Please welcome our newest Moderator "Poppylicious"

To all our family at IHD,

We are very proud to announce Poppylicious as our newest Moderator. She has been a loyal member of IHD, posting frequently and making new members feel welcomed.

Poppylicious is a caregiver actively involved in her husband's CKD and her insights are valuable for us all.

Here is her introduction from 2009:

Hi from England! *waves*

After spending the day at work feeling a bit detached from reality (not to mention ever-so slightly tearful) I thought it was about time I became a fully fledged member of this forum, rather than just a lurker.

My husband of nearly three years was diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome in the spring of 2008. It was explained to us that he would (most likely) eventually require dialysis but that would be ages away and there was heaps of treatment they could throw at him to get his kidneys functioning well again. This June he was admitted to hospital with excruciatingly high creatinine levels and was on dialysis within about five days. We were clinging onto the positive outlook of it being only temporary, but on Friday evening he came home with the news that his kidneys were still not functioning and that dialysis is now Our Future. If he can get his BMI down he can also go on the transplant list.

This has all happened so suddenly (it feels that way to me) and I think we feel all at sea, so to speak. Because it was so sudden nobody has ever sat us down and spoken to us about it, which is partly our fault for clinging onto that little positive lifejacket and thinking he'd get through it without pushing for as much information as we could.

I know he's sad, but I'm a little lost and not sure what to say to him. I'm trying to look on the bright side at all the things we will be able to do, not the things we can't do anymore, but what do I say to him to take the pain away?

I'm just here because it's nice to know there are other people who are experiencing (or have experienced) the same emotions as we're currently going through. I know it's going to be a long road (we're in our early thirties) and it's going to be an incredible emotional rollercoaster, but I don't know anybody else who is living with this (my husband chats to people whilst at the dialysis unit, but I personally don't know anyone else), and finding this forum was a real godsend. There are so many good vibes here and that's just what I need right now :-).

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And here's a recent update:

Two year transplant anniversary on the 18th, having check ups every 3 months with next one on the 17th. Apart from having to take oodles of meds he is doing really well ... *touch wood* ... Lots of energy!

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Please take a moment to welcome Poppylicious as our newest mod and a member of the IHD admin team.

okarol & Sluff - admins

Rerun, Kitkatz, Paris, RichardMEL & jbeany - moderators