Introduction of the owner of AngiesKidney.com:
Hi I am Angie and I have been on dialysis this time around for 5 years. I was on Peritoneal until last July where I was hospitalized with a bad case of Peritonitis which they said was not caused by me but something inside and had to be switched to Hemo.
In my city there is no home hemo yet. And since I live in Subsidized housing I couldn't get the kind that is coming to my city soon because it requires alterations to the plumbing.
I have been "sick" since I was born and I could have still had my original kidneys to this day except that the doctor at that time yelled at my mom calling her an "over-worrying first-time mother" and wouldn't listen to her. He wouldn't run any tests and it was not discovered until I was 9 years old and going blind from my bloodpressure being so high it was causing me to go blind (it was coming out of the weakest part of the human body). My BP was 220+/180 (not sure about the exact top number but know it was over 200).
When I was 16 they finally had to take out my infected kidneys. They infections were caused by repeated backups from the bladder to the kidneys over the 16 years from a faulty valve that would have only needed minor surgery to fix.
I don't have a lot of faith in doctors because I have had doctors accuse me of being anorexic (I told the doc I didn't know what that meant .. and I found out years later from my mom that he thought that meant I was just playing dumb) even though it was because I was so sick that I was so skinny. I have had teachers take me out into the hallway and kick me and say they felt I wasn't paying attention in class because my parents obviously weren't raising me right .. let me tell you .. my parents were VERY strict! It was NOT that! It was because I was soooo sick I could NOT pay attention in class! Infact .. right before my kidneys were removed I was falling asleep in class!
Once I had my transplant I could not believe the difference!! I mean .. it was like I woke up from a dream for the FIRST time in my ENTIRE life!!! (remember.. I had been sick since birth so the energy healthy people take for granted or people who get kidney disease later in life .. I never knew what that was ever like!!)
Now I am back on dialysis because I lost that transplant after 11 years! Been on dialysis (like I said earlier .. 4 on PD and 1 on HD) for 5 years now.
A lot of times I feel the nurses are too over worked to listen to me or be able to have the time to explain things to me. I also have heard so much conflicting info and I find I have no one to ask to find out what is correct!
It is good to have a place to vent!
I made my
own site but it is NOT as popular ... so I spend most of my time in
Dialysis & Transplant City
I Hate Dialysis Message Board
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