how did u get kidney failure?

[frankieb]

Before my kf, I had liver cancer. (non hodgekins lymphoma) After a year and half of chemo & radiation my kidneys failed.   Yeah, I know it bites!   But wait, theres more...    I got Hep C from a blood transfusion that I got in the early eighties.  No screening back then.  So, I'll need a liver in the future, I'll add that to my wish list along with a new kidney.  Anything else?  I could throw out there that I've had multiple joint replacements compliments of prolonged steroid use.  Yes!, THEY CAN REBUILD YOU!  BETTER,  STRONGER....FASTER   


LEFT HIP- '98 SLOAN KETTERING MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
RT ANKLE '99 HOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY
BI-LAT KNEES '00 HSS
LT ANKLE '04 HSS
  FrankieB

[MyssAnne]

Shoo!!! The 2nd 6 billion dollar man!! Seriously, my gosh guy!! At least your sense of humor is intact!
As for kf, mine was genetic, helped along 19 years ago when I had my son (didn't realize how bad
I was, til about 8 years ago). Now on pd!

Anne

[Sara]

Hi Frankie, that sure is a lot you have going on there!  Joe's kidneys failed because of his diabetes (well, as best we can tell).  His diabetes went untreated for probably 5-10 years. 

[Chicken Little]

Diabetes.  My kf had been progressing very slowly up until last year.  I had an extremely hard year at work with way too much on my plate and I basically worked my way right into a dialysis chair.   

[goofynina]

Well, i was diagnosed with Diabetes and High Blood Pressure  in '90 and of course never followed up with the dr. always felt fine, never worried, had my fun, Sex (with hubby of course), Drugs (a little smoke never hurt anyone now did it) , Drinking (loved to get my drink on) , Rock & Roll & Rap (Karaoke Bar's will never be the same without me)   and you name it, i did it, then, bam, it caught up with me, so i say, "Denial" got me to dialysis...

[Danally]

My father was in denial. He always said his diabetes was under control. He refused to follow a diabetic diet. When he found out he had ESRF he continued to smoke and eat a lot of protein. Denial also put him on dialysis.

[boxman55]

I got KF from I call it slow death "type two diabetes" was in denial for many years like Goofynina it was all about the good times never thought there was anything wrong and there didn't seem to be then shit started happening and you couldn't stop it all at once I was like a run away train. vision problems, leg problems, kidney failure it was like the year from hell. Boxman55

[Adam_W]

My kidney failure came from years of untreated high blood pressure. I always felt healthy, except for some really bad headaches which I had just thought were caused by sinus pressure, and I was in my early to mid 20's, so I never felt the need to see a doctor. Without warning, I ended up in the emergency room with what turned out to be a colon infection, and the doctor said "Guess what, you have hypertension, and you're kidneys are only at 12% capacity". Until then, I barely knew what dialysis was. My first time even seeing a dialysis machine was when they rolled that old Baxter into the ICU and hooked me up to it. I spent the next week and a half in the hospital getting very well acquainted with their Gambro Phoenix machines, and just a couple weeks before, I was doing 50+ mile bike rides, and wondering why I was getting so much more tired than usual. I was probably one of the few people riding such long distances when, unknowingly, I was so close to death. Life's full of surprises.

Adam

[Meinuk]

My kidney failure has been a time bomb, slowly ticking away.  When I was 13, my mother died at 44 with ESRD (PKD)  I had already been diagnosed, so from an early age, I had knew what was in store for me.  I prolonged the inevitable until I was 40.  Something that I am damn proud of.  I've been on hemo since January of this year.  My fistula was placed 18 months before I needed to use it.  I've been on the list for 2 years now.  And it is official, I HATE DIALYSIS.  This site had been a godsend for me.  I don't post much, but I read it obsessively.  So, thank you all for your posts, they are appreciated.

[Rerun]

Wow, you have been through a lot.  How much Prednisone were/are you on??!!  I was on 10mg for 17 years and no replacements or broken bones yet.  I guess everyone reacts differently.  I'm glad you still have your own butt!   

They don't know what caused my KF.  I ended up in emergency with it after weeks of throwing up.  I had been to a doctor but he was treating me for an inner ear infection because I was dizzy all the time.  That was idiot number one in a long line from then on.  So, I think it was due to lots of UTI's from sex (with my husband now ex).  This was before we were married and were sneaking around and so I didn't do things right like take a shower etc.

[Jill D.]

Wow, you have been through a lot. Good smile on your avatar tho! My kidneys failed from FSGS.

[anja]

I had a bunch of  UTIs since age 13,
 always spilled blood in my urine,
the biopsy diagnosis was most likely Alport's Syndrome;
 my father is also on dialysis...age 89.
Thank goodness, we are not diabetic!!!!!!!!

[KICKSTART]

This is the worst thing i guess? NO-ONE has ever told me WHY i got it. One day fit and healthy ..next day kidney failure , no history of anything.

[lamillinger913]

That is weird, Kickstart. Jill, what is FSGS?

I got kidney failure in my 20s, after a scarlet fever infection. Started getting blood in the urine and swollen ankles. But it was about 2 years after that before I got my first transplant. That lasted almost 25 years ... I've been on dialysis a little over 18 months.

[Jill D.]

FSGS - focal segmental glomerolsclerosis (sp?) It's scarring of the glomeroli. No known cause, no cure. Luckily I had a slow progressing form of it and held out 16 years before I needed dialysis. Had a transplant in December, thanks to my awesome sister!

[carolyn77531]

Jessica kf didn't begin at birth....she was born a rare kidney disease...they slowed it down......they put her on the list 4 different times...before she got a transplant.....
they are finally getting her ready to be put back on the list after rejection....

[Amanda From OZ]

my father, sister and muself have Medullary cystic disease which is a  hereditary disorder in which the kidneys gradually lose their ability to function because of cysts in the medulla (center) of each kidney. Its very rare type of kidney disease 1 / 700, 000 thousand people! 

I should buy a lottery ticket with those odds. 

[Ang]

polisystic  kidney  disease- hereditary,win  some  lose  some

[Sluff]

Pre -dialysis yet but  no known cause but the biopsy revealed FSGS.

[tubes]

born with PKD, at 2 weeks old had left kidney removed.  docs said i would be fine.  all through my childhood i was sick, never knew why.  then at 14 had a physical for 7th grade.  thats when we found out my right kidney was failing.  started dialysis june of '96 and been on ever since.

[pierrat]

rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease

[LightLizard]

When I was two (1951) I developed pernicious anemia. A complete blood transfusion was the only way they could save me. Some of that blood carried the hep C virus.
I had a relatively 'normal' life until my mid fifties. Then, my kidneys gave in to the long-hidden demon inside of me.
My liver specialist said he was suprised at the condition of my liver. When he first met me, he believed I was headed for the bone yard, but after a biopsy he noticed that the hep C infection was 'mild' in my liver.
It was the high blood pressure that did my kidneys in.

love

~LL~

[Razman]

It was several years ago but I went into a new doctor with a sore throat and she did nothing ,  went back a couple of weeks later still with a cold and sore throat and again I was just sent home  saying it was just a cold.   A week later I went to another doctor and was sent directly to the hopital for a week.  It seems that I had strep throat and it affects the kidneys.  My neph told me that if the doctor had done a throat swab I could have been given medication and  my kidneys would still be working !

[jedimaster]

I was taking the subway one day and when I got home....I realized i lost my kidneys!    ...

Now, for real, it was a medical error. My gastro (not anymore) was treating me for Crohns and overdose me with ASACOL, which is a medicine to calm bowel pain. The amount he gave me was so massive that it made my kidneys fail. You see?....sometimes Doctors don't pay attention as they should.

[Sara]

It was several years ago but I went into a new doctor with a sore throat and she did nothing ,  went back a couple of weeks later still with a cold and sore throat and again I was just sent home  saying it was just a cold.   A week later I went to another doctor and was sent directly to the hopital for a week.  It seems that I had strep throat and it affects the kidneys.  My neph told me that if the doctor had done a throat swab I could have been given medication and  my kidneys would still be working !

I was taking the subway one day and when I got home....I realized i lost my kidneys! ...

Now, for real, it was a medical error. My gastro (not anymore) was treating me for Crohns and overdose me with ASACOL, which is a medicine to calm bowel pain. The amount he gave me was so massive that it made my kidneys fail. You see?....sometimes Doctors don't pay attention as they should.

Stories like these just amaze me.  Do you have any legal recourse to these doctors?