Dealing w/ Chronic Kidney Disease with Crystal

Good morning. I know that I have posted once today already. But, I felt the need to let you in on a little secret. Unlike most people, I enjoy typing and letting people in on what boggles my mind. I have recently started my dialysis for my chronic kidney disease (four to five weeks ago), and it has drastically changed my life. Take for instance, my family likes to have get-togethers for birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. With this concept, my daughter came home from college this past weekend. And I really enjoyed having her home with me for the weekend, too. With my family, they knew she was coming home and decided to get together. We all enjoyed it and had a great time. Another way that my dialysis has changed my life is when we have these gatherings. When we have them, I will have to make plans to go earlier or just be late for the shingdig. And anyone who knows me knows that I do not like to be late for anything. Along with this, dialysis is a fixture in my life now. Anyone w...

Time is something that everyone has. Whether it is time for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or a favorite show, we all have time for that. But time is a factor in so much of our lives. Why am I talking about time this time, you ask. Okay, I will give it to you straight. When I started this blog, I knew that I would at least be able to keep this blog current due to my involvement in dealing with my chronic kidney disease on a daily basis. Boy, was I wrong. I got on this morning and DID NOT realize that it had been two (2) whole weeks since I last blogged. That is way too long to be off of my blogging mind. Yep, I said it. I have a blogged mind at times. But the fact is that time is very precious to us all. The time I have left with my parents are not as if they were still the age that they were when I was 16. Nope. When I spend time with my parents, I want to cherish that time like it is golden. And I hope that my daughters will see that time is golden with me and their dad. No ma...

Dialysis.. What goes on during a dialysis treatment? I am sure many of you don't realize what the process is for a dialysis treatment is. Well, I am going to give you a first-hand look at what I go through three (3) days a week. I go to dialysis on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. And this is what goes on. Well, I go in and get weighed, wash my hands, and head to the seat that they have arranged for me. Once I have a seat, I get my arm hooked up to the blood pressure cuff. There is tape on one side ready to be put onto my blood lines to stay in place. They clean my arm with alcohol swabs and get all the lines hooked up to the machine. They prick me with the first huge needle and then make sure that the blood will go through the needle. (By this, I mean that they check to see if the blood gives a little and will run right through this to the line.) After this process, they find a good spot for the second needle to go in at and proceed the same as the first one. Once this ...

Today, I have had a decent day. I woke up having energy this morning, so naturally, Ashleigh and I went to church today.  Of course, Kim always has a good sermon for us. As always, I try to talk about something that comes to me when getting ready for my blog. I want to be able to communicate with others who are dealing with the same issues as myself. Today, there has not been too much going on with me. I still have strong feelings about what all I am going through and why I feel as much as I do. Of course, I feel overwhelmed by starting dialysis, getting my daughter into college, not having money, and just being upset about personal issues. These issues will be brought up at another time when I am at a more relaxing place to explain  things better. All in all, I have been relaxing and have some alone time with my other daughter, Ashleigh. She is an amazing daughter. She tries to help me around the house. She also makes her own designs for her website, The Geeky Giraffe. Chec...

Today, I had my second dialysis treatment. I had to be there at 11:45 a.m. Along for my trip to the appointment, I brought along my panther pillow and a blanket. The blanket is tearing up, but it has sentimental value. My Grandmother Leigh made the blanket for me so many years ago before she died. I still think of her when I have this blanket by my side. Sentimental value is a good thing. We all have something of sentimental value somewhere in our lives. I have several blankets and pillows that she made me for birthdays and Christmas. I also had several silver dollars that my grandfather had given me before he died, too.   So, there are a lot of things that have that sentimental value for me. What about you? What do you have that has sentimental value to you? Ciao for now.

Good evening, all! Tomorrow is the big day! My first dialysis appointment is tomorrow, and I am really hoping this makes me feel better. I have been tired, legs are restless, and I just want to not be so tired all the time. I have to be there at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning to get some paper work done. My appointment is actually for 11:00 a.m. I just hope that all things go well and that this helps me out in the long run. With me starting on dialysis, I have been informed that I should be getting on medicare and/or disability. This would really help me out tremendously if that happens. The only thing is that I have so much trying to get done and so little time. Along with all of this, I had to go to the UNC Women's Hospital yesterday. The trip takes around 3 hours to get there and 3 hours to come back. We got there around 9:45 am and didn't get out until after 12:00 pm. If there had not been another appointment over 3 hours later, we would have stayed. But luckily, we reschedul...

Tomorrow, I have to go to the NC Women's Hospital in Durham. These trips are aggravating to me at times. Don't get me wrong, but a 3-hour trip is not the easiest trip for me these days. I just got through taking my daughter to NCSU for her freshman year. It was exciting, but the lines to get into the dorms were very, very long. We stayed with her and helped her get settled in. And yes, I cried some tears (tears of joy for a proud mother). And along with this comes driving back home. We were all so tired after this 11-hour round trip. The sad thing about going to the Women's Hospital is that you see so many different doctors and specialists. That is not a bad thing, but it urks me even more when there are a few of these doctors that talk down to you like they are better than you. Yes, I have had the privilege to be stuck with one of these nutritionists that happens to be this way. They are not fun to be around. They assume that just because they can afford to eat right tha...