Ain't That A Kick in the Head...errr Kidneys!

It's been a while since I've been here, but I guess its high time I release everything I've had pent up for months now. After being and feeling SICK for a year now, I finally bit the bullet and decided to go see a real doctor. I made and appointment at the Sickle Cell clinic to get checked out because I knew something was wrong sense I kept getting sick and never fully recovering. I had been trudging on for months and months feeling like crap, and refusing to go the the doctor for lack of insurance and lack of a job.

While speaking to my doctor I laid it all out there for her. Told her every bad thing I had been feeling for so long:

Nausea

Vomiting

Lack of Appetite

Chronic Cough

Super Cold

Low Energy

Swollen Feet

Trouble Breathing...

I think you get the picture. So she sends me for tests and to have my blood drawn. Blood work comes back and she informs me that I will absolutely have to be admitted into the hospital because I have a hemoglobin of 3 and I would need to have a blood transfusion. A normal person's hemoglobin should be around 14 or 15. A person born with Sickle Cell usually ranges between seven and nine when they are healthy. After realizing what my levels were she wondered how I even had the energy to walk into her office that day. Sheer will I guess. I had been living on a decreased level for so long my body prolly just got used to it.

Anyhow, I figured I'd be admitted, given my blood, and released to go home feeling like a new person. Well the good news is that after receiving the blood I did feel MUCH better. I had color again and I could walk without feeling like I was going to pass out and breathing laboriously. Bad news is they discovered that I have renal disease, which is a fancy name for chronic kidney failure.

Apparently my kidneys have only been working at a rate of 10% and the condition appeared to have been something that happened over time. Which means the likelihood of them getting better is slim to none. They must not know about my JESUS though. Anyhow, from now on I would have to do dialysis if and until I had a kidney transplant. So they surgically put a

hemodialysis catheter in my chest so that I can do dialysis three times a week.

I certainly was NOT expecting something like this, but I guess now I have to deal with it. Being honest I have to say that sometimes I just want to throw myself a pity party and bemoan the fact that I'm not as healthy as I'd hoped and that I have to deal with this kidney crap for a while. But its really not my style. So I'm just trying to go forward from here.

Right now I'm doing hemodialysis. Which means I have to get up at the butt crack of dawn three days a week and go to a center to be hooked up to a machine and have the toxic fluids flushed from my body. But I have surgery tomorrow to have a peritoneal catheter placed so that I may start doing dialysis in the comfort of my home while I sleep. This way I can lead a more 'normal' life and still travel and vacations and stuff. I have also been put on the transplant list and hope I will get a match sooner than later!

In other news....I have the MOST ADORABLE nephew you ever did see. Not only that my brother and his girlfriend asked ME to be the Godmother! YAYYYYY! This is also the GREATEST motivation for me to do all I can to get better ASAP! Most of it is out of my hands, but I can pray and trust that GOD will have the perfect solution for me. I hope that you all will pray with me.

Well that's it for now. Will let you know how the surgery went!