Karrie Nichols got her wish this summer to spend every day looking out over Hartwell Lake and casting her rod into its waters.
The 17-year-old West Union resident has the most severe form of spina bifida, a disorder of the spinal cord that has paralyzed her from the waist down since birth.
Since mid-June, she has been living at a new campsite built just for her at the Coneross Campground in Oconee County. Her parents are with her, monitoring her medications and making sure she is comfortable — complications of the disease have caused several infections and kidney stones.
But like any teenager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers chief ranger Zach Harkness said, Karrie wants a measure of independence.
“We built a concrete pad so she can get around by herself,” Harkness said. “Then there’s a sidewalk to go down to the shoreline. Then we built a fishing bulkhead with rails. She can take herself down there as she pleases.”
And she does.
Karrie is shy, choosing to speak only to those she’s known for a while — especially when she’s not feeling well. She offers an occasional smile and wry look to strangers. Jean Brown, a clinical nurse specialist at the Shriners Hospital of Greenville, said Karrie typically picks one person at the hospital to open up to.
“She’s a funny girl,” Brown said.
Karrie’s father, Ricky Nichols, vouched for his daughter’s catches this summer — mostly bream and a catfish or two.
“The first time she fished, there was something on the line, and she didn’t know it,” he said.
Family members helped net the fish.
Brown recommended Karrie for this special gift from the U.S. Corps of Engineers after the teen spent more than three months in the hospital last spring. She had been on life support after an infection made her ill and her temperature spiked to 105 degrees. Shortly thereafter, she had surgery for kidney stones.
“We didn’t know if we’d lose her,” said Karrie’s mother, Kathy Nichols.
“She didn’t want to eat or drink,” her father said.
The Atlanta-based Children’s Wish Foundation coordinated the details of Karrie’s gift, but the corps took on all the expenses, including giving the campsite free to the Nicholses all summer.
Karrie takes seizure medicines every six hours, and the frequency of her infections has rendered most antibiotics ineffective. She is on oxygen at night. She faces surgery for 11 more kidney stones again this fall, and her father said he knows it could be dangerous.
Spina bifida occurs during a baby’s early development in the womb. The material that will become the baby’s spine does not fully fuse, and the resulting hole exposes the enclosed nerves, said Amanda Darnley, spokeswoman for the Spina Bifida Association. No one knows the exact cause, though it has been linked to a deficiency of folic acid in the mother’s diet.
“We call them $1 million babies,” Darnley said. “The cost to a family or society is about $1 million by the time they reach the age of 10. The cost is overwhelming. Depending on actual conditions, they may face additional surgeries as they get older.”
When Karrie was born, several nerve endings protruded through her back, her father said, and she had a 50 percent chance of survival. Surgery within days of her birth closed the fist-sized wound, but the damage was already done. She’d lost the ability to control her legs.
“They took the feeding tubes off, and she ate. They took the breathing tube off, and she was still breathing,” her father said. “Her doctor couldn’t believe it.”
Her body’s response to the exposed nerves was to create an excess of spinal fluid, which built up in her brain. Doctors inserted a shunt into her head that still drains fluid from her head down to her belly.
2011年9月20日星期二
2011年9月19日星期一
We all need help to navigate rough waters
How do you do it?" is a question put to many a working parent. My husband and I have been working parents for the past 24 years and still wonder how we can handle life's expected and unexpected challenges.
It reminds me of riding the rapids. We had quite a ride this last month.
Summer is a time of playing catch up to doctor and dentist check ups for the kids. When you have multiple kids, you can have one or two appointments each week.
Here was my list for the month: wisdom teeth out, eye doctor for contacts, physical exam, dentist check up, and orthodontist. My husband and I had to dig in our paddles to get through the doctor visit "rapids" with our busy work schedules.
In the middle of this month, my husband had a bout with kidney stones while driving home from work. He pulled over and called 911. An ambulance and two fire trucks responded. He was taken to the emergency room.
From then on I compare the experience to being caught in a white water hydraulic. Once you are pulled in, you really struggle.
An older daughter got to the hospital first. A friend helped us pick up the car he abandoned on the highway. My travel scheduled had to be cancelled. The kids at home had to fend for themselves.
When it got to be around midnight and I was beat, who did I call? My night owl college age daughter, who came and stayed with her dad. I thought to myself, how fitting, she normally starts her evenings out at midnight anyway.
In the end, he had to go through two separate procedures to get the kidney stones out. Poor guy!
As working parents know, time does not stand still at the office while the river of life takes its twists and turns. I had my laptop, Blackberry and brief case and carried on business in the waiting rooms and halls of doctors, dentists and even throughout the time warp of the emergency room.
It reminds me of riding the rapids. We had quite a ride this last month.
Summer is a time of playing catch up to doctor and dentist check ups for the kids. When you have multiple kids, you can have one or two appointments each week.
Here was my list for the month: wisdom teeth out, eye doctor for contacts, physical exam, dentist check up, and orthodontist. My husband and I had to dig in our paddles to get through the doctor visit "rapids" with our busy work schedules.
In the middle of this month, my husband had a bout with kidney stones while driving home from work. He pulled over and called 911. An ambulance and two fire trucks responded. He was taken to the emergency room.
From then on I compare the experience to being caught in a white water hydraulic. Once you are pulled in, you really struggle.
An older daughter got to the hospital first. A friend helped us pick up the car he abandoned on the highway. My travel scheduled had to be cancelled. The kids at home had to fend for themselves.
When it got to be around midnight and I was beat, who did I call? My night owl college age daughter, who came and stayed with her dad. I thought to myself, how fitting, she normally starts her evenings out at midnight anyway.
In the end, he had to go through two separate procedures to get the kidney stones out. Poor guy!
As working parents know, time does not stand still at the office while the river of life takes its twists and turns. I had my laptop, Blackberry and brief case and carried on business in the waiting rooms and halls of doctors, dentists and even throughout the time warp of the emergency room.
Nurse Accused of Stealing Pain Meds Gets Probation
The nurse who reportedly told her patient to "man up and take some pain" after allegedly stealing a portion of his intended fentanyl dose has copped a plea that will keep her out of jail.
Sarah Casareto, RN, received 3 years' probation as part of the plea agreement. The alleged theft occurred while she was tending to patient Larry King, 56, who was on his way to the OR forkidney stone
"Clearly I remember (the "man up" comment)," Mr. King told local reporters. "I can't really use the language I'd use to describe what it's like when you lay on that table and can hear and feel everything they're doing to you."
OR personnel reportedly had to hold down the screaming and moaning Mr. King during the procedure. Ms. Casareto, who was said to appear drugged, told him to "Go to your beach. Go to your happy place."
Ms. Casareto's attorney says he was prepared to call witnesses who would have denied that Mr. King was in excessive pain during the procedure. But he refused to comment further, citing Ms. Casareto's pending review before the state nursing board, where she will attempt to regain her license.
Tony Nemo, Mr. King's attorney, says he "vigorously" opposed the plea deal and is pursuing civil lawsuits against Ms. Casareto and the hospital that formerly employed her.
"Due to confidentiality we cannot discuss current or former employees," said Abbot Northwestern in a statement issued at the time of Ms. Casareto's arrest in February. "She no longer works (at the hospital). Patient safety is our primary concern."
Sarah Casareto, RN, received 3 years' probation as part of the plea agreement. The alleged theft occurred while she was tending to patient Larry King, 56, who was on his way to the OR for
"Clearly I remember (the "man up" comment)," Mr. King told local reporters. "I can't really use the language I'd use to describe what it's like when you lay on that table and can hear and feel everything they're doing to you."
OR personnel reportedly had to hold down the screaming and moaning Mr. King during the procedure. Ms. Casareto, who was said to appear drugged, told him to "Go to your beach. Go to your happy place."
Ms. Casareto's attorney says he was prepared to call witnesses who would have denied that Mr. King was in excessive pain during the procedure. But he refused to comment further, citing Ms. Casareto's pending review before the state nursing board, where she will attempt to regain her license.
Tony Nemo, Mr. King's attorney, says he "vigorously" opposed the plea deal and is pursuing civil lawsuits against Ms. Casareto and the hospital that formerly employed her.
"Due to confidentiality we cannot discuss current or former employees," said Abbot Northwestern in a statement issued at the time of Ms. Casareto's arrest in February. "She no longer works (at the hospital). Patient safety is our primary concern."
2011年9月18日星期日
Kidney Stoned, But Recovering
What started with a wicked pain in my side the last week in June morphed into a summer’s worth of pain, infection, complication, hospitalization, ICU, procedures, sick days, frustration, rage, humility and a new knowledge of myself I didn’t imagine when my king hell kidney stone first announced its presence.
I’ve been one of those guys who just doesn’t get really sick. I’ll have the occasional flu or upper respiratory infection, sprain or cavity. The sort of minor ache or ailment that requires the minimal amount of medical care—take two aspirin and call me in the morning.
But after the first treatment didn’t work and the second came with complications, and I found myself catheterized, on a steel table in the emergency room with a 103.5 fever and the doctor on duty saying “you’re staying in the hospital,” I realized that with middle age had arrived middle aged discontents, illness and medical procedures a big part of them.
My family was traumatized, my workplace amazingly understanding, some friends engaged and concerned while others unaware of my travails (I didn’t post the gnarly details to Facebook—you’re welcome). I'm blessed to have a good health insurance plan.
But inside my head things reached a point where I wondered what the next complication might be, whether a fever that turned into a night in the hospital and spread into a six-day stay would morph into something more menacing.
Then it did. Back in the hospital for an outpatient procedure days later I unexpectedly aspirated under general anesthesia, only to awaken 16 hours later, hands tied down to the bed rails and tubes down my throat to my lungs and stomach. It was the sort of living horror movie I only imagined in those disengaged moments when the lawyer explains the medical power of attorney and living will documents before you sign.
All in all, my doctor said I was lucky to come out of it with two days in the ICU and a bad sore throat and congested lungs; I could’ve had a tracheotomy and been on a ventilator. Laying there with multiple tubes in and out of my body it was hard to feel lucky.
But the anesthesiologist had been quick on the draw, my doctor was able to extract the malevolent renal calculus, and though greatly weakened, I was on my way back to my workaday week, the simple joys of my family, and the entitled curmudgeonliness Patch lets me display here from time to time.
So it came to be this week I had a final procedure and was cleared by my doctor with the happy news that he didn’t want to see me for six months. I’m regaining strength, and I’m happy for the little things. My child’s hug, a wife who can freak out a little less, a walk outside in the evening air, four in the morning passing without someone waking me up to draw blood—these are a few of my favorite things, to paraphrase Hammerstein.
That which does not kill us makes us stronger. Nietzsche wrote that, and I’m trying to make it fit my current situation, although I’m still weak enough that I can’t quite yet play practice goalie for my daughter’s pre-practice soccer workouts. My fears about growing old and invasive medical procedures have been realized.
It won’t make the next round, should it come, any easier. But I certainly will have a higher threshold for pain, embarrassment, frustration and rage. And I think I’ll try to not sweat the minor aggravations as much.
As I lay in the hospital in the evening gloaming one night, machines going ping and beep around me and nurse-angels drifting by my bed to hang another bag of antibiotics or shoot another syringe of sweet narcotic into my lines to kill the pain, I wondered if things would ever return to normal for me and if I would appreciate them more if they did.
They are, and I’m trying.
I’ve been one of those guys who just doesn’t get really sick. I’ll have the occasional flu or upper respiratory infection, sprain or cavity. The sort of minor ache or ailment that requires the minimal amount of medical care—take two aspirin and call me in the morning.
But after the first treatment didn’t work and the second came with complications, and I found myself catheterized, on a steel table in the emergency room with a 103.5 fever and the doctor on duty saying “you’re staying in the hospital,” I realized that with middle age had arrived middle aged discontents, illness and medical procedures a big part of them.
My family was traumatized, my workplace amazingly understanding, some friends engaged and concerned while others unaware of my travails (I didn’t post the gnarly details to Facebook—you’re welcome). I'm blessed to have a good health insurance plan.
But inside my head things reached a point where I wondered what the next complication might be, whether a fever that turned into a night in the hospital and spread into a six-day stay would morph into something more menacing.
Then it did. Back in the hospital for an outpatient procedure days later I unexpectedly aspirated under general anesthesia, only to awaken 16 hours later, hands tied down to the bed rails and tubes down my throat to my lungs and stomach. It was the sort of living horror movie I only imagined in those disengaged moments when the lawyer explains the medical power of attorney and living will documents before you sign.
All in all, my doctor said I was lucky to come out of it with two days in the ICU and a bad sore throat and congested lungs; I could’ve had a tracheotomy and been on a ventilator. Laying there with multiple tubes in and out of my body it was hard to feel lucky.
But the anesthesiologist had been quick on the draw, my doctor was able to extract the malevolent renal calculus, and though greatly weakened, I was on my way back to my workaday week, the simple joys of my family, and the entitled curmudgeonliness Patch lets me display here from time to time.
So it came to be this week I had a final procedure and was cleared by my doctor with the happy news that he didn’t want to see me for six months. I’m regaining strength, and I’m happy for the little things. My child’s hug, a wife who can freak out a little less, a walk outside in the evening air, four in the morning passing without someone waking me up to draw blood—these are a few of my favorite things, to paraphrase Hammerstein.
That which does not kill us makes us stronger. Nietzsche wrote that, and I’m trying to make it fit my current situation, although I’m still weak enough that I can’t quite yet play practice goalie for my daughter’s pre-practice soccer workouts. My fears about growing old and invasive medical procedures have been realized.
It won’t make the next round, should it come, any easier. But I certainly will have a higher threshold for pain, embarrassment, frustration and rage. And I think I’ll try to not sweat the minor aggravations as much.
As I lay in the hospital in the evening gloaming one night, machines going ping and beep around me and nurse-angels drifting by my bed to hang another bag of antibiotics or shoot another syringe of sweet narcotic into my lines to kill the pain, I wondered if things would ever return to normal for me and if I would appreciate them more if they did.
They are, and I’m trying.
2011年9月15日星期四
Family holds fundraiser to help find cure for son's rare disease
Mason Reiter of Livonia is an active 6-year-old boy who loves swimming, elephants and Star Wars.
But since infancy, he has suffered from an extremely rare genetic disease of the kidney and liver that causes the formation of painful kidney stones. Currently, the only available treatment for the disease, called primary hyperoxaluria, is a combined kidney and liver transplant, which can lead to severe complications.
“If you saw Mason, you wouldn't know he has a genetic disease,” said Alison R. De Noia, project manager of the Oxalosis & Hyperoxaluria Foundation. “Mason loves to run, jump and play with his friends. He always has a smile on his face when you meet him that will warm your heart.”
But when a stone passes, it causes him so much pain that he has fainted in the past. And doctors say Mason's kidney can crystallize and fail at any time, with no warning.
“No child should have to suffer this way,” De Noia said.
Mason's family members are hoping for a cure.
To that end, they will host the inaugural “Take the Challenge Walk for a Cure” in honor of Mason at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, at Wayne County Parks' Nankin Mills in Westland.
“We need to A) raise dollars and B) raise awareness,” said Mason's mom, Nancy Reiter.
All proceeds will benefit the OHF, the only foundation in the world dedicated to finding a cure for hyperoxaluria. The OHF also funds the Hyperoxaluria Center at the Mayo Clinic, which treats Mason. “They are the specialists in this disease. We want to keep that center open,” Reiter said.
Reiter said awareness needs to be raised because the disease is so rare, health professionals at local hospitals don't know about it and don't know how to treat the complications that arise from it.
For example, Mason has been treated locally for pneumonia four times because of breathing problems. “He was on medication and the levels weren't correct,” his mother said.
Mason passed his first known kidney stone at age 15 months. But there was at least one time before that that his mother suspects he passed a stone. “He screamed to the point where he fainted,” she said. “He was in a walker. I had no idea; I thought maybe his finger was pinched.”
After Mason was diagnosed at age 2'ªø1‚-2, doctors put him on a low-oxalate diet, which means avoiding foods like chocolate, and ordered him to drink two liters of fluid a day. He goes for ultrasounds every four months and blood draws about every eight weeks.
“The scary part of this disease is dialysis doesn't work. The kidney actually crystallizes,” Reiter said, explaining that patients with Mason's disease produce large levels of oxalate because of a missing liver enzyme.
“We hope with increased fluids, we can keep the kidney working,” she said, adding Mason already has reduced kidney function. She said doctors have told them they may not have any advance warning of kidney failure. “He could get the flu at school and if it dehydrates, he could go into failure.”
According to De Noia, all patients with primary hyperoxaluria have kidney stones, 50 percent have kidney failure by age 15 and 80 percent have kidney failure by age 30.
But since infancy, he has suffered from an extremely rare genetic disease of the kidney and liver that causes the formation of painful kidney stones. Currently, the only available treatment for the disease, called primary hyperoxaluria, is a combined kidney and liver transplant, which can lead to severe complications.
“If you saw Mason, you wouldn't know he has a genetic disease,” said Alison R. De Noia, project manager of the Oxalosis & Hyperoxaluria Foundation. “Mason loves to run, jump and play with his friends. He always has a smile on his face when you meet him that will warm your heart.”
But when a stone passes, it causes him so much pain that he has fainted in the past. And doctors say Mason's kidney can crystallize and fail at any time, with no warning.
“No child should have to suffer this way,” De Noia said.
Mason's family members are hoping for a cure.
To that end, they will host the inaugural “Take the Challenge Walk for a Cure” in honor of Mason at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, at Wayne County Parks' Nankin Mills in Westland.
“We need to A) raise dollars and B) raise awareness,” said Mason's mom, Nancy Reiter.
All proceeds will benefit the OHF, the only foundation in the world dedicated to finding a cure for hyperoxaluria. The OHF also funds the Hyperoxaluria Center at the Mayo Clinic, which treats Mason. “They are the specialists in this disease. We want to keep that center open,” Reiter said.
Reiter said awareness needs to be raised because the disease is so rare, health professionals at local hospitals don't know about it and don't know how to treat the complications that arise from it.
For example, Mason has been treated locally for pneumonia four times because of breathing problems. “He was on medication and the levels weren't correct,” his mother said.
Mason passed his first known kidney stone at age 15 months. But there was at least one time before that that his mother suspects he passed a stone. “He screamed to the point where he fainted,” she said. “He was in a walker. I had no idea; I thought maybe his finger was pinched.”
After Mason was diagnosed at age 2'ªø1‚-2, doctors put him on a low-oxalate diet, which means avoiding foods like chocolate, and ordered him to drink two liters of fluid a day. He goes for ultrasounds every four months and blood draws about every eight weeks.
“The scary part of this disease is dialysis doesn't work. The kidney actually crystallizes,” Reiter said, explaining that patients with Mason's disease produce large levels of oxalate because of a missing liver enzyme.
“We hope with increased fluids, we can keep the kidney working,” she said, adding Mason already has reduced kidney function. She said doctors have told them they may not have any advance warning of kidney failure. “He could get the flu at school and if it dehydrates, he could go into failure.”
According to De Noia, all patients with primary hyperoxaluria have kidney stones, 50 percent have kidney failure by age 15 and 80 percent have kidney failure by age 30.
2011年9月14日星期三
Natural Supplements to Address Kidney and Gallbladder Stones
Kidney stones are one of the most common disorders of the urinary tract, reported to affect about 12 percent of men and 5 percent of women over their lifetime.
Certain factors appear to increase the risk of kidney stones, such as a high-animal-fat diet with resulting increased urinary acidity; low fiber intake; low fluid intake; gout (high uric acid levels); high blood pressure, family history; being overweight; and inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. There is no conclusive evidence that calcium supplements or foods containing oxalates increase the risk of kidney stones. High doses of vitamin C may aggravate kidney stone development in susceptible individuals.
In the case of gallbladder stones, a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet is advisable to prevent gallstone formation, but some susceptible individuals may develop gallstones even when consuming a healthy diet.
Patients who develop kidney or gallbladder stones may wish to take a combination supplement containing ingredients shown to help dissolve stones and prevent their recurrence. The best evidence in this regard suggests supplementation with the herb Chanca piedra, vitamin B6 and magnesium.
Chanca piedra is a popular South American herb that has been used to dissolve and eliminate kidney stones and gallbladder stones. The English translation for Chanca piedra is "stone crusher." Recent scientific evidence has provided solid evidence of this therapeutic effect. A 2006 Brazilian study showed that the therapeutic effect of Chanca piedra may be due to its ability to modify the shape and texture of stones (calculi) to a smoother and more fragile form, which would allow for easier elimination and/or dissolution of the stones.1
Another study demonstrated that Chanca piedra has an inhibitory effect on crystal growth and aggregation in human urine, which may inhibit stone formation, acting as an important part of a prevention strategy in those with a past history of kidney stones.2
A 2006 study involving 150 patients with kidney stones tested the efficacy of Chanca piedra supplementation in patients administered shock-wave therapy. Shock-wave therapy (delivered from outside the body) breaks down stones to facilitate their elimination. Upon completion of this therapy, approximately half of the patients were given 2 grams of Chanca piedra every day for 30 days. The remainder of the group did not take the herb and acted as controls. Stone clearance was assessed after 30, 60, 90 and 180 days by abdominal X-ray and ultrasound scan. The herb-supplemented patients were shown to have a stone-free rate 10-23 percent higher than the control group.3
As an aside, Chanca piedra has also been shown to increase the urinary excretion of uric acid; thus, it may also be helpful in the management of gout and hyperuricemia.4
Vitamin B6 and magnesium: Supplementation with vitamin B6 and magnesium has also shown positive effects in preventing the recurrence of kidney stones. In a landmark study, 149 patients with longstanding recurrent kidney stones (calcium oxalate and mixed calcium oxalate/calcium phosphate) received 100 mg of magnesium three times a day and 10 mg of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) once a day for 4.5-6 years. The mean rate of stone formation fell by 92.3 percent, from 1.3 stones per patient per year prior to the study to 0.10 stones per patient per year during the study. No significant side effects occurred.5 Other studies have shown that using various forms of magnesium alone can prevent the recurrence of kidney stones in previous sufferers.6-7
Based on the research summarized above, in patients with existing kidney or gallbladder stones and no medical treatment currently planned, I suggest patients make appropriate dietary changes, drink more water (for kidney stones) and take a supplement twice per day containing therapeutic dosages of Chanca piedra, vitamin B6 and magnesium.
Certain factors appear to increase the risk of kidney stones, such as a high-animal-fat diet with resulting increased urinary acidity; low fiber intake; low fluid intake; gout (high uric acid levels); high blood pressure, family history; being overweight; and inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. There is no conclusive evidence that calcium supplements or foods containing oxalates increase the risk of kidney stones. High doses of vitamin C may aggravate kidney stone development in susceptible individuals.
In the case of gallbladder stones, a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet is advisable to prevent gallstone formation, but some susceptible individuals may develop gallstones even when consuming a healthy diet.
Patients who develop kidney or gallbladder stones may wish to take a combination supplement containing ingredients shown to help dissolve stones and prevent their recurrence. The best evidence in this regard suggests supplementation with the herb Chanca piedra, vitamin B6 and magnesium.
Chanca piedra is a popular South American herb that has been used to dissolve and eliminate kidney stones and gallbladder stones. The English translation for Chanca piedra is "stone crusher." Recent scientific evidence has provided solid evidence of this therapeutic effect. A 2006 Brazilian study showed that the therapeutic effect of Chanca piedra may be due to its ability to modify the shape and texture of stones (calculi) to a smoother and more fragile form, which would allow for easier elimination and/or dissolution of the stones.1
Another study demonstrated that Chanca piedra has an inhibitory effect on crystal growth and aggregation in human urine, which may inhibit stone formation, acting as an important part of a prevention strategy in those with a past history of kidney stones.2
A 2006 study involving 150 patients with kidney stones tested the efficacy of Chanca piedra supplementation in patients administered shock-wave therapy. Shock-wave therapy (delivered from outside the body) breaks down stones to facilitate their elimination. Upon completion of this therapy, approximately half of the patients were given 2 grams of Chanca piedra every day for 30 days. The remainder of the group did not take the herb and acted as controls. Stone clearance was assessed after 30, 60, 90 and 180 days by abdominal X-ray and ultrasound scan. The herb-supplemented patients were shown to have a stone-free rate 10-23 percent higher than the control group.3
As an aside, Chanca piedra has also been shown to increase the urinary excretion of uric acid; thus, it may also be helpful in the management of gout and hyperuricemia.4
Vitamin B6 and magnesium: Supplementation with vitamin B6 and magnesium has also shown positive effects in preventing the recurrence of kidney stones. In a landmark study, 149 patients with longstanding recurrent kidney stones (calcium oxalate and mixed calcium oxalate/calcium phosphate) received 100 mg of magnesium three times a day and 10 mg of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) once a day for 4.5-6 years. The mean rate of stone formation fell by 92.3 percent, from 1.3 stones per patient per year prior to the study to 0.10 stones per patient per year during the study. No significant side effects occurred.5 Other studies have shown that using various forms of magnesium alone can prevent the recurrence of kidney stones in previous sufferers.6-7
Based on the research summarized above, in patients with existing kidney or gallbladder stones and no medical treatment currently planned, I suggest patients make appropriate dietary changes, drink more water (for kidney stones) and take a supplement twice per day containing therapeutic dosages of Chanca piedra, vitamin B6 and magnesium.
2011年9月13日星期二
Why I provide free medical services to less privileged –Enugu medical doctor
All the years Dr Samuel Ngwu, who hails from Ogui Nike in Enugu North Local Government Area of Enugu State sojourned in Dallas Texas, United States of America, he always had home in mind. He had practiced as a medical consultant in South Western Medical Centre, Dallas, USA. He is also a fellow of American College of Physicians; President and founder of a non-governmental organization, African Mission of Hope. He speaks on the activities of African Mission of Hope in this interview with Daily Sun.
It is a non-governmental organisation with the primary goal of alleviating African health care burden with the poor and the sick.
We have over the years brought doctors yearly with all kinds of specialty, doing free medical services to Nigerians in this Eastern part of the country. We go from villages to villages attending to health care needs of Nigerians and Africans.
We provide specialties, consultations, medications and drugs. We provide durable medical equipment like wheel chairs, crutches, beddings, to relive sores in people that have bed sores and diabetic equipment where they can check their sugars.
Primary health care awareness is also one of our focuses because we have found out over the years that there is many of what western people call avoidable deaths, which means that what shouldn’t kill somebody is killing somebody in Africa, especially in Nigeria. And once people are aware, they can do the right thing to prolong their longevity.
We target the masses. We are open to all Nigerians. We have people that bring all kinds of records. X-rays, reports for help with consultations. We also have ability to send people overseas for services that are not available here in Nigeria. We have taken a 20-year-old lady to America for brain tumour surgery. We have taken a three-year- old Nigerian to America with a hole in the heart for open heart surgery.
We have taken people with renal stones, which is kidney stones, that is too big for anything to be done in this country, overseas for urological interventions.
I own a medical clinic in the United States of America, which is quite a busy clinic and we support the NGO through the clinic. And that has been the main source of our funding for most of the work that we have done here in Nigeria and Africa.
Well, I grew up here in Africa. My parents were poor and I was a member of the Red Cross Society when I was in secondary school and we go around schools in Akpugo and Agbani, distributing high protein biscuits for malnourished children. Over the years when I became a medical doctor, when I come back on holidays with my family, I am overwhelmed with sick people lining up, coming with all kinds of medical ailments. From there, I started bringing things home to do one thing or the other. I remember one day, they brought a man with bad abdominal pain. He was in so much distress and then he couldn’t urinate and I had nothing with me, so I just felt his bladder was too full and based on my clinical experience, I knew it was prostatic hypertrophy.
I had 18 gauge needles and I just brought it out and pinched it in the pelvis and you can see the urine shooting out. He got relieved and that was how the pains left. Since then, even now, I have the equipment to take care of it now. So, that is how I started doing this job. I hated human suffering. And then too many avoidable deaths and from there it kept progressing. Like today, I have seen three patients. Unless they don’t know that I am in town. Sick people are coming in every day. And as a result, I started setting up medical hospital at presidential road, Enugu so that I don’t lose people to follow up. Then, I can have a place for continuity of care.
I actually started Enugu USA medical mission, but it got too political for my vision. So, I decided to leave them alone and formed the African Mission of Hope. And we have people on our computer data base that we provide with their drugs yearly. We have kids with seizure. Like the other day, about two years ago, I was coming back and a young kid was experiencing seizure and I stopped and held her until the seizure stopped.
We accompanied her to her home so that we know who her parents are. Since then, I have been buying her drugs. Her mother told me that at school when it starts, people surround her; she is knocking her head on the ground, getting bruises until finally it comes down. So, I have been able to stop that seizure from medicines for about three years now. So, these are the kind of work we are doing. We have people from Nsukka, Nkanu, Awgu and Nike on my data base that I send their one year medicine. Their medical supply will expire in January, but before then, I have enough time to re-supply their medicine. These are people with stroke, with heart disease, hypertension and congestive heart failure who need to continue their medicine daily for them to maintain their lifespan.
Well, the social service, as I do this, even hypertension is rampant here, though people don’t understand it. We have cases of kidney problem stage three because of uncontrolled blood pressure. So, medical awareness is an important part of the mission of African Mission of Hope. We have pamphlets we are distributing to people. If you have blood pressure, you have to take care of it because if you develop advanced kidney disease, you cannot treat it because the treatment is expensive which is dialysis. And dialysis is another thing that we are hoping to supplement in our hospital because you have to get dialyzed three times in a week to be able to maintain your lifespan.
But here, I understand that dialysis cost N45, 000 a session and most people don’t have it. So, what they do is that they get one session and they wait until they develop what is called uremic symptoms, which means that the kidney disease is making them too sick. And then, they have to go and get one dialysis which may take about six weeks or three months. But, that is not how it is supposed to be, it is supposed to be three times a week to maintain a normal life span. And as I deal with all these with my personal resource, I decided to dabble into public service because I hate human suffering and I believe that we can do more.
It is a non-governmental organisation with the primary goal of alleviating African health care burden with the poor and the sick.
We have over the years brought doctors yearly with all kinds of specialty, doing free medical services to Nigerians in this Eastern part of the country. We go from villages to villages attending to health care needs of Nigerians and Africans.
We provide specialties, consultations, medications and drugs. We provide durable medical equipment like wheel chairs, crutches, beddings, to relive sores in people that have bed sores and diabetic equipment where they can check their sugars.
Primary health care awareness is also one of our focuses because we have found out over the years that there is many of what western people call avoidable deaths, which means that what shouldn’t kill somebody is killing somebody in Africa, especially in Nigeria. And once people are aware, they can do the right thing to prolong their longevity.
We target the masses. We are open to all Nigerians. We have people that bring all kinds of records. X-rays, reports for help with consultations. We also have ability to send people overseas for services that are not available here in Nigeria. We have taken a 20-year-old lady to America for brain tumour surgery. We have taken a three-year- old Nigerian to America with a hole in the heart for open heart surgery.
We have taken people with renal stones, which is kidney stones, that is too big for anything to be done in this country, overseas for urological interventions.
I own a medical clinic in the United States of America, which is quite a busy clinic and we support the NGO through the clinic. And that has been the main source of our funding for most of the work that we have done here in Nigeria and Africa.
Well, I grew up here in Africa. My parents were poor and I was a member of the Red Cross Society when I was in secondary school and we go around schools in Akpugo and Agbani, distributing high protein biscuits for malnourished children. Over the years when I became a medical doctor, when I come back on holidays with my family, I am overwhelmed with sick people lining up, coming with all kinds of medical ailments. From there, I started bringing things home to do one thing or the other. I remember one day, they brought a man with bad abdominal pain. He was in so much distress and then he couldn’t urinate and I had nothing with me, so I just felt his bladder was too full and based on my clinical experience, I knew it was prostatic hypertrophy.
I had 18 gauge needles and I just brought it out and pinched it in the pelvis and you can see the urine shooting out. He got relieved and that was how the pains left. Since then, even now, I have the equipment to take care of it now. So, that is how I started doing this job. I hated human suffering. And then too many avoidable deaths and from there it kept progressing. Like today, I have seen three patients. Unless they don’t know that I am in town. Sick people are coming in every day. And as a result, I started setting up medical hospital at presidential road, Enugu so that I don’t lose people to follow up. Then, I can have a place for continuity of care.
I actually started Enugu USA medical mission, but it got too political for my vision. So, I decided to leave them alone and formed the African Mission of Hope. And we have people on our computer data base that we provide with their drugs yearly. We have kids with seizure. Like the other day, about two years ago, I was coming back and a young kid was experiencing seizure and I stopped and held her until the seizure stopped.
We accompanied her to her home so that we know who her parents are. Since then, I have been buying her drugs. Her mother told me that at school when it starts, people surround her; she is knocking her head on the ground, getting bruises until finally it comes down. So, I have been able to stop that seizure from medicines for about three years now. So, these are the kind of work we are doing. We have people from Nsukka, Nkanu, Awgu and Nike on my data base that I send their one year medicine. Their medical supply will expire in January, but before then, I have enough time to re-supply their medicine. These are people with stroke, with heart disease, hypertension and congestive heart failure who need to continue their medicine daily for them to maintain their lifespan.
Well, the social service, as I do this, even hypertension is rampant here, though people don’t understand it. We have cases of kidney problem stage three because of uncontrolled blood pressure. So, medical awareness is an important part of the mission of African Mission of Hope. We have pamphlets we are distributing to people. If you have blood pressure, you have to take care of it because if you develop advanced kidney disease, you cannot treat it because the treatment is expensive which is dialysis. And dialysis is another thing that we are hoping to supplement in our hospital because you have to get dialyzed three times in a week to be able to maintain your lifespan.
But here, I understand that dialysis cost N45, 000 a session and most people don’t have it. So, what they do is that they get one session and they wait until they develop what is called uremic symptoms, which means that the kidney disease is making them too sick. And then, they have to go and get one dialysis which may take about six weeks or three months. But, that is not how it is supposed to be, it is supposed to be three times a week to maintain a normal life span. And as I deal with all these with my personal resource, I decided to dabble into public service because I hate human suffering and I believe that we can do more.
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