Today is pretty crappy

[Ponyup]

Originally Posted by Janet

My mother is 86 years old today. She has been having the same problems now for 2 years. Losing blood and not knowing where. They have had to add blood every two to three months and now she is in kidney failure. She had a fistula put in her arm so when the time comes (it has, but she refuses so far) she'll need to go on dialysis. She just doesn't want to do that. Says she feels fine, but by the time she feels bad...it will be too late. She won't listen.

They did all the tests on her too, but never found where she was losing blood. Hope they can help your grandfather.

My grandpas kidney number was at 86 yesterday, I guess it's supposed to be 21. It was up over 100 on thursday which I guess is critical. If he does pull out of whatever this is & his numbers stay that high he'll need to get dialysis 2-3 a week & I'm sure he's not going to be excited about that.

[DianaB]

My Dad was losing blood somewhere too. He had all kinds of tests but they never figured out where. He had to have blood every once in a while too. I never understood why they couldn't determine where he was losing it from.

I hope that your Grandfather starts getting better soon. It's so hard to see them have problems.

[Ponyup]

Sunday night my grandpa told me my mom he thought he was at the end. But he didn't pass & looked much better yesterday. They wanted to send him home yesterday because he no longer needs blood, I guess his blood numbers are back up. They convinced them that he needed physical therapy for his legs so he gets to stay a few more days. Then we'll need to get him a hospital bed & hire someone to stay withhim until he's out of the woods. So we'll see what happens in the next couple days.

[judy]

After 91 years, I wish him an easy time. You are a good granddaughter, and he needs loving people with him now.

My uncle was close to 90 when he passed. He had begun to "fail" as my aunt called it, about a year before. She had bought a condo in Florida that year, and I think he really didn't want to go, so he just let go and stopped fighting.

They were in his favorite place in their country cabin that day. His grandchildren and his son were with him that day. He loved them more than anything in the world. In the middle of the night, he passed. We buried him in such a beautiful spot. He's got space around him and is under the most beautiful tree over his grave. I feel happy for him when I think of him being with his family and then being buried in a place he would have loved.

Your grandpa may live for another several years, but I do hope he has such a lovely end.

[Ponyup]

That was beautiful Judy. That's all I wish as well. I know he wants to go to his eternal home & be with my grandma. I do hope he has a peaceful & painfree transition.

[gja1000]

Unexplained blood loss is very difficult. Yes, it can be that blood cells are being destroyed or are not developing properly - but this usually is ultimately explained by a blood cancer and this is clearly not the case in Janet's mother and probably not in your grandpa either. There can be "pooling" of blood in the spleen, and I can't remember what causes that - which can decrease the amount of circulating blood. As strange as it sounds, sometimes they just can't determine where the blood is going and where it is coming from???

Wish I had a better answer.

[Janet]

Mom's blood count before she left for Florida the first weekend in January was down to 9. She figured by the time she got to Florida she would have to have blood added, but when she had it checked down there, it was up to 12. They don't usually add blood until it is down to 7.

My mother's kidneys are functioning at 12%. She should be on dialysis, but refuses so far saying she feels fine. She won't listen, but it's her life....I'm not going to spend it arguing with her.