(There is a diagram of a fistula under the 3 Damp Duck picture which comes forward when I click on it - I don't know why it is layered instead of in the text)
Dear Hearts and Gentle People -
There is a little news, and information for those of you who have asked, “Can I do anything?” Yes, yes you can. Here's how:
Julia Lakey has opened a benevolent fund for Rick at Chase Bank, P O Box 510, Vashon WA 98070. You can donate funds to help Rick deal with his mounting medical expenses. Just note on your check that it's for the Mark E.(Rick) Tuel fund.
OK, at this point I originally said you could send donations via Church of the Holy Spirit and get a tax deduction. The Church has informed me that I am wrong about that, and donations need to go to the bank fund, not to the church. I apologize for getting it wrong. I did not know that this policy had changed.
You can send Rick a card at PO Box 238, Vashon WA 98070. Big thanks to those of you who have already done so. The cards cheer him up.
Also, if you want to get something cool for your money (and who doesn't?) you can purchase a CD of Three Damp Duck, a trio consisting of JW McClure, Rick, and Mary, at the website www.threedampduck.com. JW has set this up, bless his heart, with the intention that all proceeds go to Rick's medical expenses. I will try to attach a photo here so you can see how young and cute we were 30 years ago.
Huge thanks to Water District #19, Rick's employers and colleagues, who have so come through for him, and the Church of the Holy Spirit, which has given prayer, friendship, encouragement, and food. I can't say thanks enough, not without starting to leak, anyway. Thank you. We are being sustained by grace right now, and these people and our other friends and family are conduits of that grace.
Which reminds me: thank you for the medicinal chocolate, Diane. It is sustaining me as I type.
Rick is in class today. He drove all the way to Auburn by himself, and will drive all the way home, God willing, although I did set up a back up plan for him to call if he feels too tired or stressed out, in which case our friend Roy Bumgarner will drive me over there so we can bring Rick home.
The class is on “cement asbestos pipes.” You know that line in Randy Newman's theme song for the Monk television show: “Do you know what's in the water that you drink? Well, I do. It's a-mazing!”
That line could be written by a water guy.
The class is for CEUs (Continuing Education Units) which Rick has to get every three years in order to keep his water district operator certification. Rick has to have that certification in order to work for Water District 19. And here's the good news: he might be able to work for them again, at least on a part-time basis. This thought has given him hope for the first time since the world came crashing down on October 5.
So...would anyone out there like to train Rick on CAD software? Seriously. Contact us.
He continues to have dialysis three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at present; because of his class today he'll go in for dialysis tomorrow.
On December 3 he'll have surgery to have a fistula formed in his arm. A what? You say. That doesn't sound so good – no, it doesn't. Here is a description from the website of the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC):
What is an arteriovenous fistula?
An AV fistula requires advance planning because a fistula takes a while after surgery to develop—in rare cases, as long as 24 months. But a properly formed fistula is less likely than other kinds of vascular access to form clots or become infected. Also, properly formed fistulas tend to last many years—longer than any other kind of vascular access.
A surgeon creates an AV fistula by connecting an artery directly to a vein, frequently in the forearm. Connecting the artery to the vein causes more blood to flow into the vein. As a result, the vein grows larger and stronger, making repeated needle insertions for hemodialysis treatments easier. For the surgery, you’ll be given a local anesthetic. In most cases, the procedure can be performed on an outpatient basis.
There, now, you are educated, and so am I. We were told that it takes about four months for a fistula to mature, and we have also been told that (a) sometimes the surgery does not succeed and has to be done over, and (b) that Rick has a blood clot in his left arm, formed during his October hospital stay, and no one should come near that arm with a needle.
Even though the illustration on this website shows the fistula near the wrist, the people I've seen at the dialysis center have theirs in their upper arms. Because Rick's kidney failure was sudden and severe, he is now equipped with a tunneled catheter for dialysis, but the medicos are putting on a lot of pressure to get rid of that.
At the same time the fistula surgery is done, he will have a PD catheter inserted into his abdomen. This would enable him to have peritoneal dialysis, which I am not going to try to explain here. I will say that Rick has been making jokes about “having a second dick installed,” and the importance of not mixing up one with the other.
The advantage of peritoneal dialysis would be that he could do it at home, which would be a mercy for us living on the island, financially and physically. We don't know yet if he'll be able to do peritoneal dialysis – he had a hernia operation a few years ago which may affect the possibility of doing it.
OK, this is my first day home in days and I am going to take advantage of it to make a recycling run. Woo hoo.
Thank you all for all your prayers, good wishes, and support both tangible and intangible. I must say that the novelty of the situation has worn off and it is sinking in, I can only speak for myself here, that this is the way it is from now on. Right now we're in a falling-through-the-cracks situation financially, so see those first paragraphs to see how you might help stop up a crack (thank you). Our hope is that once he is on disability and can work part time we'll have something to budget and will be able to carry on more independently than we can now.
And that's about it from here for now.
More of the Oatus Log will be coming in the near future. Hope you are enjoying it.
Blessings, love, hugs.
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