John 16:33 & Kidney Disease

I am asked on a daily basis how Brent is doing.  We are very blessed by the community of people to honestly care about Brent's health, his over all well being, and our family as well.  It's a great comfort when people say we are praying for you and we know that they really are.  

This week we met our goal of being able to administer dialysis treatments at home and they have been successful.  Brent has been able to adjust to the new routine, the new normal of sanitizing, warming, connecting and all the other new vocabulary we are adjusting to.  For those of you unfamiliar with dialysis there are two types; hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.  

Types Of Dialysis

Hemodialysis (referred to as Hemo) is done through your blood and is probably the method that people are most familiar with, where you have to go to a dialysis clinic and they hook you up to a machine and they clean your blood of toxins several times a week.  Peritoneal Dialysis (referred to as PD) is done through osmosis through your peritoneal membrane where a solution is drained into your belly, where it dwells for 1-4 hours and the toxins bind to the sugars in the solution and then are drained out. Peritoneal Dialysis can be performed manually or on a cycler machine. Hemo patients feel relief of symptoms right after treatment but Hemo is more difficult on the body where PD patients take a few weeks to feel relief and is gentler on the body. 

Brent has Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) and is on a cycler machine at night.  This method provides him the opportunity to go about his normal functions and responsibilities during the day.  The cycler, though more convenient can also be more painful when it drains, and at this time is causing Brent terrible discomfort.  

PRAYER:

1  The "drain pain" would subside and become more manageable. 

2  Continue to acclimate to our new routine on dialysis.

3  Brent would find the right combination of medication to treat the kidney disease symptoms and dialysis side effects.

4  Find a live kidney donor.

PRAISE:

1  We are able to perform PD at home.

2  Jesus is our hope and our strength and our ever comforting peace in times of trouble.

I was sharing with someone today who is also going through a very difficult time as well in the midst of suffering and a new "normal" and was reminded of John 16:33.

In this passage Christ is preparing the disciples that they would be leaving him to be alone. However Jesus reminded them that He is never alone because God the Father is always with Him.  Then He comforts us that in Christ alone we would have peace. Only in Christ would we have it, possess it, find it, be secure in peace.

Christ tells us the world will have tribulation, it will have turmoil, disease, famine, war, loss of job, hardship.  But with Christ, because of his sacrifice on the cross, He has overcome the world.

It puts everything in perspective when we consider that any pain, suffering, trial, and tribulation we go through in this life is nothing that Christ cannot overcome, because He overcame death. Because of Christ's resurrection; He killed death. Isaiah 25:8 reminds us that Christ will swallow up death and He will wipe away all tears from our faces.  

I thank God that some day kidney disease will be no more and the pains of this life are nothing compared to the joy we have in Christ.  

Brent's Diagnosis

Hey there Family & Friends,

In an effort and request to streamline updates on Brent to those on and off of Facebook, I thought this would be the best way to update y'all.  So I'm resurrecting the ol' family blog.

Here's some background...
In August of 2014 Brent went into the emergency room with appendicitis.  And thank God for the appendicitis because he left with a diagnosis of high blood pressure which undiagnosed over the years had lead to stage 3 chronic kidney disease (CKD).  Now, someone with stage 3 can live their entire life at stage 3 and die of old age from some other ailment as long as they treat the high blood pressure and maintain a healthy lifestyle.  This is what Brent was doing and we proceeded with life.

In late November of 2016 Brent began to not feel well and after The Story went and had blood tests.  After the doctor's assessment on Dec 23rd, he said I'm ordering more tests, things don't look good, but I suggest you get to emergency.  So instead of heading out to Christmas shop we went to the ER and Brent was admitted for the next 5 days.  Doctors performed a biopsy and discovered he had not one but two kidney diseases, one from high blood pressure and one called Iga Nephropathy.

Since the beginning of January 2017 we have been focusing on getting Brent ready for peritoneal dialysis (PD), including a surgery implanting a tube in his abdomen and lots of training. Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) verses Hemo Dialysis is much gentler on the body and provides for a better quality of living. We spent the past several weeks in training, and our nurse thinks we can skip some aspects of the prescribed training. This means that Brent can receive dialysis overnight instead of four times a day starting this Tuesday.

Dialysis will extend Brent's quality of life however a kidney donor is Brent's best option.  We have met with the transplant team at UCSF and have begun the processes to find a donor.  A live donor is the best option because it has the least chance of rejection, although if a cadaver donor match became available we would accept that as well.  Whichever comes first. UCSF says it takes 5-7 years to get a cadaver kidney in this area. Our team of doctors believe Brent to be an excellent candidate for a transplant so we are very hopeful we will find a match. On Friday we received the official letter of acceptance for a kidney transplant. An answer to prayer.

As expected, it is not easy to find a donor match. Generally, they are looking for someone aged 18-60, with type A or O blood type, in good health, and have no diseases, and has blood and tissue types that Brent's body won't reject. Of course there are many factors to consider after that. They don't want to harm either patient in this transplant.

If you feel so lead to learn more about becoming a donor please contact me direct by cell or email and I am more than happy to discuss the possibilities with you and share what information I have learned with you.

Casey Moutier
925-586-5678
cjmoutier@gmail.com

Also feel free to click the link on the sidebar that says UC Donor.org.

You'll need to reference Brent's name and his birthdate 9/7/75.

As we have walked through this we have felt from the beginning that it is important to share our Prayer Request as well as how we are Praising God.

PRAY:

1. Brent will feel relief of symptoms of his kidneys shutting down as he begins dialysis on a regular basis. Each day is a rollercoaster.
2. We retain all of our dialysis training information as we begin to do dialysis at home without our nurse Nora helping us out.
3. We would have understanding of our mounting medical bills and insurance issues, and are able to find some relief from them.
4. We are able to help support and care for our kids in their day to day growing pains and as they process all of this as well.
5. We can be a reflection of Christ's love to others in and out of the hospital during this trial. 

PRAISE:

1. Our nurse Nora has been a great help and we are so thankful that we share the same faith.
2. Thankful for excellent medical care with knowledgeable nurses and doctors at Kaiser and UCSF to answer any and all of our questions.
3. Even on the worst of days our faith is secure and we take great comfort from the Lord and from His word. 

I'm not gonna put on a false pretense that this isn't hard; because it is very difficult for Brent to endure, for me to watch Brent accept his health limitations and change our expectations and for us as parents to help the kids understand Brent's health and help them through all of their normal growing pains.  Some days we can keep it all compartmentalized and some days things are brimming at the top and about to overflow.  This week has been one of those weeks.  We don't have the answers and feel sometimes that we are in control of nothing, but we choose to trust in our Lord who knows the number of hairs on our heads, who knows every tear we cry and who has planned everyone of our days.  I'm reminded of Psalm 3:4-5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways he will make your path straight."  We definitely do not have our own "understanding" in all of this but are so thankful that the Lord directs our path in all we do.