Why Not?

I figured there aren't many days when you can really enjoy celebrating much in your own honor so I wanted to say this:  
Happy Birthday to me!
Yeah, I said it. Why not? I plan on making this an interesting year once again. Now all I have to do is figure out how. Have a good day everyone.

A Sad Day For The Family

There have been few times within this blog's history that I have posted something within a quick time frame of an event happening. Today I felt compelled to post a topic that is very dear to my heart and to my family's as well.

On September 6, 2011 my family made the difficult decision to put our beloved dog Gordo to sleep. He was a loyal pet for over 14 years and will be greatly missed.

I don't think there is anything else I need to say.

How Did I Get Here?

To continue my story I will tell you about what happened next.

   I took medication the entire time I was on the Diamond. I reacted well to the treatment and near the end of the contract my kidneys were found to be healthy. Due to the type of medication I was taking (Prednisone; a type of steroid for those of you wondering) I could not simply stop taking it. The dose would be lowered gradually over time and it was expected for me to stop taking it within a matter of months. By the time I was supposed to finish with the medicine I would be on the Caribbean Princess.

    The day came and went and I was happy to say the least. It was a good time aboard that Caribbean Princess and I was glad to have one less thing to worry about. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. A week later I noticed there was a lot of bubbles in my urine again. It had been a long time since I had seen it like that. At first I played it off to not drinking enough water but it happened again the next few times I went to the bathroom. I finally went to the doctor and they confirmed my fears. The symptoms were not as severe as before but my problem was coming back. We caught it early so I was put on small dose of Prednisone and things seemed ok. By the time I went home my dose of medicine was almost done and I was scheduled to go see my doctor again.

   Around this time I was also up for a renewal of my medical certificate for working at sea. The certificate basically states that I am healthy and physically able to work on a ship. I knew that this was probably an issue and talked with the company. They told me to see my doctor first and then have him report back to them.

   When I spoke to my doctor he told me that my problem had in fact returned and that I would need to take a larger dose of medicine again for a few more months. Then, another blood test would determine if my kidneys were healthy again. If so, I would taper off the medication like before and eventually finish over time. I asked the doctor if I was cleared for work and he said that I should be as long as I took my medication.

   When I emailed the company about the situation they replied with a phone number to call. When I dialed the number I was connected to a person in the medical department. They proceeded to tell me in a polite manner that my medical certificate would not be renewed as long as I was taking medication. I was told that if I wanted to return to a ship that I needed to be done with my medication and show no signs of my condition returning. Considering I was supposed to take my medicine for another two months with a possible two to three months of tapering, at the very least, it would be about four to six months before I would be able to return. This was one of those times where things just didn’t seem real. I thanked them for their time and the phone call was over.

   This was at the end of May. I am still in good standings with the cruise company but technically speaking I am “unfit for sea”. It’s sort of like a leave of absence in a way. I have no negative feelings towards the people I talked to and was actually treated very well by the staff at corporate. It was just a situation out of my control. I honestly enjoyed my time working on cruise ships and would consider going back if I could but life has pushed me away and I’m thinking it’s for a reason.

   

   Since then I have been doing a bit freelance photography work. I don’t have a lot of gear but I’ve been making things work. I’ve been trying to find a steady gig but I was in denial about not having a job. Now I’m trying to be more proactive. I’ve been slowly updating my portfolio and trying to figure things out. It’s not going to be easy but I think it’s just a matter of time and effort before I bounce back.

   As for my health, my kidneys are officially healthy again and I am now tapering off medication. I am in the process of running again and also trying to eat better overall.

   I know this was a lot to read but if you made it all the way you now know me a little better. I’d like to mention that I’m still positive about things and that I look forward to what is ahead for me. I’d also like to say that my family and friends were a big part of my getting through all of this and even though I didn’t mention much of that they should know I appreciate them being there for me.

   And that I will end this post regarding the subject. Take Care

My Health: Kidneys

   What a lot of people don’t know and what a few aren’t fully informed about is the situation with my health. What I am referring to is my kidneys. Since November of 2009 I have been dealing with a relatively minor problem with my kidneys. Granted any problems with major organs should not be considered “minor” but seeing as things could be worse, I like to put things in perspective.

There are a few ways I can tell you what is going on but I decided to put it in story form. Not only do I let you know what is going on with my health but I can also describe what I went through while I was figuring it out. It will also help me inform you on what is going on right now with my life. So here goes.

   It all started while I was on my second cruise ship (the Island Princess) when I noticed I had swollen ankles. They had slowly grown over a few days but it had come to the point where putting on my shoes was painful. I went to the ship doctor and they did some blood work to figure things out. The results showed that my body chemistry was off. The protein levels in my blood were out of whack and not only had my kidneys been affected but my liver as well. At the time I was living a life where drinking at night was a common thing and people knew I liked to have a good time. I have to admit here that although I drank on a regular basis, it was not nearly as much as others were doing. Let’s just say I was a regular at the crew bar.

   The doctor on board assumed that this was the cause of my problem and cut me off from alcohol (to help my liver) and meat to help stabilize the balance of protein in my blood. For a while things got better and my liver recovered. Unfortunately, the problem with my kidneys was at a plateau. Protein was still consistently leaking through my urine. One visible sign of this was bubbles forming in the toilet like soap. I’m serious. It’s kinda weird but it did happen. Anyway, the ship doctor decided to schedule me an appointment with a specialist.

   Let me explain what happened next. Doctors on board cruise ships can only do so much on board to treat the passengers and crewmembers they see. When a situation arises that requires a higher degree of medical attention, the patient is referred to a doctor at one of the ports the ship will dock at. That is what happened to me. Out of sheer circumstance I happened to be going to a doctor located in Ft. Lauderdale, a city that is a four-hour drive from where I live. You will understand why I mention this in a moment.

   When I go see the specialist I am met with a little, dare I say, disdain. Immediately, the doctor assumes that I have no regard for my health and he takes it upon himself to lecture me about wasting it away for the sake of enjoying myself each night. I have to admit I was caught off guard and didn’t know how to react. Like I had mentioned earlier, I assumed myself to be a casual drinker but not anything to the degree this man seemed to think I was. I decided to take it all in and just go with it. To be honest, who was I to disagree with a specialist?

   Here is where I was starting to question this man’s intelligence. He did an initial exam that showed for the most part I had no major symptoms aside from the fact that fluid was collecting in my legs (the cause of my swelling ankles) and that protein was leaking from my kidneys through my urine (the cause of the fluid collecting in my legs). Yet when he looked at my chart he seemed confused and commented on the fact that the numbers for my blood tests seemed out of place. He then made the conclusion that if he switched things around that I was undergoing kidney failure.

   Initially, for lack of a better description, I crapped my pants. This scared the hell out of me and I was not expecting this at all. After some more lecturing, the specialist insisted I be sent to the local hospital for a biopsy. I was scared but then I wondered if I was in such a serious situation, why was I not in any pain or have any other more serious symptoms? I couldn’t explain it but I had no other options.

   So after all of that it was decided that I would be pulled off of my ship and I would be admitted to the local Ft. Lauderdale hospital for testing. It happened so fast that only my roommate and my manager knew what was going on. The photo team quickly realized I had gone but did not know why and friends on board the ship didn’t know I was missing until a few days passed and I was missing from the major events on board.

   While I was being shuttled back and forth from the specialist’s office to the ship to pick up my things the driver was on the phone with a contact from the company. They asked if I wanted to be flown back home to be closer to family since I was so close. I decided to go home and it was one of the worst decisions I made. What I didn’t know is that if I had decided to stay in Ft. Lauderdale I would have been admitted to the hospital, gone through with a biopsy and figured out was going on within a matter of two days. I estimate that I would have been back to work within two weeks (seeing as I would have needed time to recover from the biopsy). By making the decision of flying home I found out that I was required to organize everything myself and that turned out to be an ordeal in itself.

   There were no local contacts in Tampa and it was difficult to get things going. In the end it took me two months to find a doctor that would work with the company, schedule an appointment, have him see me and then have me admitted to a local hospital for a biopsy to figure out what was going on. I’d like to add here that when I met with my current kidney specialist he mentioned that the other guy must have been crazy to think I was having kidney failure. He mentioned that the only reason my chart seemed odd was because the measurements were in European standards and it shouldn’t have been that difficult to recognize.

   So here is the big conclusion. When it comes down to it, the problem with my kidneys is called Nephrotic Syndrome. What happens is that protein is lost from my kidneys into my bladder and then eventually into the toilet (thus causing the bubbles). This lowers the levels of protein in my blood and affects my health as well as the condition of my kidneys. What is not known is the cause for the problem. Little is known about how this happens and it is assumed that it is from a virus. The good news is that taking medication is all that is needed.

   Once this was determined I spoke with the cruise company and I was rescheduled for a new ship. It was a bit tricky to get back since I was on medication but overall I was physically able to do all the tasks required to work. All that was needed was constant communication with the specialist via email to keep him updated on my condition and I was good to go. This is when I went aboard the Diamond Princess.