Hi, Guys! I have some good news-- I think! I have mildly elevated cholesterol, and the nephrologist said he wanted to be aggressive about treating it, since my gfr is pretty bad. (I didn't know until this happened to me that most chronic kidney patients-- at least those with ATN-- don't die of kidney disease, they die of heart attack/stroke caused by kidney disease). Obviously, that's not the good news1 The good news is that the cholesterol med I was prescribed is supposed to help my itching! It's a powder which you mix with food, and it tastes fairly chalky-- but I only hve to take it once a day, and if it will cure the itching, I'd eat a box of chalk a day! It will take a few days to kick in, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works! I'm tired of looking like a chimp, always scratching myself!

2plus-- Do they run a routine hematocrit when you get your bloodwork? My hematocrit plunged into the low 20's, so they put me on injections of Aranesp every 2 weeks. It doesn't bring me all the way up to normal, but it DOES help. I can't tell if it made me any less pale, because I'm a red-head and look like Caspar the Ghost anyway.

Allie-- hope todays has been a better day. I feel very fortunate that pain is not part of my syndrome. I admire you guys for the way you all keep going despite the pain.

I'm glad everybody made it thru the storm. It's a beautiful evening here, so I'm going to drag my unwilling body outside and pull at least a few weeds before they take over the garden and start over-riding the house.

Here's to all of us having a good day tomorrow!
Annette