do you have one of these?

[petey]

Marvin and I got his treatment started "late" tonight (home hemo).  We didn't start setting up until 6 p.m. (he's usually on by about 4).  Anyway, by the time we set up, did the treatment, and cleaned up his machine, it was 10 p.m.  Somewhere in the middle of all of this, no supper got fixed.  Marvin said he was "hungry as a bear" when he came off the machine.  At 10:15 p.m., I called my best friend.  She was in her nightgown and getting ready to go to bed.  I asked her if she, her husband (he's one of Marvin's good friends), and her sons wanted to go to the Waffle House and get something to eat (about a 15-minute drive from our house).  Without a second's hesitation, my friend said, "We'll pick you up in 10 minutes."  We went, ate, laughed, and talked.  It's a little after midnight, and we just got home.

This friend is ALWAYS there when I need her.  She's there for us in good times and bad.  She's sat with me through many of Marvin's surgeries.  She's seen me at my worst, and she's still my friend.  I can call her at any time of the day or night, and she's always willing to listen, laugh, and cry with me.  I couldn't love her more if she were my sister.  Do any of you have a friend like this?

[glitter]

i do- i called my sister at 1 am tonight- we are still talking as i'm typing at 2:14am lol

[goofynina]

Over the years i have come to realize that there is one person i can always count on and that is my hubby.   I have many "friends" but as far as having a good friend or a best friend, i do not have one.  The only one closest to me would be my cousin Lisa but she lives in another town so although she is a phone call away, i dont see her often.    I am happy you have your friend, hold her close and cherish her cuz it is rare that we find someone like that (that is not related) 

[boxman55]

I have a friend who lives 5 minutes from me. I have known him since we where in 5th grade. When I moved out to Ca for 20 years we rarely saw each other but then I moved back to Wisconsin and we picked up like I never left. He is someone you can count on. Means a lot...Boxman

[paris]

Goofynina, wish I was closer!  You could call me for anything!    

I use to have a friend like that. We did everything together. We were together so much, I once told her that people probably thought we were a couple.  At the same time I started getting more and more symtems, she was getting promoted, raises, new house, boat, cars--and I couldn't keep up with her new activities. And she was determined to make me happy.  Not that I was sitting around moping--I just physically had a hard time keeping up with her pace.  Little by little, I couldn't fit into her life and when we did get together, she spent the whole time complaining about work, money, her kids, etc.  She believed if I prayed enough my kidneys could rejenerate.  I found I was exhausted by our time together.  We have been best friends for 20 years. I catered her daughter's wedding, made her son's wedding cake, went on vacations together, shared everything.  I know she still cares but I do believe this disease has changed me and thus changed our relationship.

Petey, you are fortunate. Tell your friend that we all wish we had a friend like her.

[petey]

Paris, I'll tell my friend just that!  Every time we hang up the phone or leave each other in person, we'll both say "Love ya!" just like I do with my sister.  The good thing about this particular friend is we've been close for 18 years -- pre-dialysis days and all -- and our relationship hasn't changed.  Her boys (ages 17 and 9) affectionately call us "MeeMaw" and "Uncle Marvin" (I am about six years older than she).  I had other friends pre-dialysis like you who dropped off after Marvin started his ESRD saga because our life just didn't fit in with theirs any more.

[Ohio Buckeye]

i do.  My best friend and I grew up one house apart and I cannot
remember not knowing her.  We grew up together.  We are neighbors to this day, living on the same street.
She has been there for me and my kids for more things than I can mention here, when my mom died, when dad died, when my husband died,
watched my oldest son when I had difficult pregnancies and ended up in hospital.  Aand fun times, trips to
see Elvis and Elvis impersonatrs, Florida, Las Vegas.  The roads we have traveled have gone a lot of directions.
Right now I am staying at her house as I recover and wait to get my prosthesis and can be independent
again.  That is real special.   I have called her many times late at night, early morning, and she will do
whatever it is needed.  She is like a sister to me and I appreciate her so much.
I am so fortunate as I know many people do not have a friend for life like I do.

[KT0930]

From the time I was 12 until about four years ago (a span of close to 20 years), I moved an average of every three years, so I do not have many friends. I have one who I can always call, though. We met our freshman year of high school in Girl Scouts, and recently realized we can now count our years of friendship in decades - we both shivered at that thought!

I live in Georgia, and she lives in Maine, so we only get to see each other every couple of years, but whether we talk on the phone or see each other or email, it's like we've never been apart. She is a Physician's Assistant, and though she works in pain management, she has enough basic medical knowledge to know what I'm talking about most of the time with my kidney stuff. She just had her first baby in September, while at home, ALONE, and though I yelled at her for ignoring the obvious symptoms of labor (she was a month early), we're still close, and I'm Aunt Katie!    Her mom even considers me more of a family member than any of her sons-in-law or her own husband, because I've been a part of their family longer than any of the men.

[kitkatz]

Yes, I do.  My best friend will be sitting in my jail cell along with me saying to me "That was fun. When can we do it again?"