So, this blog is something that came out of the blue and bit me in the ass big time. While it was egotistical of me to think that I would go through life with zero health issues, this one jumped up fast and bit hard. Still absorbing the ramifications. Anyway, going to write and post as I go, it will be a journey through healing to recovery. Or a journey through illness to death. That I can not predict we are just along for the ride. Will try to post/update in real time as it is a wild ride of a lot of emotion. For better or worse, here is the ride.

March 13/2024

Well, things have caught up with me suddenly healthwise. Maybe suddenly is not accurate because now I know signs and symptoms, things had been brewing for years and I just didn't recognize it or didn't want to. So, haven't had a doctor in 15 years since my last one retired. And no doctors are available in Tweed, for most around here, it is just hospital visits when serious. And that is what happened with me.

Been stressed over past few months as Paul has pulled some doozy stunts, all alcohol and/or diminished abilities related which included two ambulance rides to hospital. It is thought that stress was a factor that pushed my systems over the edge. About a month ago, I had an incident of heart palpitations, sweating, dizzy, weak - googled it and not necessarily serious, often caused by dehydration and stress. Had a bottle of water, tried to calm down and all good. Two nights later, same thing again but this time way worse and with tightness across my chest. Called Telehealth and they said get to hospital.

At Napanee hospital they took me right in and hooked me up to ECG and other monitors. First thing that was apparent was my blood pressure was through the roof at 200/150 (Hypertensive Crisis). Blood tests came back that I was in Stage 5 kidney failure. ECG showed markers of a heart attack but blood test said no. More heart tests showed thickening of the heart muscle due to overwork. Doctor gave me a IV bag of saline and repeated the kidney blood test, the extra fluid backed me off to a Stage 4 kidney status.

Anyway, diagnosis is likely I have had undiagnosed extremely high blood pressure for years and years. No BP tests in Tweed except for drug store but have realized that machine is not accurate, cuff doesn't even get tight. The high blood pressure has damaged my kidneys to the point of failure. Thickening of the heart muscle falls under the heart failure umbrella. Angina is an indicator of Coronary Artery Disease. So, not very good at all. Saw Specialist last week, no further insight. Have lots of tests coming up to determine my heart status. On BP meds and the hope is to keep my kidneys functioning for as long as possible. Stage 5 is dialysis or transplant (or palliative care).

For me, stress related or not, it was like a circuit breaker tripped in my chest that weekend. Went from feeling fine and planning the spring and coming year with goals and adventures; to feeling weak, tired, shaky and really not up for a thing. I have a home BP machine (only $36 from Amazon) and my BP is sneaking down a bit but still in the danger zone. Of course, all this is also a reality check.

March 17. 2024

As part of the followup tests, had blood and urine tests at Life Labs. An advantage of there is I can log in and view my results. A key one is kidney function and had an eGFR at 46 (effectively kidneys operating at 46%) which is not good but my kidneys are still hanging in there. Also signs of Anemia (common with kidney disease), high cholesterol (also goes with kidney disease) and high Ferritin which can mean inflammation (understandable) or cancer.

March 20, 2024

Had the wearable heart monitor for day. No urgent phone calls from hospital so I guess nothing major showed.

March 23, 2024

Got an email from my mother basically stating that the diagnosis I have been given is wrong and she has the correct one. According to mom, I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and my heart and kidney issues are caused by the bad energy from the CFS. She explains that she has had it 3 times, and thus I would be predisposed to it too. She outlines a treatment plan. So, looked up CFS and only two symptoms I have are fatigue and dizziness. Think I will go with the doctors' diagnosis on this one,

March 25. 2024

Going to talk about sleeping or, in my case, not sleeping. Insomnia is a common symptom with kidney failure and something that was mentioned as occuring regularily prior to a heart attack. So, even if this is just passing comment for now, it might end up being a bigger factor in this story and that is why I am including it. For the record, my sleep disruptions started in 2018/19 and were a factor in me leaving the electrical field, as I was just going into work wiped most days. My sleep has gotten much worse over the subsequent years and especially in the last couple of weeks with now just a series of short naps punctuated by long awake periods. Total sleep now averaging about 3 hours per day, down a couple of hours in last few weeks. Again just flagging a situation, it will unfold as it will be. Maybe, based on my observations, a greater understanding can happen.

My Dream: It is a busy day and I am running around with lots to do. I pass by my mother and she mentions about my body temperature and that I went to the hospital the previous night. I have no recollection of a hospital visit. Mom goes on saying that I took my temperature and then headed for the hospital. I am now worrying as a fever could indicate that my kidneys have quit and toxins building up. I then do a frantic search for a thermometer and none are found. Mom helpfully comments then how did I take my temperature the previous night. I don't remember. Well, chores are still unfinished and I am racing around, get the trailer parked where it needs to go, race back for the tractor and get it parked. Approaching a nearby cabin, I notice my chicken in a crate in the yard and grab her and take her into cabin. My brother pulls up, I ask him if he has thermometer which he does, an infrared one but won't take my temp until after I put ice packs on my chest to cool me down as I had been running around. Get to hospital and ask a nurse about my temperature reports from the previous night. She phones records but is not getting answers, hands me the phone and says she is headed for Records on the 18th floor. While waiting on the phone, the chair I am sitting in starts jumping in the air, pogoing around in a circle. Other nurses look over in shock and disbelief at this chair. I hold up my hands to show I am doing nothing then Whoosh, I am rocketing upwards at incredible speed, I surmise I just died and try to look back to see if my body is still in the chair but the speed and pressure is too great. In the background I hear the Crash Cart being brought to me and I wonder if the medical staff will get me back. - - - - I wake up, heart pounding and tightness in my chest, I took an Ativan to calm down. Dream significance says that dying in a dream is a sign of lack of support, making sacrifices that no one notices, or a wake up call to a need to change. The number 18 represents a period of growth and metamorphosis.

Next comment for today is my urine output has slowed to a trickle. I am still drinking 3 to 4 litres of water per day but only infrequent dribbles coming out. Still not showing any sign of water retention or swelling so not sure where it is going. As I experienced at the hospital, I seem to end up dehydrated for no reason. Update, after many hours of zilch, floodgates opened (exaggeration, but a decent amout of urine flowed.) Just really weird how my systems now function.

So what does Google have to say about today? Not sleeping (insomnia) goes with kidney failure and heart issues. Insomnia or rapidly changing sleep patterns are also noted as a precurser in the weeks prior to a heart attck or stroke. False smells along with an inability to smell peppermint, leather, orange, roses or fish also are precursors to stroke. As far as fake smells, have smelled very strongly over past few days a smell of burning coffee and yet so source exists. Been sniffing around, even checked smoke detectors just in case. No burnt coffee. This is called Phantosmia. Anyway, just logging as I go.

Sat, Mar 30

Urine production has been pretty consistent and regular timing all week.

Another effect of kidney failure is Peripheral Neuropathy. This is caused by uremia, a build up of toxins in the blood, damaging the neurological system. This can manifest itsef in many ways but one is feeling like your hands and feet are cold but they are not. Numbness and tingling can also occur. Definitely I am experiencing some of this, feet, particualrily right foot feels cold but is not and a bit of tingling. Phantosmia is a symptom. Cognitive decline is another symptom. One of the reasons I am writing this blog is it makes me focus. Observers can comment if I am slipping or not.

Tuesday, April 2

Continue to read a lot on all of my health situation, so many things are so interconnected and one failure in a body system quickly affects the rest. One thing I did read is that the body always tries to compensate for failure, working harder, covering the symptoms, till the point it just can no longer do that. That is what happened to me in that last weekend in February. My body had valiantly continued on till it no longer could. The Uh-Oh moment.

Also was in grocery store, tried sniffing an orange and mint. Smelled nothing. Just to recap, a group of people were given five things to smell - orange, mint, roses, leather and fish. For those that smelled nothing, 40% were dead within 5 years (vs 10% that scored better). Tried the leather sniff test on Paul's jacket the other day, smelled nothing. The theory is that as the body begins to fail, certain systems begin to shut down so that the body can continue focussing on the major systems. Smell and taste are two systems that the body considers expendable. Just reading that the loss of the sense of smell is the most accurate predicator of death vs all the standard medical tests.

Making some connections within the kidney failure community here in Tweed. No official group, just people who are/have gone through it that I know.

Wedesday, April 3

Update on sleep, picked up some 3mg Melatonin, only two nights but much better sleep results. Still have little energy thru the day.

Friday, April 5

Was in the grocery store and tried sniffing everything. Nothing smelled. Came to the realization that I have no sense of smell anymore. Everything, everywhere smells the same all the time. The only exception seems to be in town with traffic going past, I can smell some exhaust and car smells. And I continue to smell burnt coffee occasionally. I would say I lost the smell sense over the past couple of months.

Sunday April 7

Had a bout of Arrythmia, heart just fluttering and bouncing all over the place. Managed to catch some of it on the Kardia Mobile App and it showed what I was feeling. Heartbeats were irregular and ECG showed a notable absence of the P segment of my heartbeat. P segment is the Atrium triggering.

Monday April 8

Back to Napanee Hospital, had my vitals checked and went over the Arrythmia with Triage nurse. My vitals were normal (for me) and she felt nothing was critical and simply leave message of what happened with the specialist.

Friday April 12

Had another "attack", Arrythmia, very shaky, short of breath, chest pain. Did a shot of NitroGlycerin and a couple of Kardia Mobile readings and headed for hospital. Most symptoms subsided before I got there but was still shaky and short of breath. The hospital's 30 second ECG showed nothing and tests were negative for a heart attack again. Doctor did study my ECG readings and then had me hooked up to an ECG for 3 hours and recorded everything. Was feeling heart flutters and machine picked them up. Had about 20 flutters over the 3 hours. They are called Premature Atrial Contractions (PAC) and, on ECG, looked like a couple of rapid heartbeats and then a pause. While lying there I remembered that I had done a Kardia reading with that very first attack in February. When I got home I reviewed all my "attack" readings are they are all very similar. Some Arrythmias will mimic heart attack symptoms and get misdiagnosed as Panic Attacks.

Downloading a ECG cheat sheet, my ECG readings look like Atrial Fibrillation or Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia (PSVT). Will bring up the topic of Arrythmias at next doctor's appointment unless she does first. Will likely get the Holter Monitor again for likely a much longer time to try to catch one of these attacks. Doctor is unlikely to diagnose anything off my readings.

April 19

Saw specialist doctor at Napanee Hospital again. For almost an hour too. I was surprised but she accepted my ECG reports (off my Kardia Mobile) and despite not having caught anything (other than the PAC) on the hospital's machines, was open to discussing them. And we reviewed all results and reports. And, she was not at all mad that I had studied and was actually quite open to and, I believe, impressed that I had studied.

So, diagnosis is Arrythmia, specifically Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (paroxsymal means occasional) and Tachycardia (heart beats too fast). It was one of my guesses, that or PSVT as those two cause the fake heart attack symptoms and look chaotic on the ECG. Atrial Fibrillation is heart's upper chambers don't beat, just quiver. Atrial Fibrillation leads to a five times higher risk of blood clots and stroke due to blood pooling in the heart. She talked about my CHADS score, which she said was about a 1 or so, which is low and has about a 3%-5% chance of a stroke annually. (A CHADS score of 6 leads to about a 25% annual chance of a stroke.) Another positive sign is I am not showing any swelling or fluid retention. So, I get Tachycardia meds and blood thinners and am forbidden from having any accidents involving bleeding. Still lots more tests to come. I will likely get the Holter Monitor for 2 weeks next time, first round of just one day showed nothing. I asked about a referral to a Cardiologist and she said she would refer me to, I believe, a Physiologist, a slightly broader based discipline. After all the tests are done, will likely be a referral to the Ottawa Heart Institute for Catheter Ablation surgery for the A-Fib where the offending heart nerve that is misfiring gets cut. She said the waiting list for there is very long. Ablation surgery is a day or two in hospital and still sounds quite awful. No open heart but is done through a vein in the groin. So, moving forward, if I have another attack, I do not need to rush to hospital as it will likely pass. Only need to go to hospital if things like chest pain linger. And, I would assume, following an A-Fib attack, watch for any stroke symptoms. And, I guess, note what triggers an A-Fib attack for any commonality. I do have some degree of Cardiomyopathy (heart failure), seriousness of which is still to be determined.

The Tachycardia is likely the cause of my fatigue, dizziness and shortness of breath as my heart is beating too fast to be efficient and makes sense as it is not a consistent situation. If it is not the Tachycardia, then more likely to be the Cardiomyopathy. She said no to Anemia but my B12 was low. On my own initiative, I started B12, Folic Acid and D3 supplements which were, apparently, all good moves. At the moment, my blood pressure is down and staying down (140/95 - still high, though) and kidney failure is stable. Still many more issues to be addressed. Already picked up new meds and she wants to see me again in a few weeks to see how those are going and then tackle the next issue or two. I asked about a diet theory as I had read so many - Salt Free, Renal, Keto, Mediterranean or just better choices. She said go with the Mediterranean and better choices options.

Still more tests to go. Cholesterol is likely next on the hit list and still have to get into what state my heart is in. Doctor also mentioned HFpEF (Heart Failure preserved Ejection Fraction) which goes with Hypertension and Cardiomyopathy.

So, for those who ave not been keeping score, here it is so far:

Kidney Failure - Stage 3 - life expectancy - 8 to 11 years

Atrial Fibrillation - CHADS score 1 or so - 4% chance of stroke per year, if stroke 25% fatal (rural)

Hypertension - takes 5 years off life

Cardiomyopathy - has four stages, stage TBD - likely stage 2 or 3 - 5 year survival rate is 75%

HFpEF - TBD - 5 year survival rate is 50%, 10 year survial rate is 25%