I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Introduction => Introduce Yourself => Topic started by: RichardMEL on November 14, 2006, 06:55:37 PM
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Hi all,
My name's Richard (obviously!) and I live in Melbourne, Australia. No, I don't have a kangaroo in my back yard :)
During a routine medical for my first job in 1993 they found protein in my urine and sent me off for more tests. The result being I was diagnosed with some sort of Nephritis and the doc I saw then gave me 2 years till I was either on dialysis or dead. This was in the first 5 minutes of the consultation! Suffice to say this guy rubbed us up the wrong way and my mother (now sadly passed away) managed to get me transferred to someone she had worked with previously and who is not only a lovely man but also professor of Medicine and head of department.
So after being given those 2 years initially, I went on to have a biopsy of the kidney and various other tests but my rate of decline was (thankfully!) pretty slow, though each blood test would usually bring a bit more creatine into the blood.
In 2004 (some 11 years after original diagnosis) it was approaching time for ESRF and I had a fistula created on my left arm for use in dialysis. I was also invited to participate in a study involving "early" and "late" start to dialysis and its impact on heath and quality of life. Fortunately I was selected for "late" start so I got to hold off even longer.
However in July this year I started hemo with approx. 6% function left. I was feeling OK but my doctor felt it was time to get going. Given I had 13 years I feel absolutely privliged with the massive amount of time I have had and the ability to do many things I wanted to do while I knew I still had a lot of freedom to do things. This included a lot of travel to various places as I have a bit of a travel bug.
So I started in July this year, although have been on the transplant list for nearly 2 years. I do 5 hours/3 times a week and wish I could do less hours in a session, but they keep telling me "the more you do the better for you".. yeah, well that's fine but if the chairs were more comfy it would help :) My butt and lower back is always sore after a session despite pillows and other items I try to help. Well, I guess I have many more opportunities to perfect my comfort!
Due to bad eyesight and co-ordination home hemo or PD is not really an option for me, so I do hemo in the unit. Fortunately the hospital is right over the road from where I live (well OK, I bought the apartment with that in mind and fortunately I have been allowed to be an outpaitent there).
So anyway that's my story. I hope to contribute more on this site!
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G'day mate ;) (Hi Richard) and welcome to what i consider (and is) the best website on the net (regarding this matter) Not only are we an awesome website, we are an even more awesome support group. Please do not hesitate to read through the posts and add a little of your knowledge where ever you please. If at any time you need help with anything, do not hesitate to ask ok, any one of us would be more than happy to help you.. Looking forward to hearing more from you... :2thumbsup;
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Hello & welcome Richard.
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:welcomesign; Richard ,Great to see some more of us Aussie's join this great site.
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Hi Richard. Welcome to our site. I'm sure you are grateful for the many years you had to out run dialysis. Yes, it usually catches up with you! I'm glad you found our site. Look forward to your posts.
:welcomesign;
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Hello Richard your the next contestant on IHD.com :welcomesign;
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Welcome to the site. Looking forward to read your posts!
:beer1;
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Thank you all. I apprieciate the welcome :) Specially nice to see another native Charee.. you might be right around the corner *wave* :)
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:welcomesign;, Richard! Glad you joined us!
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Welcome Richard, good to have you aboard.
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Welcome to our community, Richard! I really liked your story. Two things I liked about it were - 1. you proved that first doctor wrong, giving you 2 years! 2. You had a chance to do all the things that would now be restricted.
How dare they attempt to give us time. They told my brother that if he didn't have dialysis more than twice a week, he would be dead in two years. Well, he had it twice a week for about 5 years before they were able to change it to 3 times.
Looking forward to hearing much more from you.
:welcomesign;
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:welcomesign;
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Welcome Richard, this is a great site! glad you found it!!
Amanda From OZ. :2thumbsup;