I went for my schedule medical checkup at the University Malaya Medical Centre Spinal Rehabilitation Clinic on Wednesday. The good news is that the renal and liver profiles did not show significant changes. Serum creatinine has gone down to 272 umol/L from 291 umol/L in July 2011.

Renal profile for November 18, 2011

Sodium 139 mmol/L
Potassium 4.8 mmol/L
Chloride 105 mmol/L
Total CO2 26.0 mmol/L
Anion Gap 13 mmol/L
Urea 7.8 mmol/L
Creatinine 272 umol/L

Liver profile for November 18, 2011

Total Protein 76 g/L
Albumin 38 g/L
Globulin 37 g/L
Total Bilirubin 8 umol/L
Conjugated Bilirubin 2 umol/L
Alk Phosphatase 86 IU/L
ALT (GPT) 17 IU/L
AST (GOT) 15 IU/L
Gamma GT 12 IU/L

The cholesterol levels are not too encouraging though, especially when there is a history of heart problem in the family. My father passed away from congestive heart failure. I was advised to go on the lowest dosage of Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) which is 10mg to keep the cholesterol levels in check.

Lipid profile for November 18, 2011

Triglyceride 1.4 mmol/L
Total cholesterol 4.7 mmol/L
HDL 0.97 mmol/L
LDL 3.09 mmol/L

The ultrasound of the kidneys, ureters and bladder report is somewhat similar although the length of the left kidney size was measured at 8.9cm this time as compared to 9.1cm in December 2010 and 6.89cm in February 2004.

KUB Ultrasound Report for November 18, 2011

Findings

Comparisons made previous ultrasound dated 27.12.10
Both kidneys are normal insize but with increased echogenicity
The right kidney measures 9.5cm in BPL and 0.6cm in cortical thickness
The left kidney measures 8.9cm in BPL and 0.5cm in cortical thickness
There is a small cyst seen in the uppor pole of the left kidney measuring 1.0cm
The bladder wall is trabeculated
Prostate is normal in size with smooth outline

Impressions
Renal parenchymal disease
Left renal cyst
Trabeculated bladder secondary to neurogenic bladder

Electrocardiograph (ECG) for November 30, 2011.
Photo by Wuan with Samsung Galaxy S II.

I also had an electrocardiogram (ECG) done on the same day as the checkup. According to the doctors, the results did not show any problem which is a relief.

ECG figures for November 20, 2011

Rate 88

PR 152
QRSD 94
QT 380
QTC 460

AXIS
P 62
QRS 90
T 67

Overall, I am happy with the blood test results except for my cholesterol levels. Renal and liver profile tests will be done two months after I have started on Lipitor to check whether these organs are effected by it. A urodynamics study is also scheduled in the first quarter of next year to determine the pressure in my bladder. It was last done in 2008 at Subang Jaya Medical Centre.

Resonance104.4fm is the world’s first radio art station, established by London Musicians’ Collective. The non-profit community radio station broadcasts from Borough High Street in London. On Fridays at 3.30pm GMT, Tim Abbott hosts the half-hourly show called Technical Difficluties which touches on disability issues around the world. Tim (@lightchronic) and I connected with each other in Twitter through Zashnain Zainal(@bedlamfury), a mutual Twitter acquaintance.

Tim invited me to go on the air live interview with him in the show last Friday. That was my first one-on-one live radio show with a station in the United Kingdom. Among the topics we covered were my experience with disability, and the built environment and public transport in Malaysia. I made three pages of notes on the points that I wanted to share prior to the programme. In the end, I did not use any of them as Tim was very good in leading the direction of our conversation and made me feel well at ease to talk openly about those issues. Click here to listen or download the podcast.

The chronic kidney disease has curbed my enthusiasm for good food since I was diagnosed with it in 2004. Mr. Liong, the urologist at Lam Wah Ee Hospital in Penang, gave me an advice that I remembered till today, that I should take good care of my failing kidneys, which if not, would cause a lot of undue hardship to my family when they fail totally and I need to go for dialysis. I took that advice to heart and have been keeping to a strict renal-friendly low-protein, low-sodium and practically low-everything to keep the decline in check.

I pride myself for adhering to having just two matchbox sized portions of meat daily most of the time. I also scrutinise the mineral contents in the food that I eat. As hard as I try, there have been occasions that I allowed temptation to get the better of me with the notion that I should reward myself with some taboo food for depriving myself for so long. So, I would tuck in the food and savour every mouthful like it was my last meal. Food never tasted so good.

And as always, inevitably, the moment I put down the cutlery, I would ask myself if I over-indulged. Did I eat more meat than I should? Was that gravy a tad too salty? I would regret even more should I start to itch and had to take anti-histamine tablets. I did say I stuck to the low-protein diet most of the time. Those other time I did not, I would be trouble over a period of time wondering if I overloaded my kidneys and tipped them over the edge.

I am writing this post because I have a scheduled blood extraction together with an ultrasound of the kidneys, ureters and bladder on Friday, and I am troubled by the few times I ate more than I was allowed to or did not catheterise as often as I should have. This is the same emotional cycle that I go through every time I have to go for blood tests and ultrasound. It would persist until I get the test result when during the scheduled medical appointment two weeks later.