Hello from Missouri

[kporter85db]

Hello Everyone. I've been a lurker and member of IHD since the end of last year. I have learned a lot from this board but have just never felt like I had too much to contribute. I just started PD yesterday after a year long battle trying to keep my kidneys working. I guess it's finally time I introduce myself as I hope someone can benefit from my experience.

I will start another thread in the appropriate place to document my ongoing experiences, but first, my intro.

I am a 42 year old male. My kidneys were weakened from years of uncontrolled Hypertension and Diabetes and, at the time, I was overusing (read: abusing) Advil to help manage pain from what turned out to be Gout.

In May 2010, after returning from a two week trip to the east coast and during a regular Dr. visit, I was prescribed an antibiotic for a cut I had on my leg. That was on a Wednesday. Saturday morning I was back in the Dr. office feeling pretty bad. The nurse/practitioner (the only medical staff on duty) asked my what I thought I had and after consulting her little book misdiagnosed me with Congestive Heart Failure (which was what I told her my symptoms felt like).

Well, by that Saturday evening I was in the ER feeling like I was about to die.

Turns out that I had an "allergic" reaction to the sulfa based antibiotic I was prescribed for the cut on my leg. I spent the next 8 days in the hospital recovering from that little mishap and began the journey that has brought me here to Dialysis.

Fast-forward a rear and two months.

I have been expecting to start dialysis for some time now but thought I would have at least a few days from the time we decided to start before actually beginning treatments. Things seldom go as planned though. Wednesday afternoon, July 6th, I got a call from my nephrologist office telling me I needed to report to the hospital at 7:30am the next morning prepared for surgery to externalize my PD catheter that was placed back in February. I was then to go immediately to the dialysis center to start training for PD.

SO, here I am. Grocery shopping with my wife Wednesday afternoon, surgery and orientation/paperwork Thursday, four hours of PD training Friday and now I am home doing my manual PD exchanges. It's a good thing I'm a quick learner.

That's probably way too long of an Intro. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier but I do hope to be a help to someone from here on out.

Ken

[Pam]

  You will find all of info you need here as well as lots of compassion and understanding. I do hemo but I am sure you will be able to help those on PD.
My son and GS and all of my in-laws live in Mo. Too darn hot there for me!
Pam

[willowtreewren]

Welcome!

I'm glad that you had de-lurked, but sorry that you have found yourself in the place that you needed to!

As you know, this is a good place for support!

Aleta

[jbeany]

 

Glad you joined up!  We all do what we can to help each other.  Sometimes just knowing someone else feels the same way is a huge help when dealing with ESRD. 

jbeany, Moderator

[looneytunes]

Hi kporter85db and welcome from another Missourian!  Sounds like you've had quite a ride lately, I sure hope it smooths out quickly for you.   

[jeannea]

Welcome! You'll be glad you chose PD. I hope it goes well. If you have any questions we'll help you out.

[kporter85db]

Well. thank you everyone for the warm welcome. You all have already helped me greatly over the last few months through sharing your stories, advice and information. I look forward to getting to know you all better.

[Rerun]

Hi Ken, glad to welcome you to IHD.  I hope your PD goes well.  It is the best choice to start off with.

Rerun, Moderator          

[peleroja]

Welcome to the group, Ken.  You're right, lots of good information and friends here.  Glad you found us!

[Chris]

Hey there,
I would say it was a long reply for an intro, it was pretty good and way better than mine. I think mine was pretty short since I did not know what to say.

[jbrock]

Welcome.....From Kansas!!