Where is all the YOUNG CROWD !!!

[Mike3723]

Hey guys i live in Jersey im 23 im the youngest in my unit seems like there is not too many young ppl like myself on dialysis around where i live soo hopefully there some on here who knows whats it is like.

[karen547]

I'm 25 and the youngest at my unit too! It has its good and bad points

[Hubbs]

Dont come to Florida, nothing but heat old ppl and crime.

[Mike3723]

haha well atleast there is somebody else out there.... and ive been to orlando did like 3 weeks at a center down there and i fully understand what ur saying hhahaha

[lou]

Hey Mike I'm 29 and just had my first transplant. Before that i was on dialysis and even though i did pd at home, every time i went into hospital i noticed i was the only one there without grey hair!!  Hope your doing ok. Jersey looks beautiful...i am in Exeter, UK so not too far away from you!!
Lou x x

[Mike3723]

Hey Lou yes all is well here.... i know what u mean though about being the youngest its good in some factors like all the nurses wants to take extra care of me and stuff like that just stinks that there no one else around my way to hangout with or anything. But what u going to do right lol. Thats pretty cool ur from the UK always wanted to travel there and see what it is like. I hope everything goes well with ur transplant STAY HEALTHY!!!

[GoingThere]

Hi Mike!

I'm 34 and I'm also the youngest in my unit. The closest to me with age is a woman, who is 60+. Well, I must say, I get extra attention from nurses, like 2 snacks:).

Take care,

Uros

[Riki]

Hey Mike.. where in NJ are you??  my best friend lives in Newark, so I go down about once a year to visit.  I usually go to a centre in Manhattan,and there was a few younger people there.. I'm in my 30s.. I think some of them were around my age, but I didn't really talk to anyone while I was there

[Mike3723]

Riki i live in  south jersey i goto the washington twp center newark prolly about a hour ride for me.

[romanyscarlett]

I actually like it that the majority of patients are elderly. It means there are less youngsters going through this.

There are quite a few young people at my unit. I'm 25 but I'm not the youngest, there's a 23 year old girl who comes in at the same time as me. There is also another girl but I don't know how old she is. I think she's in her late 20s but she could be early thirties and just look young.

There are two guys who are in their late 20s/early 30s at my unit too although they have an earlier slot than me.

That's just on Mon/Wed/Fri, I have no idea about the age group of Tue/Thurs/Sat but I'm assuming there are a few more young people on those days!

[sullidog]

I'm 27, and was the youngest in my unit until this new girl came a few months ago who I think is 23.
Troy

[Mike3723]

man where you guys are there is a pretty good amount not so much here

[karen547]

I'm from Rochester NY

[Mike3723]

ohh ok karen i been to NY a few times took the triain me an a couple friends i like it up there a lot

[Riki]

I actually like it that the majority of patients are elderly. It means there are less youngsters going through this.

Just because you don't see them, doesn't mean there aren't any.  I was in a children's hospital until I turned 18, and they had a separate unit for the kids.  There were 6 chairs, I think, and run times were shorter, about 3 hours.  They tried to get as many as they could on PD, because it means a more normal life for kids than HD, but there's always a few that PD doesn't work for, so this small unit was put into the children's hospital for them.

I started PD when I was 12.  I'm now on HD and I"m 32.

[RichardMEL]

I'm as young as the girl I feel. The last one I touched was 35... 

In my unit though I am definitely the youngest. I'm sort of with Romany in that this is GOOD - my heart is heavy whenever a young person comes in needing D. I mean it is sad when ANY new patients come along, but let's face it if someone's 80, they've had a full life. If they're 18.. it's all ahead of them, and I get quite down just thinking about that. We've not had any youngsters lately - which I think is good - but it is a little lonely for me because I usually sit with men around me that are 70+ ......

[Jess21]

Hey Mike, I'm 23 I received my kidney transplant when I was 22.  I was the youngest at the 3 different clinics I went to...one had a guy close to my age (a few years older).

[-Lady Noir-]

My partner was 24 when he started dialysis, and is now 26 
We have the same thing here, everyone at the unit is older... alot older 

[gothiclovemonkey]

im 26, the youngest and both the clinics ive been too. I always give the staff hell hehe joke around with them, ask them silly question.... infact...somewhat innappropriate questions sometimes... one involving protien heh.... gosh im terrible! (altho i still believe it was a good and interesting question...one i still dont have a great answer for darn it!)
Or when they told me heprin was horse or pork i said what if i was vegan? lol
or wearing silly things in to treatment...like my dorthy costume (which i wont ever do again, short skirts and recliners + cramps do not mix! and women, do not wear platform heals to treatment, tis not a good idea!)

[BigSky]

Not too sure there all that many young people on dialysis.

They have a printout in our unit of how it compares to national stats in a variety of areas.

Anyway the average age in our unit is something like 62. 

[Zach]

I was 23 when I started hemodialysis ... but that was a long time ago.
 

[Riki]

I'm not the youngest in the unit.  There's 2 younger than me. One is 25, and the other is 28 or 29

[pamster42000]

My daughter started dialysis at age 9...there was one younger than her, a young boy about 6. He died a year later and Sarah survived until she was 25. I hate to sound rude but why would you want another YOUNG peson on dialysis... Have you ever attended a summer camp for children on dialysis ....you will see there is alot of young people  who need dialysis to survive......ok getting of my high horse I can see where it would be nice to have a person your own age sitting beside you so you could have a  discussion which both of you could relate to...but bring a friend along instead........

[VictoriaG]

don't you love it when people give you that sad face and say oh you're so young.
it's scary because of course i want my husband (who is 34) to live to be 70+ but i means a long long battle for us. however supposedly because he is young and "healthy"?? he is a better transplant candidate. healthy for someone in his condition i suppose.
there are people in their 40s + in his center, and a guy in his 20s and a girl who is 25, has had kidney disease since she was born and now had NO kidneys. and she's a ray of sunshine, no lie. 
but it is hard not really having too many people in your exact boat to chat with. especially since im 22 when im there it makes it even harder.
but again it is a good thing there are alot of older people on dialysis and not so many young people. because it sucks!!! 


 

[Riki]

Pamster.. I was 12 when I started dialysis.  There were lots younger than me, but I was in a children's hospital on a nephrology ward. A lot wer transplanted, and we never heard from them again.  Some of the died, and some, like me, just kept coming back because of complications.  There were 2 repeats like myself who were close to my age that I got close to.  They were both on HD, while I was on PD (I'm on HD now, btw).  One of them started when she was 9 years old, the other when he was 6 months old.  He actually spent the first 12-13 years of his life in the hospital, because he lived too far away to travel for dialysis.  He is now 30, she is 29.  Both are still on HD.

At least around here, you won't see anyone younger than 20 in the regular dialysis units.  They will stay in the unit at the children's hospital

I have said this before, and I will say it again, the information for coping with kidney disease is all aimed at those 45-70.  There is nothing for those of us who are much younger than the average.  For that reason, many think that kidney failure is an old person's problem, which is definately not the case.  Younger people on dialysis hope to see younger people with them on dialysis, so that they have someone to talk to about it that has a better undestanding. In my unit, I have more in common with the nurses than I do most of my fellow patients. It has nothing to do with wishing someone else will get sick, and more to do with wanting to have someone we can relate to, and who relates to us