Stumbling Forward

Ok, this will be a quick update since I am typing this entry on my phone within a hotel in New Haven, CT. Don't ask. I know my fingers won't last long.

The last three weeks showed another minor decrease in my edema. I have gotten to the point where if I stay on my sodium-free diet, don't sit too long, and if the planets are in perfect alignment, I can go without any water pills for 6-7 days. It's not perfect, but it's a step forward.

I am in the middle of appointments at Boston Medical for a 6-month checkup, and I already have the test results. I was surprised at what they found.

Most of my numbers were getting better - especially my trigycerides, which are out of the clouds and now almost normal (from 750 down to 250). But there are still two challenges ahead. My cholesterol actually went up since December, which I cannot explain. Perhaps it's all that fat in my diet?

But the most depressing news was that there was no improvement in my kidneys in regards to the protein leakage. I found this bizarre since I have made so much progress with my edema. I asked my nephrologist about this, and got this comment:

I can't give you a good answer to your question, but I can tell you that we have seen improvements in edema before seeing improvements in proteinuria. And, in general, I have been impressed in this disease by the lack of a clear relationship between the amount of proteinuria and the amount of edema. There are patients with small amounts of proteinuria and lots of edema, and patients with lots of proteinuria and very little (or no) edema.

So it's too early to tell at this stage what will happen, but I have hope that it will eventually fall in line. I have officially started taking 1000mg of bromelain a day to see if that will hasten any improvement. You might remember last month when I talked about bromelain, and how there were some studies saying that this enyzme is effective at removing amyloid deposits. Hey, I've got nothing to lose!

Well, so much for short. Next stop is Thursday to the cardiologist to see how he interprets my lab results.