Renal Retentive: Diovan & Chair Wars

Not much new on the Renal Front. I went to my nephrologist Dr. Kancha last week; she added Diovan to my meds, this is to reduce the amount of protein I am spilling in my urine. Which is apparently alot. She also added Lipitor, to help the cholesterol situation. She sent me for bloodwork, and I go back in a month.
I asked her at what point I will need to start dialysis, and she said that that will be when mykidney function drops to 15% or below. So we have a little time, but we can't be sure how much. It might go down slowly, or it might stay steady for awhile & then take a dive. Just another 'wait and see' situation.

On a lighter note, I thought I'd share some pictures of our 'kids'. Most of our family hasn't met all our pets. Many of you know that I have a small soft spot for animals. OK make that a large soft spot. It's a good thing my husband is the voice of reason or we would be living in a barn. I'm one of those people that has the invisible sign above my head- the one that only animals can read, that says "Sucker". Ask me some time about the long line of strays that have come in & out of our house. Hey, I figure- if nothing else, I am earning alot of good karma points.

We have 3 kitties- 2 older ladies and one little kitty, about 11 weeks old. We also have 2 large dogs. The male dog Max is a Shar Pei- Pit bull- Lab mutt. He is gentle as a lamb! Lexy is a German Pointer/ Lab mutt. She is very smart, but has the attention span of a gnat. A toddler gnat.

They are our 'kids' in every way, they are our family and I don't know what we would do without them.

So- now to the pictures. These were all taken tonight. The kitten- Bella- her new trick is drinking from the faucet. We call it the Magical Fountain... it mystifies her but she loves it. I saw her licking the water in the bottom of the bathtub and I thought, I wonder if I could get her to figure out the faucet.... It worked!

I am also posting a pictoral account of one of the many battles of the Chair Wars. There is a spare chair in the computer room, and apparently it's THE place to lay when Rick or I is on the computer because they always duke it out for the chair. Bella usually loses, but her advantage is that she doesn't know when to quit. That and no matter how bad of a beating she gets, she comes right back for more. Ah, kittens.

P.S. here is a link to our album on Photobucket. More pictures, if anyone is really bored.
http://s343.photobucket.com/albums/o464/thekistners/Our%20Creatures/
P.S.S. I didn't proofread this entry, and I don't feel like going back & fixing any typos. Take that, Grammar Police!