Still Surviving...

Happy Tuesday Kidney Warriors! This weekend marked the six year anniversary of my return to dialysis. If the day my best friend told me she was giving me her kidney was my best day with living chronic kidney disease, January 4th, 2008 would be my worst. After a five and a half year battle trying to keep my transplant this was the day it stopped working and it rejected. I can remember how scared I was knowing that once again I would have to rely on dialysis to survive. This was the day that I had my peritoneal dialysis catheter surgery to start dialysis again. This was the day that would change my life once again. 

What I've learned over the last 15 years living with chronic kidney disease is that you never know what your going to get from one day to the next. It constantly keeps you on your toes. What I've learned living with a kidney transplant is that you need to go into it with realistic expectations. A kidney transplant is not a cure; it is a treatment like dialysis just more permanent. There currently is no cure for chronic kidney disease. I've learned a kidney transplant has its own challenges. Be prepare to live the rest of your life on medications. For me these medications had some serious side effects. Be prepared in case it doesn't succeed. If you have a living donor prepare them, let them know of the chance that it might not work. I feel that was the one area where my transplant center could do better.  If I were to do anther living donor transplant this would be the first topic I would discuss with them before the transplant even took place. The costs of not preparing them may be one you don't want to pay. 

 What I've learned living on dialysis it requires you to monitor every bite of food you eat and every ounce of fluid you drink. I've learned that sticking to the renal diet is not an easy task but it is vital to living a good life on dialysis. I've also learned is it's imperative to do every treatment as directed by your nephrologist. Skipping treatments can only lead to a trip to the E.R. or worse. I'm not sure why there is such an attitude in the dialysis community about this subject, I see so many posts about how it's a  patients "right" to skip treatments. This seems foolish to me especially if you only do three treatments a week. Remember your functioning kidneys work 24/7 365 days a year so the 12 hours your getting a week is barely cutting it. I can see if a physical issue prevents you from going but not going just because "I don't feel like it" seems like an insult to those you have been dealing with dialysis as long as I have or longer. I know there are about 6,500 who would love to get the chance to do one more treatment, those who lost the battle to chronic kidney disease last year. And I can tell you this, I don't want to be one of them this year. I've learned that home dialysis treatments are the best for me. After trying in~center, PD, and home hemodialysis I realized home hemodialysis was the most effective for me. What I've learned is that it important to educate yourself about each option available to you. And if you don't have options DEMAND them. Yeah dialysis sucks but it will save your life. 

How can you help me not be one of those 6,500? First, if your not an organ, eye, or tissue donor sign up at DonateLifeAmerica.org   http://donatelife.net/.  In New York State you can also sign up on your driver's licence application or  if you renew it. Did YOU know you could save up to eight people? Second, tell your family of your wishes. Make sure they know your an Organ Donor and you want to give the ultimate gift, the gift of life! In the end, they will make the final decision for you. Make sure your wishes are known. And last but not least, start a conversation with your friends about organ donation. Tell them the importance of being a donor. How it costs nothing to sign up and the impact it will make on someones life!  Please do it for me, do it for the nearly 100,000 who are waiting for kidney transplants, do it for the good Karma! 

I want to thank you for joining me on this journey, I hope that in another six years I can share the additional things I've learned about living with chronic kidney disease. That's the thing about this disease there are always things to learn. I look forward to your comments, questions, and concerns. 

Keep on fighting, you Kidney Warriors! 

~Kidney Blogger