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Wilkie Wages War: June 2008

3 August 2011 8,733 views No Comment

Wilkie Wages War: June 2008

Environmental Health Network leader Barbara Wilkie discovered in July 2005 that her chemical injury/multiple chemical sensitivities had suddenly manifested as stage 4 (later stage 5) kidney disease (kidney failure). Despite dire warnings of death within a year, she eschewed dialysis and Western Medicine drugs and took a route of alternative medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and strict dietary changes. She lived well for six years, far beyond the doctors’ predictions. Barb died at home, surrounded by friends and family, on May 31, 2011.

During this time, Barb documented her journey. From diagnosis through June 2008, she created one huge website page packed with details, plus some side documents on diet and other topics. We have divided these works into smaller pieces, by date or topic, to make it easier to read and find things. For dates after June 2008, we have letters, online posts, and other documents.

Barb intended her work to be read and used. We hope this presentation will help you do just that.

Wilkie Wages War on Kidney Disease
(aka Renal Disease or Failure)

OR, AS I SEE IT: Life with yet another facet of living with MCS.
I want to live life while dying.

Latest numbers are . . .

June 2008 . . . We celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary!

High or Low	Blood checked for	Reading is:	What should be:
H	BUN	69 . . . Down 14 points — still on a roller coaster ride, but in the correct direction this month. (BUN increases as kidney function decreases.) Again, I have no built in excuse, except of course, worsening kidney disease. BUN also reflects one’s state of hydration.	10 – 20 mg/dL
H	Magnesium	2.4 . . . Same as last month. As I understand it, too much magnesium can adversely affect heart, just as can too much potassium.	1.7 -2.3 mg/dL
	Calcium	8.6 . . . Down .3 point, but still in range. Calcium capsules help are important to take! That also helps keep phosphorous under control.	8.5 – 10.3 mg/dL
L	CO2	19 . . . These days this seems to run consistently low.	24 – 33 mEq/L
H	Creatinine	6.26 . . . Down — YEAH! — .57 of a point from last test. Definitely the right direction.	<1.2 mg/dL
H	Phosphorus	5.2 . . . Up .2 point, making it even more above normal range. Too much phosphorus in the blood and bones can be leached of calcium, causing them to become brittle.	2.7 – 4.5 mg/dL
	Potassium	4.9 . . . Down .6 point and back in “normal” range without half trying.	3.5 – 5.3 mEq/L
	Sodium	136 . . . Up 2 points and now even more in normal range.	133 – 145 mEq/L
L	GFR	7 or 8 . . . Both up a point — definitely in the right direction here! This gives an indication of kidney function remaining. The larger number is assigned to African-American women, as they are seen as having more muscle mass than caucasians. You can see how “painting with a broad brush” can cause errors. White women aren’t supposed to have muscle mass? Ridiculous! My ethnic origins were quite muscular, as am I.	>60 mL/min
L	Hemoglobin	6.5 . . . Down .7 point. This is VERY disappointing; my lowest reading ever. But, I wonder if my forgetting to take my Folic Acid this month played a role in this very poor reading??? Kaiser was surprised I was active when my HGB was in the 8s . . . some thought I’d not be able to get out of bed, but here I am at 6.5 and still feeling surprisingly frisky. Hemoglobin is supposed to fill the red blood cell and the amount in your red blood cells is an indication of how well your blood can carry oxygen.	11.5 – 15 g/dL
L	Hematocrit	19.9 . . . Down 2.4 points. Another shock!! Hematocrit measures the amount of space taken up by your red blood cells. By both counts, hemoglobin and hematocrit, I’ve got the typical severe anemia that comes with kidney disease. And, I’ve had it for some time now. However, I don’t suffer the fatigue or any other such symptoms of severe anemia.	34 – 46 %
	WBC	3.5 . . . Down .6 point, but maintaining in the “normal” range.	3.5 – 12.5
L	Red Blood Cell Count	2.11 . . . Down .27 points. Red blood cells are running too low in this test too.	3.60 – 5.19
	RDW, RBC	12.8 . . . Down .1 from last month, but still in normal range.	11.9 – 14.3%
	MCV	94 fl. . . . Same as last month. “Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) is a measurement of the average size of your RBCs. The MCV is elevated when your RBCs are larger than normal (macrocytic), for example in anemia caused by vitamin B12 deficiency. When the MCV is decreased, your RBCs are smaller than normal (microcytic), such as is seen in iron deficiency anemia or thalassemias.” http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/cbc/test.html	80 – 100 fl
	Platelet Count	225 K/uL . . . Down 26 points. “Platelet Count measures the number of platelets, which are involved in blood clotting.” http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/cbc/test.html	140 – 400 K/ul
	Homocysteine	14.9 . . . Much too high . . . indicator of circulatory problems; B vitamins and Folic Acid should bring this reading down.	<12 umol/L
	Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy	46 . . . This is my highest reading of Vit D; in July 2007 it was 36. Yes, I have been taking Vit. D supplements and trying to get more sunshine on my skin.	30 – 100 ng/mL
	Glucose, random	88 . . . Down 5 points from last month.	60 – 159 mg/dl