When It All Started

It all started when Kevin was 12 or 13 and had blood in his urine, for no apparent reason. He was taken to the doctor and was given an antibiotic, told it was a kidney or bladder infection and sent home.

The blood in his urine continued about once a year, (but not every year as he got older, they became less frequent) usually right after an Upper Respiratory Infection, the flu, or a cold, always after something simple had been cleared up. Nothing was ever thought of it. Always here's you antibiotics go home and take them you'll be better in a few days.

In May of 2000 he had the blood in his urine and it was really bad, so he went to his family doctor and there was blood drawn, he gave a urine sample, and they then wanted a 24 hr urine. So he went home and complied with the doctor's orders and gave them what they wanted. When the results came back the Dr. called and said that everything was "fine." So he took his antibiotics and went on about his life as a single father with 3 kids.

The First Visit With Nephrologist

The first visit with the Nephrologist was scary! We knew next to nothing going in to meet him. He was AWESOME very blunt and to the point. We were told that function was at 32% total! WOW! Holy Crap!

What do we do now?

We talked about the need to find out the cause of the disease and if it was a certain type there is medication to slow it down. OK How do we find out? A terribly painful biopsy was scheduled at another hospital for mid September. ( Can't get these things done in a hospital without the equipment right?)

Biopsy was back! It was sent to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Results are not good. IgA Nephropathy with focal segmental and interstitial scarring Moderately extensive..... If that isn't a mouthful I don't know what is!!

Bad news- can't be treated with drugs and to slow it down. Good news- stay away from PROTEIN and it should slow it down.... Well it didn't

Finding Out That Kidney's Were Failing

We got together in Dec 2002. I moved to Bethany with him and in July 2005 we married. That month was very stressful for me as a bride to be still working 40+ hrs a week. His blood pressure was high and just kept getting higher, so I made him an appointment with MY doctor to get his B/P under control.She called on my 23rd birthday to say that something was not right with the blood work and that she had already scheduled him an appointment with a specialist, he was not able to see Kevin until October. We let it go into the back of our minds we had a wedding to get ready for in 8 days. He was on Coreg for his pressures so we left it at that. The wedding happened (can't say it went off without a hitch but it was good) we went back to work the following week. 8 Days after we got married I was at work and called him on my lunch break as I always did. Angela answered the phone and said that the had left. I was telling her not to do this to me just let me talk to him and she told me that his B/P was 208/132. WHAT!! Holy crap where did he go? He went to the hospital. OK when? what time? WHERE? What hospital? (There was a possibility of him stopping at any of the 3 that were on his way home!) We lived an hour from his job. So I tried to compose myself and started calling the Hospitals, all I was told was that they could not give me any information. OK so umm how did they expect me to find my husband. I just hung up on her and called the next, some crap, I can't give you any information.... Blah Blah Blah.... So when I called the third (it is the closest to home) She said yes, but the nurse is in with him right now. OK instantly a little calmer.... So I asked her to have the nurse call me when she was finished so that I could determine if I needed to leave work (YEAH right I was going to the hospital one way or another.) The nurse called me as I was talking to my boss so that I could leave. He let me take my phone call in his office and she said that she thought thst I should be there. His B/P was dangerously high and she had already given him fast acting meds to bring it down, but they weren't working at all! So I told my boss I'm going.... So i flew the max 3 miles across town to get to Kevin. Walked in the ER and they are drawing blood- good! Maybe we will figure out whats going on. When she came back with the Dr and the results the dr stood and insisted that I sit down.. OK what is going on? That is when we here told that his kidney's were failing and that he would need a transplant. He was kept for 8 hrs to get his B/P down to a SAFE range and finally let go with orders not to go to work the rest of the week, and a new appointment time with that "specialist" that my dr had made 2 weeks or more prior.. Shockingly it was a week away! WOW and the other Dr. couldn't get him in for months!