I am 19 years old now. I was first diagnosed with NS minimal change when i was not even a year old. When i was younger i was in and out of the hospital trying to figure out what the hell it was that i had. As i got older around 10 i started to feel different and wondered why i looked like this why I felt like this, so as a stubborn kid i decided to stop taking my medicine. Why should I have to be the one to be made fun of or be in the hospital every 2 months because I just developed an illness.

As of now I have been in occurring relapse since the age 14. I have taking every medication under the sun for the illness. None which make better just keep me stabilized. Some people are lucky they outgrow it, never happened for me. I have seen the ups and downs of life and I’m not even 20 years old yet. You know its scary when you are in the city trying to have a good time on the day of the Giants parade when you eat something that gives you an infection you have so many immuno-suppressants in your body that it automaticaly starts to kill you and you cant get yourself an ambulance because there’s a parade.

If you were to follow me around and look at me I look just like everyone else I play baseball for college, I go to party’s on the weekend, have a girlfriend, but imagine having to do all of this and feel like crap every single morning you wake up. Having to force yourself to get up and work 52 hrs a week just so you can live a good life. I’m not writing this to make you feel bad. To be honest it feels great to finally say it to somebody cause nobody else would understand except you guys.

So were am I in life right now, I’m just trying to fit in. I get up and do what i have to do. I am a 19 year old kid who has FSGS now and is taking 36 pills a day just to survive, and hopefully be lucky enough not to need a transplant at to young of an age.