Wilkie Wages War: May 2008
Wilkie Wages War: May 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.
May 2008
| High or Low | Blood checked for | Reading is: | What should be: |
| H | BUN | 83 . . . Up 18 points — my BUN readings are like being on a roller coaster ride. (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 . . . Up .2 pt . . . what did I do wrong this 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 | 8.9 . . . Same as last month. Calcium capsules helped! That also helps keep phosphorous under control. | 8.5 – 10.3 mg/dL | |
| L | CO2 | “TND” . . . For some reason the lab did not get a reading. | 24 – 33 mEq/L |
| H | Creatinine | 6.83 . . . Down — YEAH! — .09 of a point from last test. | <1.2 mg/dL |
| H | Phosphorus | 5.0 . . . Up .6 point, making it 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 | 5.5 . . . Up 1 point and now no longer in “normal” range — internist worried, but I’m not! I’ve been up to 6 before without any effects to my heart. | 3.5 – 5.3 mEq/L | |
| Sodium | 134 . . . Down 2 points and now back in normal range. | 133 – 145 mEq/L | |
| L | GFR | 6 or 7 . . . Stayed the same as last month. 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 | 7.2 . . . Up .3 point. I’ll take any little increase I can get! 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 | 22.3 . . . Up 1 point; I’ll gladly take it! 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 | 4.1 . . . Up .4 point. | 3.5 – 12.5 | |
| L | Red Blood Cell Count | 2.38 . . . Up 7 points. Red blood cells are running too low in this test too. | 3.60 – 5.19 |
| RDW, RBC | 12.9 . . . Same as last month . . . this seems to be holding steady. | 11.9 – 14.3% | |
| MCV | 94 fl. . . . Up 2 points. “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 | 251 K/uL . . . Down 11 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 | |
| Glucose, random | 93 | 60 – 159 mg/dl |
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