Over the next few days, I began to retain nearly 30 lbs. of fluid that my failing kidneys could not eliminate. I was so backed up and bloated that the whites of my eyes ruptured and the skins of my eyelids split open.
As the accumulating fluid began to put pressure on my lungs and heart making it difficult for me to breathe, Dr. Keller decided to intubate, and put me on a respirator in case my lungs or heart failed. I was in critical condition.
Throngs of relatives and friends were called to the hospital so that prayers could be said and people could take shifts to stay with me around the clock.
Prior to my kidney failure, I was given an antibiotic called Tobramycin. It is adminstered to help treat bacterial infections. Tobramycin belongs to a group of antibiotics called Aminoglycosides, which are listed as the “big offenders” for ototoxicity (causing vestibular or cochlear damage in the ear). Because of this, these drugs are usually not chosen first to treat some infections. Aminoglycosides are often reserved for serious infections and illness, as it was with my case, or when bacteria simply don’t respond well to other antibiotics.
The other medication I was given was Lasix, to try to help reduce and remove the fluid overload in my body. Lasix is one of the “big-gun” loop diuretics commonly used for fluid retention, or to keep the kidneys working when they start to fail. It also has ototoxic side effects.
When an aminoglycoside (i.e., Tobramycin) is given with a loop diuretic (i.e., Lasix), it’s a “double-whammy” in terms of ototoxicity! Due to my condition, the length of my illness, and how everything in my body was so highly concentrated, any dosage became like an over-dose.
These ototoxic drugs would leave a major mark on my life, causing a permanent and profound bi-lateral, sensory-neural hearing loss. The choice was either deaf or death.
However, we would not learn of my deafness until almost a week and a half later.
