Welcome One and All!

I started this blog to chronicle the my life as a renal patient. I started having issues back in 1983. I had an infection that hadn't been treated as an infection; it had been treated as pulled muscle as I had been working as a nanny at the time. Life went on and then I dealt with a series of infections of infections which resulted in 4 minor surgeries from 1985 to 87. Than I had 3 kids; dealing with minor infections along the way. This culminated in discovering in 1998 that I was in what the call Chronic Renal Failure, my right kidney was imploding, the left was starting to go as well.

I finally had the right kidney removed in 1999, which resulted in complications. I almost didn't make it. When I moved back to Edmonton from BC, I started seeing a nephorogist, Dr. Caldwell, from the U of A. In 2007 I had 75% renal function, fast-forward to today I have 13% and it is getting worse.

I decided I needed a place to share what I am going through for a variety of reasons:

1) to get out of my head and work through the anxiety and fear that I am feeling.

2) that somehow my ramblings can be of help to others.

3) most of all to share my journey with others and to help me share with my own family.

Great Sites for Information

Kidney Foundation of Canada

Kidney Foundation of Canada

National Kidney Foundation (USA)

National Kidney Foundation (USA)

(I will Post more as I find out more information.)

Here are some great foums and educational sites...

Kidney School
Kidney School
Kidney Friends Forum
Kidney Friends


Also there are some groups on Facebook:
Canadian Kidney Connection
Canadian Kidney Connection

Ontario’s Renal Community
Ontario’s Renal Community

I will add more as they come in. Cora

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Originally Posted on my other blog....


Well I went to the PD (Peritoneal Dialysis) Clinic to determine if I am eligible for it. turns out I am a good candidate for the procedure. so now it getting Dr. Caldwell to "hear" me o this. He wants to wait until I have only 10% function...I am now at 15%. The big thing to get used to would be doing dialysis 4 times a day. Oh and the dialysis nurse knew my godfather Ike Brydlt. That was a shocker :) Ike did more for kidney transplant (live non-relative donation) more than I was aware of.

You see back when I was 17 or 18, I woke up one morning to his picture splashed all over the morning newspaper (the Edmonton Sun). You see Ike had placed an add for a kidney as he was on hemodialysis, PD was not thought of or it was in its infancy. I am talking 1982-1983 here. I didn't even know that he was that sick as no one had ever told me. I think I remembered being shocked and angry. Shocked because he looked horrible and angry that he could do that, just advertise for a kidney like he could buy one ore something.

Now I am glad that he had the courage to do the story that he did. it brought organ donation and dialysis to the forefront. Now it is almost routine to be able to do a non-relative, live kidney donation and there is the peritoneal dialysis which makes thinks so much better for renal patients who are dealing with kidney failure.

One thing that did get explained to me, was once a patient gets a kidney infection, it is really difficult to get rid of the infections. So my repeat infections were not my fault. i wasn't doing anything wrong at all. Just that the because the kidney has so many tubes, nooks and crannies as it were, that it is hard to get rid of an infection once one has developed. Add in that it took 3 months for the first infection to be diagnosed. My doctor thought I had pulled my back muscles because I was working as a nanny at the time and I was lifting a one year old a lot.

It was finally my boyfriend, who convinced me to get a second opinion and that was when I found out it was a baaaaaaad kidney infections.

So here is hoping we can get things done. I am hoping we can convince Dr. Caldwell sooner rather than later as I will need 4 weeks to heal after the catheter is put into the peritoneal (the "belly") cavity.  Wow sponge baths fora month...hubby brightened up on that thought...lol. The pain has been getting me down as well has almost no energy. I want my life back! So i am hoping this works :)

Cora

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