I want to hear your story ....

[marie]

Please feel free to tell your story of why you are on Dialysis, how long you've been on Dialysis, and how did you feel when you  first started and how you feel about it now. Things like that. That way we can learn a little bit more about each other.

[iketchum]

I have severe diabetes. That is what has taken my kidneys. I have been on hemodialysis for almost a year. I am on my second fistula, the first failed within two months of dialysis.I am wiped out after each treatment and find I need to sleep a couple of hours. The day after treatment is not so bad, just fatigued with little energy. I am almost on a transplant list with the VA. Some days you feel good, other days you do not feel like dancing at all.

[Rerun]

In 1987 I didn't feel well.  I was just married and moved to a rural area.  The hometown doc who was also the town drunk said I had an inter-ear infection and that was why I was dizzy and not feeling well.  To make a LONG story short, I ended up in ER in the BIG CITY and on immediate dialysis.  So I was on Hemo at first and even with home with a machine but Hated it.  Then I went to PD and that was lots better for me.  Then I got my transplant and it lasted 17 years.  Lost it in 2005 and have been on hemo ever since and I still HATE it.

                                                         

[YLGuy]

On March 23, 2009 I thought I had pneumonia so I called my doctor and he suggested I just go to the ER for a chest X-Ray.  I was wrong.  I found out that I had congestive heart failure.  They did the labs and found that my creatinine was 8.0.  They then did an ultrasound on my kidneys and informed me that I was in stage 5 renal failure.  I had no idea!   I was stuck in the hospital for 17 days.  They had to do the catheter and fistula operations both twice.  I currently go dialysis 3days/week for 3:30.

ESRD and dialysis has completely changed my life.  It has been 6 months and I am still not used to it.

[marie]

I don't think i'll ever get used to it. It's makes me so weak, I have to sleep the rest of the day after Dialysis.

[cookie2008]

I have PKD and I tried pd in Nov.07, and went to hemo in July 08, I started nxstage home hemo in May 09, and its the best thing I could do I feel so much better not wiped out after my treatment like in center.

[Ang]

diagnosed about 15 years  ago with PKD,dialysis 3  years  and  going,not  to  fussed  by  it  all,drink  way  way  to  much.

if  this  is  your  future  learn  all  about  it,then  it  won't  be  such  a  culture  shock,experience  has  taught  me  that.

[okarol]

Hi marie -

FYI: There are more stories by members in the "introduce yourself" section - did you ever get a chance to post one of your own? Check it out: http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?board=14.0


okarol/admin

[bette1]

I was 19 and in college.  I started to feel ill, no energy, and my body started to swell up.  I must have gained 15 lbs.  The emergency room said that I had a virus and sent me home.  Finally my mom came and took me home.  I was sent to my pediatrician who saw that I was losing protein in my urine.  I was in the hospital for a month and diagnosed with Glomarial Scorosis.  7 months later I was on dialysis.  I opted for pd and did really well on it for 6 years.  I was very afraid to get a transplant because I thought it might not work.  My boyfriend convinced me to go for it and I got a transplant on October 13, 1994 

My transplant lasted until September of 2006.  While I had my transplant I lived a very normal life.  I worked, I got married, I had a child.  It was very hard for me when the transplant failed, but I was glad that I had a chronic illness and not a terminal one.  I hate hemo, but I try to think of it as a part-time job.  What I have to do in order to do the things I want to do. 

I'm currently on the list and waiting for another transplant, and trying to stay positive.