Remembering When

There are so many things we take for granted in our life.  Every once in awhile we need to stop and remember it is only by the grace of God we have them in our life.  The coolness of an air conditioner in summer and the warmth of a heater in winter; a washing machine - as I am washing my clothes right now and not in a bath tub or a sink; transportation to take me to the store or church or whatever (even though I don't have it all the time any more, I still have it); food on the table; clean water to drink and help me with my dialysis; a wonderful family; good friends; and the gospel.  Oh yes - dialysis - it allows me to live.  So thank you NxStage for giving me my kidney and thank you Heavenly Father for giving the guidance and inspiration to create such a machine.

I was reading an article on line yesterday out of the CNN news site and it was on a man with dialysis.  They over dramatize those things so much.  The article made kidney disease sound like a death sentence.  Its not.  Maybe if you're 80 something and in poor health - but there are so many options now to keep you alive.  I like doing dialysis at home because it gives me more energy and the ability to live my life better.

I remember when I was in high school my mother had me take some kind of a test to see if I had poly-cystic kidney disease (PKD); nothing was definitive but they told me to hold on to my lab results to show doctors in the future.  There was a shadow of some kind and they thought there was a chance I might have PKD.  When I was 30 I was having horrible stomach cramps.  They had ran all kinds of tests to see what it could be and one of them was a sonogram.   I remember I was laying on the table when the technician said "Oh, wow"; then excused himself to go get the doctor.  When the doctor came in to look at the monitor he told me I had multiple cysts on my kidneys.  I left feeling numb.

I went to work the next day and the attorney I was working for told my co-workers I had just received a death sentence.  Isn't that funny?  Don't we all have a death sentence the minute we are born?  As one of my friends says "we all have an expiration date."


My husband at that time was so sympathetic - he said, "at least you don't have diabetes".  Kind of funny because now I do and I am on dialysis.  Sometimes when someone finds out I'm on dialysis, they ask if I'm diabetic.  I tell them yes, but that's not why I'm on dialysis.  My kidney disease is genetic.

My mother had PKD, my sister has PKD, I have PKD, my son has PKD.  I can't figure out where it hit before my mother.  I suspect my grandfather because he died in his early 60's from heart disease and it's possible he didn't live long enough to present kidney problems.  Generally speaking PKD is generational, however, every once in a while someone will develop PKD out of no where, but that is highly unusual.

I'm so grateful technology has improved to the point I can have quality in my life and the ability to do the things I need to do and enjoy my life.