kelli from Oregon

To Everyone at IHD,

Its about time I introduced myself! I have been surfing all over this site since last summer. I told myself I should be the 500th member to join, then the 600th went by......Well anyway, I've gotten to know many of you through your posts and feel its only fair you should know me. So here I am...

I live in OR., am 43 yrs old, married with 5 kids, ages 19,18,16,14,11. I'm an RN, have worked in ER, NICU, and Labor and Delivery. Currently charge nurse of a very busy L&D unit. Dialysis and I go way back. My dad had PKD and over 30 years ago started home hemo in NJ. My mom and I both took the class to learn how to manage him at home. He was 40 at the time. He managed to go through 2 transplants, both at Columbia Pres. in NYC, but they were from deceased donors, and prior to the availability of cyclosporins. He lived life the way he wanted to, was not very compliant, but was happy. He died at age 52. I miss him. It was hard for him, he had been a professional golfer on tour.

As for me, out of 4 kids, I was the only one that inherited PKD. I found out 5 years ago through routine free screening at work that creatinine was elevated. Did more tests, u/s, yada yada yada, got the dreaded gene. I've been an RN for 20 years, and always thought I'd develop it, but didn't want to know, so avoided finding out. I kept insisting to my neph, that I really wanted a transplant prior to dialysis. I had many co-workers that offered. NONE of siblings did, but down deep, they're really sh**theads.--one is even an MD.

Ended up getting a fistula Oct.'05, creatinine shot up to 11.6 one month later, and left work to get a permacath in my chest and started dialysis that afternoon. I was still working 12 hour shifts. Yeah, I was sick, had dropped an incredible amount of weight, didn't keep food down for 5 days prior, but hell no, I wasn't going on Dialysis!! I went kicking and screaming. I wouldn't talk to anyone in dialysis. I acted like such a bitch and a baby. I am now ashamed of myself. The other charge nurse in my unit changed her schedule around my dialysis MWF so I could keep my job. I continued to work full time. Everyday I wasn't working, I was at dialysis half the day. I had the stupid idea that I could prove this was completely normal to my family and nothing was out of the ordinary. Inside, I had no one that really knew what I was going through. Except for the friends I became close with every MWF at 3:30pm.

I was fortunate to receive a kidney from the husband of one of my best friends 7 months ago. I was drawn to this site because I never want to forget what dialysis is and what it did for me and others. I want to give everyone at my dialysis center a kidney. I want them to eat bananas, drink WATER! I know that chances are, I will one day end up back on and I believe I can add to this site.

Nice to be here, Kelli