Living with Kidney Diseases

I was diagnosed at the age of 9 after many years of being sick but not knowing why. I kept being treated for the flu when I have never had the flu even once in my life. Turns out I had Urinary Reflux which caused urine from the bladder to back up into the kidney .. eventually both kidneys got infected so much that I lost both by the time I was 16. I end up on dialysis and then had a kidney transplant. I wasn’t prepared for all the side effects of the medications post transplant. I thought once I had a transplant all would well again.

Still, I had a wonderful 11 normal years and got to finish out my teenager years “normal” which was good for my self esteem which had been pretty low.

After 11 years I ended up feeling very tired and weak and getting slower and slower at my 12-hr shift job I had worked for 9 years. I knew I was coming close to the end of my transplant years and was trying desperately to get the promotion that was coming closer and closer to my grasp. I was finally told I get the promotion that would give me health benefits when I was told I had to go back on dialysis. Because of that I could not work the 12 hr shift. The shortest they could give me would be 8 hours, 5 days a week, not swing shift as I had been doing. I could not do that at first as I needed dialysis more than that would allow me and I could not do it there at work or have enough time to come home and do it. So I lost that job and applied to a store. I didn’t tell them about my health but when I had to be off for 6 weeks after I got in the Union they sure found out and were pretty livid. I was on dialysis this time for 6 1/2 years (from Feb 2001 to Nov 14th 2007).

This 2nd transplant wasn’t like the first. The first one worked right away and was great! This 2nd one however did NOT work for 7 weeks and I had to continue dialysis. I actually had the transplant on Sept 30th 2007…

I have learned a LOT and try to advocate for other patients. I am known online everywhere as angieskidney because even when on dialysis my kidney was my dialysis machine. And with a transplant .. well .. the name is a given isn’t it? lol