Journal entry by Heather Brown —
Randy and I had just become parents to an awesome premature daughter when he first became noticeably unwell. We can never forget the call at 5 am on a Saturday morning.
Doctor: Get your ass to the ER I'll be waiting you should be dead or in a coma.
He was walking around with blood sugar over 1000mg/dL (milligrams per decilitre) Normal range is 80-120 mg/dL.
By May of 1997, he had lost close to 200bs in about 6 months. All one has to do is look at our wedding album to see how pale and thin he had become. He was immediately diagnosed with neuropathy. and the doctor believes he had juvenile diabetes that went undetected... (PARENTS HAVE YOUR KIDS CHECKED ALWAYS)
In 2004 after 4 back to back surgeries to keep him from needing amputations eventually at age 33, Randy became disabled. There is so much that has happened over the last 15 years it's impossible to capture it all in this first overview post.
As of August 22, 2019, we were rushed into the kidney Doctor as his kidney's had reached CKD stage 5 with a function of less than 10%. These last few days have been a whirlwind of activity as we begin preparing for Randy to start dialysis. Ultimately the goal is for him to lose 100 pounds to become eligible for a kidney transplant.
Because we have family and friends across the USA and world, I decided to begin keeping this journal as we go through this process. Not only for us but so others out there might gain insight into their own situations.
Doctor: Get your ass to the ER I'll be waiting you should be dead or in a coma.
He was walking around with blood sugar over 1000mg/dL (milligrams per decilitre) Normal range is 80-120 mg/dL.
By May of 1997, he had lost close to 200bs in about 6 months. All one has to do is look at our wedding album to see how pale and thin he had become. He was immediately diagnosed with neuropathy. and the doctor believes he had juvenile diabetes that went undetected... (PARENTS HAVE YOUR KIDS CHECKED ALWAYS)
In 2004 after 4 back to back surgeries to keep him from needing amputations eventually at age 33, Randy became disabled. There is so much that has happened over the last 15 years it's impossible to capture it all in this first overview post.
As of August 22, 2019, we were rushed into the kidney Doctor as his kidney's had reached CKD stage 5 with a function of less than 10%. These last few days have been a whirlwind of activity as we begin preparing for Randy to start dialysis. Ultimately the goal is for him to lose 100 pounds to become eligible for a kidney transplant.
Because we have family and friends across the USA and world, I decided to begin keeping this journal as we go through this process. Not only for us but so others out there might gain insight into their own situations.
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