I was diagnosed with
End Stage Renal Disease in 2004. In early 2004 my doctor in Northern Virginia insisted
that I see a
Nephrologist. Being somewhat of an independent(stubborn) bent, I decided to wait to
deal with it until July, 2004 when the weakness and feeling tired all the time got my attention.
I resigned from the contract I was working on in Virginia and returned to my home in South Carolina to
deal with it.
I started with a
Nephrologist in
Charlotte, North Carolina, who refered me to
Nephrology Associates in
Rock Hill, South Carolina. I was quickly convinced by the lab results that action
needed to be taken immediately. Indeed, it turned out that after I started
Dialysis the kidneys stopped what
little they were doing. A month or two after starting
Dialysis, urine output completely stopped.
Dialysis was keeping me alive.
After talking it over with the
Nephrologists, I decided to choose
Continuous Ambulatory
Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) because of the ability to dialize continuously and to have normal mobility.
So I had the surgery to install the catheter into my peritoneal cavity.
After a
few months of
CAPD I tried
Continuous Cycling Peritoneal Dialysis (CCPD), thinking that just doing it at
night would be great. However, for me it just didn't work out. I would roll over onto the
CCPD tubing, stopping
flow, which would cause an alarm to go off, and I would need about 15 minutes of activity to go through the
checking and restart procedures. This would happen several times during the night.
Things got interesting a few months later. I was working with fallen trees on our wood lot and felt a tearing
in my groin. It turned out to be an
Inguinal Hernia. So I had to stop
Peritoneal Dialysis until that could be
cleared up. So a
"perm cath" (I think that is right.) was threaded from my neck down into my heart, so that I
could have immediate
Hemodialysis. I was on Hemo for about 3 months while the surgery was done and allowed to
heal. Of course, as soon as I went back to
CAPD, the other side got the same hernia, and needed the same
surgery. So all told it stretched out to 3 months of Hemo.
I did not like Hemodialysis. I was always
tired. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday I was in the Hemo chair for about 4 hours. When I finished, I
would need to nap the rest of the day to get my energy back. I would often be exhausted on the next day, too.
A special note about the
Dialysis Clinics: I used three different clinics at one time or another. All of them
were staffed with the most wonderful, caring people I have ever met. Especially the
Hemodialysis Clinic in
Chester, South Carolina. These nurses were wonderful.
Hemodialysis is forced inaction, the
Cable TV at each
Dialysis Station with private earphones helped to pass the time.
The nurses were always patient and helpful. The
Doctors were very professional and caring.
After about a year of dialysis, I asked to be placed on the transplant list at
Carolinas Transplant Center, in
Charlotte, North Carolina. The waiting list at the time was about two years for
blood type A, which I was.
The waiting list for
blood Type B was even worse at that time, about 7 years, I was told. After several
interviews I was accepted for the list and given instructions to have a day pack ready to go, because I could
be called at any time to go to Charlotte for further screening for a match to a donor kidney.
I will write more of this later, but to make a long story short, I received a donor kidney on 27 March, 2006.
I will add more information later. You can contact me if you are in a similar situation, and contemplating
dialysis or transplant.
e-mail meLast edited - 12/05/2007
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