*Statement: This article is only for popular science purposes and cannot be used as a basis for treatment. In order to protect patient privacy, the relevant information in the following content has been processed and transferred from the real experience of Xiaohe Health App [Type

* Statement: This article is only for popular science purposes and cannot be used as a basis for treatment. In order to protect patient privacy, the relevant information in the following content has been processed

Reprinted from the real experience of Xiaohe Health App

[Disease type] Uremia

[Basic information 】Female, 31 years old at the time of illness

[Time of diagnosis] 2017

Diagnosis experience

In the winter of 2017, I, who had always had a good appetite, suddenly felt nauseous, couldn't eat, and occasionally vomited. I thought it was a stomach bug, but it didn't get better after taking a lot of stomach medicine. Then I caught a cold and coughed for half a month without getting better.

Every morning when I got up, my eyes became more and more swollen. Later I found that it was difficult to put on shoes due to swollen feet, so at the urging of my family, I went to the hospital. The examination found that urine protein in urine protein was three plus, and the renal function blood creatinine was 300. The doctor immediately refused to let me go and required hospitalization.

At this time, I thought that I would still receive fluids and take some medicine, and I would be able to leave the hospital in a week and continue my usual life. Who knew that the real bolt from the blue was that after a week of infusion to protect the kidneys, creatinine not only did not drop, but also got higher and higher. As the urine gradually decreased, the whole body became swollen, to the point where I could not sleep while lying flat, and could not breathe. At that time, I didn’t know what creatinine and high meant, and what the final result of high creatinine was. I just saw the doctor look at the blood vessels in my arm and told my family, let’s see.

Picture source: provided by the narrator

At that time, I didn’t understand what dialysis meant. Later I learned that it was called dialysis. My disease was called renal failure, commonly known as uremia. I seem to have seen it on TV before, and I vaguely know that this disease cannot be cured. The doctor recommended peritoneal dialysis , saying that I was still young and could retain residual kidney function.

Treatment Process

In this way, he embarked on the road of dialysis in a daze. In the chats with the patients, they said that young people can actually choose transplantation, and many people are now undergoing kidney transplant.

After all, dialysis is not a long-term option. I seem to see dots of stars again in my despair. I asked the doctor and read some information online, but there are no hospitals with transplant qualifications in our city, and there are even doctors who know this knowledge. Very few.

Image source: Narrator provided

In 2017, doctors recommended peritoneal dialysis to preserve residual kidney function. After the surgery, I returned home and started regular peritoneal dialysis four times a day. I found that my whole body began to swell, and this swelling has never gone away. My eyelids were also swollen when I woke up in the morning. The doctor suggested supplementing protein and eating a light diet.

After half a year of dialysis, he felt increasingly dizzy. After being hospitalized, my hemoglobin was found to be as low as 60. The doctor recommended a blood transfusion (it is recommended here that if you plan to have a transplant, you should try not to have a blood transfusion to avoid high antibodies in your body before the transplant, which will make the transplant impossible) . At that time, I lost two 200cc bags of blood, and my own protein was low. , and lost ten bottles of human albumin. After I was discharged from the hospital again and returned home, the edema on my body still could not be eliminated completely. The doctor said that I must control my daily water intake and strictly control my water intake.

During the chat with fellow patients, a kind-hearted sister told me that a certain hospital has very mature technology in kidney transplantation, and that dialysis patients with renal failure from all over the country who are willing to have a kidney are queuing up there to wait for a kidney source. With the idea of ​​giving it a try, my family and I got on the train to the hospital.

When I got there, I called the director of the transplant department and took my medical records. The director said that in your case, your body has insufficient dialysis and has too much water. If you want to do a transplant, you should first go back and change the hemodialysis to adjust the body to the best condition before matching. Hearing this, I feel hopeful but also unsure.

The doctor in charge also said that my blood pressure is too high and my heart is suffering from heart failure . When I go back, I must switch to hemodialysis to drain the water in my body as soon as possible. This way, if the matching is successful in the future, I will be better. physical condition to undergo this surgery.

I returned to my hometown and immediately underwent surgery to install a long-term hemodialysis tube. Just like that, the dialysis plan was changed and hemodialysis was carried out regularly. So on the advice of the hospital doctor, he changed to long-term observation of hemodialysis. Hemodialysis three times a week finally slowly drained out the water stored in the body, and my weight was 20 kilograms less than during peritoneal dialysis, which meant that there was at least 20 kilograms of water stored in the body. Hemodialysis is performed three times a week for four hours each time. It uses dialyzer and water treatment to purify the blood and remove toxins by machine. The effect is still very good.

At the end of 2019, my various indicators finally reached a stable state. I began the long journey of being matched for a kidney transplant. The hospital's kidney transplant matching requires that every time a pair of donor kidneys comes in, all of us with the same blood type have to draw blood to compare with the donor. Whoever has the highest matching degree will belong to the lucky person. . I am O blood type , which is the most common among all blood types. Each time, more than a hundred people are needed for matching, and only two people can achieve the optimal matching value. That is, luck and the match between your own genes and the donor determine whether you will successfully enter the operating room or go home.

took the bus there and back again and again. Each matching requires about six or seven tubes of blood, a whole-body CT examination, and no water or food for six hours, waiting for the matching results to come out. It is recommended that friends from other provinces rent a house near the hospital and wait. Just like this, I go with hope and come back with disappointment again and again. By the 13th match, I seemed to be starting to feel a little desperate, feeling that I might have to deal with dialysis for the rest of my life.

I remember that I was so tired after the last matching. I was in a hotel with my family at twelve o'clock at night. I was in a daze. The phone rang and a voice came from over there saying that you should go to the hospital now. I suddenly became energetic, got up immediately, put on my clothes and ran to the hospital with my family. This day will be unforgettable for a lifetime. On January 30, 2021, I finally stood at the nurse station to register my information, draw blood and get needles, and prepare for the operation. Yes, I was matched. I don’t know whether I was excited or nervous, my whole body was shaking.

Picture source: The narrator provides

preoperative preparations for kidney transplantation. After arriving at the hospital, the nurse inserted the indwelling needle and began a series of preoperative preparations. The family members signed, and the doctor informed them of the risks involved in the operation and that the operation would take more than three hours. Then the nurse started to do skin preparation, electrocardiogram, and enema.

After these tasks were prepared, I followed the doctor to the operating room with the indwelling needle and the suspension bottle. On the way, the doctor told me not to be nervous. Kidney transplant surgery is a very mature technology. Jean tried not to be overly nervous. When he entered the operating room, the anesthesiologist began to ask for the signature. Then he lay down and started to insert a needle in his wrist, which was extremely painful. At this time, the anesthesiologist tells you to relax when you start pushing the medicine. Within a few seconds, I fell asleep. When I woke up again, I was pushed to the intensive care unit.

The entire operation takes about three and a half hours. He leaves the operating room and enters the intensive care unit for five days, and then is transferred to the general ward. Two weeks later, I was discharged from the hospital successfully. The kidney transplant required lifelong taking of the immunosuppressant , which is an anti-rejection drug.

Because they are other people’s organs after all, we have to coexist with them, and we also need to take medicine to resist the rejection of foreign bodies by our own immunity. The plan prescribed by the professor's doctor is 85 mg of cyclosporine in the morning and evening, 3 tablets of Mifu in the morning and evening, 1 tablet of Hexinshuang (to increase the drug concentration) in the morning and evening, and sodium bicarbonate two tablets in the morning and evening. Due to blood sugar reasons, So I don’t take hormones, which means I need one less medicine than most people.

Personal reflections

It has been more than ten months since my transplant. My creatinine has been floating around 80. Other electrolytes and routine blood and urine tests are also stable and within normal ranges.Here, I would like to remind patients who want to have a transplant or have already had a transplant to take medicine on time and at the right time, whether on dialysis or after transplantation.

You must not slack off in your monthly routine review, communicate with your doctor in a timely manner, and go to the hospital as soon as possible if you feel any discomfort. Especially for friends who have just received a transplant, their immunity is particularly low, so they must avoid colds and diarrhea.

These small problems of ordinary people often cause great damage to us and even endanger lives.

In short, these are some of my experiences over the past four years, from diagnosis to dialysis, to subsequent successful matching transplantation. I hope to give some help to patients in need. I hope everyone will look toward the sun and never be discouraged!

Copyright belongs to the author

* Statement: This article is only for popular science purposes and cannot be used as a basis for treatment. In order to protect patient privacy, the relevant information in the article has been processed. The real experience is the real treatment experience of the author or his family. The copyright belongs to the author and no reproduction is allowed. If you find any errors in the content, please feel free to provide feedback in the message area or backend.

Want to know more uremia related real experience cases? Recommended reading ↓↓↓

• " On the road to fighting uremia, I have been moving forward bravely " Click "Link" to read immediately
• " I have been with uremia for 8 years. In this difficult war, we are together come on! 》Click "Link" Read now
• " How to control and measure dry body weight in patients with uremia " Click "Link" Read now