The Crash...
Many are wondering how I came to be where I am so I decided to write this as a way to share my experience. So, I guess its best to start at the beginning, the very beginning of my journey….
When I was 42, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I remember saying, “How can this be, I’m too young.” and the doctor telling me, not unkindly, “You’re not so young.”, inferring he has patients in their twenties. Anyways, what ensued over the next few years was a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, radiation and recovery.
I was 46 (2006) and finally getting my life back on track, I started to get these weird joint pains. At the time I was playing a lot of tennis, so I especially noticed it because I continually had to cancel games. First it would be just in one ankle and I could barely walk. Then the joint pain progressed from being in just an ankle to my shoulder, and eventually to both my ankle and shoulder. What I found odd, and I couldn’t figure out, was that the pain would come on and leave just as fast and I didn’t remember doing anything to cause the pain.
Then came the double vision. My friend drove me to my family doctor who thought I might be having an aneurism. Luckily, my family doctor had a connection at St. Michael’s Hospital and I was seen immediately. The possibility of a brain aneurism was ruled out and the double vision eventually cleared. No explanation for the double vision was determined.
My doctor referred me to a rheumatologist for the joint pain. I was prescribed an anti-inflammatory and sent along my way. After a day or so on the medication I started to get very sick. At the time I thought it was a reaction to the medication and I am still a bit unclear about that. All I know is that I was running a fever and could barely get out of bed. It was towards the end of the day that I finally called my family doctor. She said if I could hold out until the morning she would see me first thing and that if I continued to feel worse I should go to the hospital.
I made it until the morning and drove to my doctor’s office (I was feeling a bit better). She sent me for bloodwork and, if I remember correctly, an abdominal ultrasound as I was also experiencing abdominal pain. Then, because I had not eaten for quite a while, I decided on my way home I would stop to pick up some soda crackers as that was about all I could stomach at the time.
Now, this is where I made a stupid decision and did something ridiculous. The plaza where the grocery store was located also had a school where I had been scheduled to meet one of my clients from work. So I thought, while I was there, I would just do my meeting, even though I was hunched over and feeling crappy.
By the time I got home, I had around 6 frantic voice messages from my doctor. She said I was to immediately get to St. Mikes. Don’t drive, don’t wait to call someone to drive you, just get in a cab and go. She said staff at St. Mikes would be waiting for me. Apparently, what my blood work showed was that my creatinine level, which had been at 40 a few months before, was now 400. My kidneys were crashing.
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