He go to work at the morning,he sent me pictures and messages when he is at work..we also videocall too when its lunch time .

But then oneday,he felt so irritated with his back because it keeps on itching specially on night time... we thought it was just an allergy from our viand or maybe he ate something at work.. Ofcourse he just take anti histamine for it .He is a I.T and usually drive from house to house .He is a cable and internet installer.Some of their subsribers usually offered them some snack or food like bread and softdrinks after their installation.As you know Filipino is very hospitable when it comes to their guests and they will not let you leave unless you finish your food.

I noticed also that he had a foamy urine.He really gained weight.He also take medication like mefenamic acid when he feels some toothache or body aches..He hates going to dentist or doctors, so he always do self medication.

Then they got an annual general medical at their work.He was 30 years old that time.After that my husband called by their boss to talk about his medical result which alarmed them.I got alarmed and worried too when he told me what happens at their office.

He went home ,and told us what her Boss told him.

His createnine reached 851.6 that time. Got a highblood pressure.So they ask him to take a leave so that he can get a proper medication and rest.. We thought they are really concerned about him.

So what is Createnine?

• He immediately went to hospital to have a checkup. But that this doctor just gave him alot of medication... drink this...take this .. which he also followed at first.. He also list down some of the food that he should not eat.

My husband didn't accept his health condition seriously.. He thought it just like Urinary tract infection (UTI) that can be cure by taking some medication like antibiotics and not so strict diet.We also thought that he was taking his monthly laboratory exams to monitor his createnine and other medical conditions because he is also asking for medical assistance on SSS (Social Security System ) and laboratory results is one of their requirments . He lied to us because he said he wanted to provide first our need than these expensive laboratoy.This makes me feel sad...ifeel useless too because icannot help him financially..Im a housewife and have no job .all ican do is taking care of them.All ican do is just moral support..

Ithink 3 Months quickly passed by.He got a call from their office.He was asked to come right away because their boss want to talk to him as soon as possible .After 2hours he went home and he is a bit sad.

Iasked him what did they talk about He said they want him to file a resignation letter .Igot mad because he worked their for almost 6years then because of his condition they just want him to leave like that? They wont even ask him for a work like he can just stay at the office so that he can do a light job or whatsoever. They just want him to resign right away..They offered him a separation pay which ofcourse he accepted because we really need it for his treatment. They are so clever.They knew that my husbands condition is not that good and they dont want to be responsible for their employee. Hayss this makes me mad again while typing now.

Anyways ..months passed by again..we try to do online selling , we tried alot of things to earn money but still we got failed..we also got scammed by one networking modus..It hurts alot for us because it was our friend who did that to us.We just let it passed and prayed for that person.

He also try to drink alof of herbal medicine that he serched online .But then again the first doctor is against this .

He tried this Medicinal tea and take another lab test after he finishing one pack of these. There is one more herbal medicine bottle that he tried but thats alot more expensive than this. ithink that 5bottle cost 1500 pesos.

This is lab result after taking theses Uva tea ..its really a big difference so we thought he is getting better.

yes he tried many things to cure his kidney but nothing happen...

Fastforward..

He celebrated his 31st birthday last January.He seems so fine..he even cooked for us .Yes my husband really loves to cook..He is a die hard chef here at house before. hehe. But after standing for 30mins he comes to our room and said " iwill just take a rest for a bit.. im panting.." which not usually happens to him.He invited some of his friends to celebrate with us.

That time i noticed something is not right to him .

He cannot sleep at night. He keeps on walking and sometimes he talked and asked me weird things in the middle of the night..Like " if i sell my clothes ..how much will i sell it? do you think they will like it"? me was like " what are you talking about? " He just answered me with a smile then he will walked again back and forth in the kitchen...He looks like a zombie when he walks because he cannot also walk properly .I also noticed he had a swollen legs and toes that he said its really hard to sit down and bend.

I asked my mother inlaw if we can schedule him for a checkup online. Because iknow he will refuse again if i asked him again to go on checkup and idont like what he is acting that time..we are also tired and almost didnt sleep properly for almost 1week already..

That day igot a schedule for him on a Nephrologist at Marikina Valley Medical Center. and talked to the doctor tru Viber. But because we dont have a latest lab test..She cannot give a proper medication right away.She just gave us a request for laboratory asap.She just said to send the result as soon as we got it.

(Nephrologist is a proffesional doctor on kidneys)

2days after that we finally got the Lab results and we are all shocked coz his Createnine is 2440 .

I immediately contacted the doctor for another virtual checkup .And when she saw the Lab results. .. she told us right

"Ill be honest with you...he is already have a Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)Stage 5. His both kidneys are not functioning anymore and he needs to be admitted to the Hospital right away ..All the symptoms that he feels now is a sign that he is already full of bad elements inside his body that his kidney cannot be process anymore.Thats why he had a hard time sleeping,panting and lost of appetite and hallucinating ..he will need to go under emergency dialysis rigth away.. He will have to have a access (fistula) on his neck and go for dialysis soon as posible... to avoid further more problem and Sepsis shock.Which is more dangerous ..after that he will choose which will he wanted to have a another access on his arm or on his tummy.

If you choose to have a access or graft on arm called AV fistula, you have to do it now because it takes time to used that...it has to be healed perfectly takes around 2 to 3months before you can use it for dialysis. Goodthing about this there is a proffesionals that will monitor you and assists you while your sitting in dialysis machine .it takes 4hrs per session for this kind of dialysis

If peritonial dialysis you will do it by yourself at home 4x aday. you just have to put a bag on your access which is on your belly and let it process on its own.yes we put a catheter on your belly .Goodthing about this you are safe at home no expose to virus or covid." she said.

"Then your last checkup and lab test was almost 6months ago..why you didnt monitor your condition? And please keep in mind that Dialysis in not a cure for Chronic Kidney Disease.. It will just help you to cleanse and remove excess fluid in your blood. that your kidney cannot do anymore.The only cure for this is Kidney transplant. "

"Doc how much does transplant cost?"i asked

"You have to prepare almost 2million pesos. Anyways you really need to go now the nearest hospital ... coz you are already on emergency situation...Dialysis will help you...so dont be scared ok? after dialysis you will feel better..iknow its financially draining but thats only our option now." ..she said

Iwas so shocked when i heard what the doctor said..coz we thought he got checkup and taking lab test regularly. Again he refused again to do it. 🤦🏻‍♀

When i heared all of this we just looked at each other . Ijust said. is this true? is this really happening? ... it didnt sink in to the both of us. . what will happen now Lord ?Why my husband? ... what will happen to our future? ... icant even control my tears..specially when i look at my kids. ididnt noticed im already crying.

I immediatly called my mother inlaw to told her what the doctors findings.they rushed home right away.

We call alot of Hospital but its hard to find a hospital that will accept him because they said they dont accept walk -ins. and they dont have a speacialist for his condition .

My husband said let just do this tommorow. Iknow he was against again with this..maybe he is feeling nervous again. he really hate going to the doctor .he was talking to his mother and i overheard that he doesnt want to go and have a emergency dialysis. .Ibutted in the middle of their conversation.

"What? tommorow again?and then what? youre always like that.you keep on lying and refusing to go on a checkup..thats why this also happen because you wont listen to me..to us..can just please cooperate this time? look at you. You can even sleep,eat and walk.properly because your swollen alreasy.... look at us. We are all stressed and now here we are ,you said you passed all your lab results to SSS but you lied to us you didnt went to checkup and lab test for almost 6months? . .." yes i didnt noticed im crying already while saying this.

His mother reaction too was shocked when he heard what i said..and i just shut up already because isaw her face she was also about to cry ..iknow she really worried about his son too.She just said

" please just listen and cooperate what?..almost 6months ago no.lab no checkups? ... idont know anymore what do you want to do with yourself...why you let this happen Ang tigas ng ulo mo.."worries shown on her face.

ijust walk to the bathroom and cried silently ididnt.know what are their conversation afterthat..

Finally after 3hrs of calling to family and friends.. Goodthing we have a cousin that had a contact and very close to one of the doctor here in the nearest hospital which happen to be a Nephrologist and also the owner of that hospital.Connections sometimes really help alot to makes things easier.Thanks God they accepted my husband right away .We rushed packing his stuffed right away .

My mother inlaw had no choice but to come to the hospital..because im breastfeeding our youngest child and ihave to take care of our 3kids.They got swabbed right away and stayed in isolation room for 1day until they got their covid test result. God is good they are both negative and got transfered to ward room the day after that. She cannot also go home ,she had to stay with the patient all the time. They are not allowed to go out because if they do that..they have to take a Rpcr test again. That test cost them P3800 each.Thats the protocol of that hospital..so everyday i cooked and bring them some rice and viand and other things they need like clothes and blanket.

They treated my husband right away.His hands and arms are all swollen.The nurse getting a hard time finding his vein for the dextrose .They failed and tried many times to look for his veins. And problem is because of his condition..his veins got easily to get burst .This makes my husband pissed..but ijust told him to be patient for every procedure..

They injected him.some antibiotics..They also asked us to prepare 3bags of blood because he only had 49 hemoglobin thats why he felt so weak and having a hard time breathing.ThanksGod we immediately found 3 bags right away because of pur relatives help.

its really blessed to have a family like this..i didnt got luck to have a loving family..But God gave me a loving and very kind inlaws.

My daughter is so sweet she even make a poster for his daddy..She said she really miss him si much..evey she is asking me when will be her daddy will come home..ijust said soon.very soon...let just keep on praying.

When the blood arrived at the hospital they immediately used 2bags for his tranfusion .

That day they schedule him for the minor operation for installing the catheter on his neck.

. That cost P15,000 discounted already 🤧 ..He said it really hurts even it already had a anesthesia. he really felt that long rod that poked on the rightside of his neck.If you are curious about this procedure you can watch it on youtube.iwant to provide the video link but its not allowed to post here.

They left 1bag so it can be process together with his dialysis .The day after that he went on his very first dialysis..

They said if he felt nothing he can already go home..but his blood presure got high again and also he cannot breath properly and also felt chills.so they have to monitor him again for 1day.

Finally after 1week they went home already...all of our kids are very excited to see their daddy.Specialy our youngest .He run towards his daddy and begging him to carry him...but then suddenly we got emotional...when he said...

"im sorry anak...icant even carry you... Then he started crying we all started crying.."im sorry to all burdens that i caused.." it really hurts for me to saw him like that...Because i never saw him being so emotional.

"we are here for you...please also help yourself and listen to us. For he sake of the kids..and our family.." isaid...

icried evryday thinking what will happen to us .Iask Lord why..but i didnt got mad at Him...Iknow everything happens for a reason and God will never let us face this if He doesnt know we can get through this.I just said to my self ther are still more unfortunate people who is experiencing bigger problem than us.

He still feel alot of pain sometimes and swollen feet, So he really need to control his water intake and avoid prohibited foods.I also joined in a group on facebook about dialysis patient to gather some information about his condtion.

He also showed me.lastime his access on his neck .if you cannot bear looking at this just dont mind this pic

On this image ithink he is already doing dialysis for almost 2months....He already looses 20 kilos..He still do Dialysis session 3x week.Hope it will get lessen soon.

Thanks for reading my first article.I hope you take care of health too and take control on what you eat..this pandemic season its really hard to get sick..its really expensive...

If you have suggestions on how to take care of a dialysi patient just comment down below.