Best Doctors Really is the Best

After six patient weeks of waiting, we finally got Pete’s Best Doctor report back. It’s a little overwhelming for a few reasons. The doctor who wrote the report and answered all of our questions works at a Harvard teaching hospital. He backed up everything he said by citing 44 references. 44! And even though most of it was in English, the a lot of it was filled with medical terms that I need to look up still.

The doctor said that from 2003-2008, Pete’s kidneys were relatively stable, and his creatinine levels showed that he would have adequate kidney function for many years. Since 2008, his creatinine levels have jumped up rapidly, and if it continues this way, Pete might have to have a transplant as early as the end of 2012. But the doctor isn’t sure because Pete’s glomular filtration rate (GFR) has varied, so he thinks it’s possible that the medication he is on has become toxic to his body.

I’m hoping that the toxicity is the problem and a med change will do the trick. We’re not thrilled about the side effects of the alternate medications, but it’ll be ok. Best Doctors also sent us the name of a pretransplant kidney specialist in Jacksonville, so I’m looking forward to meeting him and hearing what he has to say. 2012 is a worst case scenario anyway, and with technology and the leads that we got from the Harvard doctor I think that we have a pretty good chance of avoiding that. If not, hopefully I’ll be a match!

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