Wilkie Wages War: September 2006
Wilkie Wages War: September 2006
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.
September 2006 . . .
| High or Low | Blood checked for | Reading is: | What should be: |
| H | BUN | 51 . . .A welcomed drop even though it is still way too high. (blood, urea, nitrogen – from the breakdown of protein. BUN increases as kidney function decreases.) | 10 – 20 mg/dL |
| Magnesium | 2.3 . . . Normal range, hot diggity. This is important because, as I understand it, too much magnesium can affect heart just as can too much potassium. | 1.7 -2.3 mg/dL | |
| Calcium | 8.7 | 8.5 – 10.3 mg/dL | |
| CO2 | 20 | 24 – 33 mEq/L | |
| H | Creatinine | 5.3 . . . up again, this time by four tenths of a point, reaching my highest high thus far. | <1.2 mg/dL |
| Phosphorus | 3.9 . . . Still, normal! | 2.7 – 4.5 mg/dL | |
| Potassium | 4.6 . . . Steady as she blows. | 3.5 – 5.3 mEq/L | |
| Sodium | 134 . . . Normal, even if barely. | 133 – 145 mEq/L | |
| L | GFR * | 9 or 10 . . . still have muscle mass so I’ll take the 10! Of course, this is based only on the creatinine reading, so IF for any reason that’s off, so then is the GFR. 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. | >59 mL/min |
| L | Hemoglobin | 9.4 . . . Up by two tenths of a point. Maybe miracles are starting. | 11.5 – 15 g/dL |
| L | Hematocrit | 28 .6. . . UP six tenths of a point. Still too low, but at least this reading is UP! Miracles, anyone? I’m ready!!!!! Ready for my kidneys to start producing erythropoietin. (Erythropoietin is a hormone that is produced by healthy kidneys, which in essence tells the brain to tell the bone marrow to produce the necessary red blood cells. Kidney failure means failure of the production of red blood cells, hence anemia. When one’s red cell counts get too low, one doesn’t get the oxygen delivered to all the organs . . . doctors have an artificial way of stimulating that hormone. I’m trying to handle all this without drugs as long as possible. | 34 – 46 % |
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