Day 11 hospital update

I was a little disappointed today to hear that my creatinine level did not change since Saturday – it is still at a 5, but my doctors had warned me this could happen and they don’t seem too discouraged by it. They are actually encouraged that it is hasn’t gone back up, that it is maintaining, and that I haven’t gotten any infections or had any major setbacks. AND they are still thinking about letting me go home tomorrow anyway. My kidneys are still failing, but they said it could take 3 months to get back to normal and (thankfully), they aren’t going to keep me hospitalized that long. I’ll just have to come back frequently for blood tests, check-ups, sonograms, etc.

In my first blog, I mentioned that the first time I went to the doctor (January 6th), I took a test called the C Reactive Protein test. Normal people have between a 0-5 level, but mine was 246. Scary. Dr. Porras thought I had a serious bacterial infection, but it turns out it was just a sign of major inflammation in my body. Anyway, when I went back to see him on the 13th, after taking an antibiotic, it was down to 100 (still high, but better), but I was in such miserable shape that Dr. Porras admitted me (thinking I had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever at the time). Anyway, they tested my C Reactive Protein again today and it’s down to a 7 – almost normal!

One of the fun and challenging parts about this whole experience is that it is all taking place in Spanish. My medical Spanish has definitely improved, and I think the Lord has enabled me to understand more than I naturally would be able to – I understand almost everything the doctors say to me! But miscommunication is still inevitable. For example, I knew that I had swelling in my kidneys and lungs, but apparently my liver was swollen as well and I was completely missing that word every time they said it. In case you ever need to know, the Spanish word for liver is “hígado”.

Also, several days ago, a man came in and put a little blue triangle sticker on my hospital bracelet. I was a little confused, but he explained that they were starting a new system with codes and red would mean “this patient could fall easily”, yellow would mean “special diet” and blue would mean “patient has psychotic problems”. I was shocked and asked him why they thought I mental problems! He laughed and explained that it was a new system that they just wanted to try out, and I guess since they knew I would be here forever and a day, they’d test it out on me. They want to make sure the sticker stays on through showers and things. I was relieved that they don’t actually think I’m crazy. And the sticker has stayed on my bracelet nicely.

Pray for freedom tomorrow! Is it weird that I’m excited to do things like wash dishes, go to the store, and use the restroom without having someone measure how much I went? I might kind of miss pancakes in bed every morning though…