A Kidney for Dr. Pickle

11/14/2025

I guess it’s time To update everyone on my dialysis saga. Remember back in March when I had that heart attack? How it bumped be off the transplant
List and I had to fight to get back on? Well, that’s is not the only thong it screwed up.

Usually I get a venogram to check my fistula twice a year. Well we skipped it while I was on platelet thinners, because they couldnt do anything surgically to impRove the flow. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. They sent me for a venogram, but instead of doing the ultrasound, then consulting with me, they just put me under, did the venogram, and decided to stick a stent in my shoulder without my consent.

This of course has not changed my venous flow, and has caused so much edema I can barely extend my arm, the biceps is bruised and swollen, and I can’t get any access for dialysis anymore. I’ve been in in center dialysis for the past week and even they are struggling to get access. I’m doing this all one handed, and they are much better with two hands and an assistant.

They want me to go back to the access center for them to try and fix this, which I have completely denied. I am now working to get a Mayo vascular surgeon to assess things.

So yeah. In center sucks compared to home hemo dialysis.

10/26/2025

If there is one thing I wish I could impart to everyone, Kidney Disease is not just some inconvenience like diabetes or Crohn’s Disease it is a potential death sentence if it doesn’t kill you, it will change who you are and what you are able to do for the rest of your life

Not nearly enough attention is given to this horrible disease. It’s up there with cancer, but people don’t give to kidney disease or have the empathy they do for cancer, and that is a real shame. The money people have given to cancer research has been significantly wasted. Decades of fundraisers with little to no progress to finding a cure, and yet Kidney disease is on the cusp of producing an artificial kidney, a pig kidney transplant, and they are stuck because they have almost no funding.

If there is one thing I beg of people, it’s to please donate to the American Kidney Fund. Help the high number of people who are literally waiting to die because there is no kidney for them.

Legendary New York Jets center Nick Mangold died from kidney disease, the team announced on Sunday. He was 41 years old.

10/08/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AR3ppiNe6/?mibextid=wwXIfr

10/06/2025

Finally! We are now back to where we were in March before the heart attack. And 7 months ahead of where they told me in August.

10/03/2025

They restored the post in 30 seconds.

10/03/2025

Apparently my last post, or one of my posts, because they won’t show me the one they removed, was “exploiting humans”.

This is why I hate FB.

09/24/2025

Prayers work, and I thank all of you for taking a few minutes to include me in yours.

In the beginning of August, I had a close friend who was testing to become a living donor. Everything was looking great, and he was in his final testing when they knocked him out of the running. I was devastated. Not only had I lost the only potential living donor I had, but I was also sidelined from getting onto the active transplant list as I anticipated , and was told to try again in April 2026.

I obviously didn’like that answer and forged ahead to get back on the list sooner. That effort is almost complete. I am just waiting on the Mayo transplant team to give final approval.

My only hope has been to get a deceased donor after getting back on the list. Being close to 4 years on the waitlist, I’m almost to the top of the list based on time.

But yesterday, I recieved a call from my former living donor, and what we thought was a hard stop, was given a second lease on life. We didn’t have all the formal details yesterday, so I really didn’t want to say anything until it was confirmed.

He is back in the running for donating his kidney to me. He passed the test he failed previously, so now it is a matter of scheduling the surgery for him to donate.

I still have some Moving parts to get in place on my end. I’m meeting with my nephrologist in about 2 hours to discuss those minor issues and get things aligned.

I’m in tears right now over all of this. Thank you all for your prayers, and most importantly thank you to my living donor. He is about to save my life!

09/23/2025

If you are into prayers, I could use all of them right now. Prays circles, prayer groups, individual prayers, chants, anything you’ve got. 🤞🍀

09/21/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1FKEC2wZTs/?mibextid=wwXIfr

09/16/2025

Well, it looks like my persistence is going to pay off. In my last update I explained I was getting stress echocardiograms and regular Echos to provide the Mayo transplant Team with all the information to to put me on the active transplant list, instead of the waitlist.

I finished those tests on Wednesday last week, and met with my regular cardiologist on Friday. Everything looked perfect, except there was a shadow on the apex of my Heart. He is certain this is a false positive from My diaphragm not being fully retracted during the image, as it wasn’t there in previous images.

Knowing Mayo can be risk adverse, he recommended we do a nuclear CT scan to prove it looks good.

Today I met with the cardiologist from Mayo who will make the decision to put me on the active list. Very nice Dr. that I had a long conversation with. He said don’t bother with the CT scan, because he is going to approve me as long as my ejection fractures, and volumes look good, and I can exercise about 4 Mets without symptoms, which I do with my swimming regularly. My heart will continue to decline as long as i am on dialysis, so it is a balancing act in his mind my heart is never going to look better than it does now, as long as i have renal failure he sees no immediate risk not to get me a kidney, so my heart can recover.

So the paperwork isn’t done until he looks at my test results from my Primary Cardiologist, but it looks
Like I’m back on the transplant list actively.

I still could use a living donor, but I am at least in the running for a deceased donor if nothing else. A deceased donor kidney lasts an average of 10 years, while a living donor kidney can last an average of 20 years or longer.

My life will never be the same as it was before, but it will be a much better quality of life. I will be able to travel again, go camping, and not be chained to a dialysis machine all the time.

09/04/2025

Quick update, today I had to go in for a stress echocardiogram. I have dreaded this test. The times I’ve done them in the past at Banner Hospital, it is a 30-40 minute affair with your heart racing and feeling like you are having a panic attack.

This time I did it at my cardiologist’s office. They gave me the meds while I was sitting up, and my heart raced for about 3 minutes. They got the images via a pet scan camera, not ultrasound, and reversed the meds in about 5 minutes total.

They finished up with handing me a cup of coffee since I fasted for 12 hours prior, and I was done.

The images were beautiful. I reviewed them with the tech since I am used to US imaging, not this Pet scan study. Everything looks perfect.

08/25/2025

Well, I have been very busy over the past few weeks. I guess it is time for an update.

When we left this saga last, Mayo had decided due to
My heart attack on March 14th, they wanted me to wait a full year from that heart attack, and they would approve me for active transplant in April 2026 if my stress echocardiogram and echocardiogram all looked good at that time.

This wasn’t acceptable to me, so I have gotten Mayo Clinic to agree to send me to one of their cardiologists for a consult, and I have gotten insurance approval for that second opinion with Mayo, as they will want their cardiologist to clear me for transplant. I see the head of Mayo cardiology on September 16th.

In the meantime, I met with my current cardiologist last week and explained the issue with him. He notes they never called him or requested a meeting on my condition, but merely reviewed his notes for their decision. He has now written a note to the Mayo transplant team informing them it was not his intent for his decision to be interpreted as a delay for me receiving a transplant. He gives his full consent for me to be removed from blood thinners anytime after September 14th 2025 for transplant services.

I am also undergoing a stress echo and regular echo this Thursday and next Tuesday to provide all the evidence necessary to be placed on the active transplant list which my cardiologist put a rush order on to ensure it was completed before my consult with the Mayo cardiologist.

For 3.5 years I have had to fight doctors to get a kidney. This kind of crap is not something most people would do, but instead just sit around for 6 months as the doctors recommend.

There is no need for this BS. I am seriously considering being a private advocate for hire after this is all over. Let me use my medical knowledge to advocate for others who are tired of dealing with this BS. You sign papers for
Me to be your medical advocate, and i go in, review your records, and ensure the doctors are doing their maximum effort and offering you all Your medical choices. I spend time educating you and your family about your options, and then ensure the doctors carry out those wishes.