I wish someone had told me...

[kitkatz]

I am a Southern California Kaiser not getting a transplant weed!

[carla13]

I wish I had known that doctors aren't all knowing gods with all the answers.

I wish I had known that no-one knows my body like I do and I am the best person to make any kind of decision about its treatment.

I wish I had known that the bl**dy operation I had two months ago would rob me of my last 5% kidney function!!!!

[cariad]

I wish someone had told me that switching or discontinuing immunosupressants can lead to increased sensitization. Everyone mentions the three big risks factors - blood transfusions, previous transplants, and pregnancy - but no one has ever mentioned this one to me. I had to find out myself by asking many doctors how I could have 0% sensitization for 30 years post-transplant, and then suddenly develop antibodies.

I was on the same immunosupressants all that time, and either a switch from Imuran to CellCept, or coming off prednisone seems to have triggered antibody production. Luckily, my husband and I still have a negative crossmatch, but it would have been nice to know the risks of changing meds, since the old meds were still working when I switched.

[2kidneystomany]

  well I wish some one would tell these doctors there not GOD that we know our bodies better than they do .So give us a break I have had so many docs tell me you do this or else's I have had ESRD for 25 years. Longer than most of the doctors have practicing medicine  and I would just once have a doctor said well what do you think about if we do this not do it or else your noncompliant.   PS sorry for all the complaing just needed to get that out.

[Des]

I wish that someone told me that a sauna can replace dialysis and that I can get myself to believe it.

[marti824]

I wonder if the insurance companies would pay to have a sauna installed?  Could we call that preventative medicine?

[Des]

That conversation could be fun