Another newbie

[nkviking75]

I'm a 49 year old male dialysis patient doing dialysis at Mercy-North Iowa Medical Center in Mason City, IA.  My social worker referred me to this site.

My kidneys failed as a consequence of a rare disease called Wegener's granulomatosis.  The oversimplified story is my immune system attacked my kidneys.  Aug. 18th was my 1000th treatment at my unit.  Factor in the first few weeks in the U of Iowa hospital in Iowa City and a three sessions in Aberdeen, SD, and the total is closer to 1015-1020.  That's nearly 5 years worth.  My big obstacle to a transplant is my weight.  No one wants to do transplant surgery on someone my size.  Managed to drop 40 lbs and then hit a plateau.  I'm resisting the idea of bariatric surgery, but I may have to yield to it.

I don't mean to make anyone feel bad by saying this, but I am grateful that my experiences generally haven't been too bad.  Nearly everyone on the staff has been great, and even the bad ones haven't been too bad.  Apart from the obvious, my health is generally very good.  I feel very close to the way I did before I got ill.  The worst gripes I have are having to get out of bed early, having to have dialysis 4 times a week, cramps, and getting penalized for being a few minutes late when the clocks in the unit average about 4 minutes fast!  Even so, I still hate dialysis!

[Rerun]

Viking, welcome to our site.  I hope you come back often.  Most of us here hate dialysis even though we realize it keeps us going.  Please go to "General Discussion" and read the site rules.  That will be a good start for this site.  There are some good discussions that go on here.  Voice your opinion but keep the dirty words out.  (Not that you would).  Have fun.   

[Zach]

Hey nkviking75,

Great to have you with us!
I want to thank your SW.

Enjoy and share your thoughts.     

[Black]

I'm a 49 year old male dialysis patient doing dialysis at Mercy-North Iowa Medical Center in Mason City, IA.  My social worker referred me to this site....

Wow, your Social Worker must be really cool!

As far as the weight, I can empathize.  I see what my husband goes through; he battles continuously to keep his weight down and is still way overweight.  Obesity runs in his family.  His Dad weighed over 300 pounds for decades.  An ancestor who died in the 1700s had to have the doorway ripped apart so they could get his casket out of the house.  (Back then they built the casket in the house, around the body.)  and it took 8 strong men to carry the casket.  Anyone with kidney failure, whether on dialysis or transplant, who is predisposed to obesity has an extremely difficult time losing it for reasons everyone here knows well.  Congrats on the 40 pounds; that's quite an accomplishment!!

With your many years of experience you can be a valuable source for us "Newbies"  Welcome   Glad you're here.

[goofynina]

'Ola nviking...  Yes, please thank your Social Worker for sending you here, especially from me cuz i am in the same boat you are in, my weight BUT,  i am living what life i have left to its fullest, (with some caution) but that is the best i can do for right now.  I too thought of the idea of gastric bypass but i dont know if my body can take any more of anything so, here i am      I (We) sure hope to hear more from you as you read on into some of the many posts (literally thousands)   But alot of information is given and taken here, please, if you have any to share or if you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding any matter, feel free to just post post post, you will be amazed how many people are in the same situation or are familiar with whatever it may be.  We have a place one of our members (shout out to Hephs little lady) HOLLA   lol,  she called it our "family album" where we post pics of ourselves.  Please feel free to join in and post a pic or two, we'd love to see ya   and once again,  WELCOME....

[Joe Paul]

Welcome aboard  nkviking75, glad to have you.

[Hephs-little-lady]

Welcome nkviking75,

Glad you found us. Get stuck in and enjoy, there is so much valuable information here (I'm sure you can add to, too!) and so much care and concern, it's a great family to be a part of.

Pull up a chair and join us.

 

[mallory]

Welcome nkviking75, I can empathize with your situation.  My kidneys were destroyed by another form of vasculitis, Microscopic Polyangiitis, which is very, very similar to Wegener's.  I'm on a lot of Prednisone, and it's given me problems with my weight as well.  This is a great website, and the people are all willing to help.  Good luck, and again, welcome!  Mallory

[Bajanne]

Welcome to our community.  Please tell your social worker that I am impressed that she would encourage you to join us.  That was a very good move.  Here you can interact with people who understand exactly what you are going through.  I am looking forward to hearing more from you.l  WELCOME!

[Sluff]

Welcome

[angieskidney]

Welcome nkviking75

[BigSky]

Welcome