A GENIUS Phosphorus Theory

Okay, so Max's phosphorus has come down from 25 to 9.7 but it's still high. So, Dr. Dixon and Dr. Ben talked to Dr. Bissler (another nephrologist). Dr. Bissler flat out said that he doesn't think that the phosphorus of 25 is correct. He said that if someone's was actually that high they would be showing severe signs of it being that high and Max is not. So, what he thinks is happening is this: Max has a sheath and/or "gunk" clotting the end of his hemo catheter. So every time we go in for a hemo dialysis treatment we have to put a clot breaker upper medication called TPA into his line to clear the clot so that his catheter will work for the treatment. Before we add the TPA, the nurse draws Max's labs. So what we HOPE is happening is that when the blood is being pulled past that sheath and/or "gunk" the blood cells are being broken open and that is what we are sending to the lab. A phosphorus INSIDE of a blood cell IS 25, so if this is in fact what is happening, then Max's phosphorus could actually be much lower than what the lab is telling us. The one thing that is concerning is that the lab can usually tell if the blood cells have been broken open (hemolized) and they haven't said that they have been. But I am holding onto hope that Dr. Bissler is a GENIUS and that he figured it out. If this is true, I will give him the biggest hug EVER!

With that said, Max is going to have to go through a needle stick on Monday to get a venous blood draw. They will then take another blood sample from his catheter before his dialysis treatment and compare the two. We are hoping to see two totally different phosphorus levels between the two. If this is what we see then Dr. Bissler is a GENIUS and he will receive the biggest hug EVER! If it isn't what we see then, DAMN IT!

For those of you that have been REALLY paying attention, Max's phosphorus is always higher on Mondays and lower on Fridays. My theory on this (I don't know if Ben brought this up or not, I was more focused on Dr. Bissler's GENIUS mind). Anyway, my theory is since Max goes the entire weekend without having TPA put into his line, the sheath and/or "gunk" is worse on Mondays. Therefore, the blood sample that is drawn on Mondays has more "gunk" to fight through, giving it a higher chance of breaking open the blood cells, giving us a MUCH higher phosphorus. Since Max gets TPA put into his line on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the blood draws that are done on Fridays don't have as much "gunk" to fight through, giving us a much lower phosphorus. Sounds logical right? Although the numbers that we get on Fridays (9.7 today) are still high, they are much more manageable and acceptable than the 20s that we are getting on Mondays.

We ask that you please continue to pray for Max and that Dr. Bissler's GENIUS theory is actually correct.

Phew. Dr. Dixon came to see Max today for his monthly visit and he is VERY happy with how things are going (aside from his "pesky phosphorus"). He told us to keep up the good work and that he will see us next month. I love short, sweet and to the point appointments with him. As much as we like seeing Dr. Dixon, if it's a long visit with him it means that things aren't going too well with Max. So today was a good visit.

Overall it was a good week. It will be a lot better if that GENIUS theory from above is actually correct. Please, please, please pray that it is.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!