I read Guy Gene's post the other day, but was feeling so down that I just couldn't gather the words I needed to express. It seemed, in reading that thread, that so many of my forum friends are either having or have had some major health issues.

Gene, you the other one, but I am anxious to hear that your health is improving. I, like most of the other members, had never heard of this illness that has waylaid you. I'd bet you were shocked when they told you about your condition. Please know that I, like our other forum friends, am keeping my fingers crossed that you will soon have good news from your doctors.

I feel bad that I haven't kept up with everyone's birthday. You all have a standing rain check for a Birthday margarita, provided of course, that I am still around.

One reason why I was absent recently was because I had been given some bad news by my nephrologist. Apparently, my creatin level had reached the point where I am going to need dialysis. I have been petrified about dialysis and had avoided going to see the vascular surgeon that I was referred to. There's a procedure that connects a vein in your arm to an artery. This causes the vein to enlarge and the walls to toughen. This is done to facilitate the process of draining my blood to run it through the filter and return the blood cleaned of the toxins that build up in my body. It sounds awful and scary to me!

On top of my kidney failing and my heart failing, I've been seriously constipated for four or five days and if you remember, last time this happened I ended up in the hospital with a "twisted colon." At that time a surgeon came in to see me and wanted remove a section of my colon. The problem with that is my heart and kidney couldn't survive major surgery. Fortunately for me, my GI doctor was able to do somewhat that fixed the blockage, and but he and I were worried that, due to my constipation, the colon problem could happen again. If I don't see any improvement by tomorrow, I will have to go into the hospital again.

I keep feeling that I am on borrowed time. Crap!

One positive note, I had been watching Apple refurbs for a great replacement for Mavis' tired Mini. I finally spotted a 2015, 21.5 inch 4K Retina 3.0 i7 iMac with 16 GB of RAM and a 2 TB Fusion drive for $1500! I was so happy that Mavis heeded my advice and bought this beauty.
I have moved her files over, set up her calendar, plus I set up the new HP printer that I bought for her. Now, I all that is left is to plug in the 2 TB WD Passport external drive that I got her for back up.
Here is where I could use some information. I have been reading about the new drive format in High Sierra. Right now the iMac is running Sierra and if I upgrade, I want to know what will it do to both the Fusion drive and the WD drive? Will it cause any problems?

I have never used Time Machine before. I have been using Intego's Personal Back Up app for years to make a bootable backup with perfect results. If I start using Time Machine, can it produce a bootable back up and will it be easy to set up?

Thanks for any suggestions. Best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving!

GeneL

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gl @ Dana Point, CA

There is no need to upgrade to High Sierra at this time.

If you do upgrade to High Sierra, do not worry about your hard drives. For the time being, upgrading to High Sierra from a Mac that boots from a hard drive or Fusion Drive will not result in the drive's file-system being converted to APFS. That only occurs with solid state drives.

Time Machine does not create a bootable "clone." The backup drive will be bootable, but it boots to a "Recovery" volume from which you can reinstall the operating system and restore the state of the operating system and user data from the Time Machine backup.

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Sorry to hear of your ongoing issues and I'm sending prayers and positive thoughts that you're with us for a long time yet...
And I'm still in the habit of calling new OS's "updates" as "upgrade" just doesn't sound right. What Doc says-no need to worry about going to HS at this time.

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Disclaimer: This post is checked for correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Any attempts at humor are solely the responsibility of the author and bear no claim that any and all readers will approve or appreciate said attempt at humor.
My name is DP, and I approve this message.

You're a tough old bird Gene; you're going to outlast us all!

I hope you're feeling better soon.

Hang in there, Gene. I sympathize: when you get to a certain point in life, sometimes the bad news just keeps coming. So I guess we have to concentrate on what is rather than what was. Or something. No one will ever hire me to be an Official Ray of Sunshine. But I share your feelings about this forum.

Keep hitting the docusate sodium, two or even three immediately after each meal before you leave the table.

A fistula, as you describe, is definitely the way to go for dialysis. Reliable with minimal infection rates. You can learn the 'buttonhole' technique to stick yourself using a dull needle. You stick the same spot on your fistula each and every time which makes it last longer. Repeated use of sharp needles can weaken the walls of the veins. Best to get the fistula done ASAP because they take a bit of time (sometimes months) to mature.

A nice thing about dialysis is that you can get sloshed, as in: totally hammered, on margaritas before you go for your dialysis and the procedure will remove all the alcohol as well as the metabolites that cause a hangover. Just be sure to have someone along who is sober and can carry you if need be. Also, get yourself a disability parking permit so you don't have so far to go as you stumble into the facility.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

margaritas before you go for your dialysis

This!

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Disclaimer: This post is checked for correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Any attempts at humor are solely the responsibility of the author and bear no claim that any and all readers will approve or appreciate said attempt at humor.
My name is DP, and I approve this message.

Hi Gene! Thanks for thinking of me. I know what you mean about concern for these crazy procedures they can do on the old body! I know a few people on kidney dialysis, and a friend who will need it. Praying that you do well!! I just got home from seeing gastro (whatever it is) doctor, the new medicine seems to be working, but they are waiting on my heart to get stronger before they don any tests in that area. Saw pacemaker doc yesterday, he is pleased with his work, so that was good. Still sore though, where pacemaker sits. It's a double wire type. Stent seems to be doing its job too, see that cardiologist on 7th. I had three heart doctors! Whew, all I can say Gene (and any others who might be having health issues) is we just really must take it a day at a time. Yeah, easy words. Hard practice. Things to do and places to go are still trying to push me, and I'm sure all of us. I had 90% main artery block on left side, right side blocked too, but vessels kind of bypassed the blockage doc said, so no stent there for now. My pacemaker is the kind that works 100% of the time, always going.

Hey, Gene!! How about a LEADER on that iMac! Sounds like a good deal and a good Mac! Ethyl will be needing a new Mac soon, she works hers very hard! It's already 7 years old. Time goes by!

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That old man - he don't think like no old man...
Now I wouldn't want to be within 400 - 500 yards of one of them nuclear bombs when it goes off! WW1 Vet Old Man
"He's pinned under an outcropping of rock. Lucky for him, the rock kept the dirt from burying him alive."
If idiots could fly, this place would be an airport. And I'd be a TSA agent.
A bonified member of The Mystic Knights of The Sea, George P. Stevens, President. Andy Brown, Treasurer, Algonquin J. Calhoun, Legal Consultant.

Oh! It's so good to hear from each of you. Over time, this is what makes our "gathering" so personal. The genuine concern that we have for each other, it is very special. Thanks for your encouragement!

Onamuji, thank you for the specifics about my technical questions.

Speedy, I appreciated your more specific information. It did raise several questions for me. You mentioned several specifics about dialysis that made me feel uncomfortable. Namely, what you wrote about "sharp needles" vs. dull needles. I really hate to say that I am uncomfortable thinking about needles, much less the whole dialysis process. Part of me wants to run a way and forget the whole thing. Please elaborate if you have more knowledge about how dialysis will probably impact my life.

Three days a week for three to four hours per session seems like almost unbearable regimen to me. Lately, I haven't been getting out much at all, so this seems like an impossible task. Part of me just wants to lie down and die.

Guy Gene, can you tell me more about the people you mentioned who you are on dialysis. How are they handling it? What is upsetting me is that I have one to five years left to live, based on what my nephrologist told me. That is if I go on dialysis. I feel as if I have jumped off a tall building and I am looking down at the concrete landing spot that I am headed toward and there is nothing I can do about it. I don't have a parachute.

One to five years if I go on dialysis.

Does this time frame seem to fit what any of you know about your friends on dialysis?

BTW, Guy Gene, your heart issues sound a lot like mine, but I only got two stents and, because of my health, no pacemaker. They are dealing with my A-fib using medication. I'm glad to hear that you are out of the hospital. It's holiday time, so you need to feel well enough to enjoy it.

Dave, you what does "HS" stand for? KJ, "Official Ray of Sunshine" or not, I appreciate seeing your presence on the forum. Thanks for thinking about me.

Speedy and DP, I margaritas sound like a good idea to me. Thanks for that suggestion. I don't ordinarily drink very often because I have been the driver whenever we went out, but I do enjoy a really good margarita.

That's it for now. I am so tired. Between my heart, kidney and sitting for hours on the potty last night until I finally had success I have had very little sleep.

As I used to say in the days of CB radio, "see you on the flip flop! "

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gl @ Dana Point, CA

There are topical anesthetics you can apply for the needle stick. My daughter uses the stuff religiously applied 20 minutes before getting stuck. There are a number of kinds. The one she uses is a cream that she applies and then her arm gets wrapped in Saran Wrap. The stuff washes off easily. But there are spray on types, too.

Dialysis will make your overall life better. Not nearly as good as a transplant but better. Waste buildup is gradual and you don't notice the change. But once you start getting waste filtered out you will feel better. You have an advantage in that your kidneys still control your fluid dynamics. Dialysis can wipe people out when they lose five pounds of fluid in a few hours. You won't experience that.

The hardest thing will be the 12 hours per week plus transportation to get to the facility. You really are dependent on a schedule. I dialysed my daughter at home using peritoneal dialysis (PD) because we live 75 miles from the nearest facility that would do pediatric HD. She weighed 3500 grams when I started dialysing her at home so you can imagine it isn't too difficult so you may want to see if PD is an option for you. PD has different types (continuous, overnight, manual, machine cycling, etc.) and is easy on the body. Also, PD allows for easier traveling. We dragged everything she needed to Mexico City, seven suitcases of stuff plus one suitcase for our clothing, etc.! We also traveled to Phoenix from Minnesota for a couple of weeks and in that case we could get all our supplies delivered to our destination.

There is a lot to learn and you will be very well trained. I really encourage you to get the fistula as soon as possible. PD requires the implantation of a catheter in your abdomen.

Dialysis sure beats the alternative.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

Speedy, it appears that I never got around to thanking you for your last post. The specifics were the motivation that I needed to move ahead. I now have an appointment for the vascular surgery on the 29th. Now, I have to worry whether the result is usable before my condition deteriorates to need dialysis sooner. In that case, I would have to have a "port" put in my chest. My understanding is that this is much riskier for infection and because it somehow connects directly to the heart it seems much more scary to me.
It all depends on my condition, which is a big question mark right now. My creatin level is still around 5 and my doctor says that I could hang in for the months that it will take for the fistula to "mature" enough to be usable. It all depends on how I feel. Thanksgiving will be a challenge for me this year.

I would like to wish all my forum friends a happy Thanksgiving and a healthy life ahead.

Between well and stay safe.

GeneL

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gl @ Dana Point, CA