Meat Poll

[Kiki]

Thank you for asking. I had the first one for just over 5 years, then lost it to chronic rejection. It was from my brother-in-law, a zero-antigen match. My second was on Valentine's Day, 2015. It is from a deceased donor and is a 6-antigen match. So far, it is still doing well. Serum creatinine is running between 1.5 and 1.7.

I was on dialysis 2 years before the first transplant and about 6 years before this one. My kidneys failed when I was 40. I'm going on 22 years since they failed and still making it. Unfortunately, I seem about 10 years older than I am, largely due to all the issues around kidney failure. Still, I'm not complaining too much. I'm happy to still be here!

And, to bring this back on topic-- I need the red meat to keep my protein levels up to stay healthy! I'm a little bit anemic, so I might as well enjoy a good steak.

Please feel Free to totally ignore my questions but since you brought it up...
Do you know why your kidneys pooped?
Are you a diabetic?

 

[Painted Calls]

My hubs had IgA Nephropathy. Could only have live donors. As a result from multiple periods of dialysis, multiple transplants, amd all the meds that go with... he also had high blood pressure, was a type 1 diabetic, and developed congestive heart failure and calciphylaxis.

 

[DavidReaves]

Please feel Free to totally ignore my questions but since you brought it up...
Do you know why your kidneys pooped?
Are you a diabetic?

I don't mind sharing. I'm sort of an evangelist for dialysis and transplant. It makes me VERY angry when TV or movies make kidney failure an immediate death threat.

I have a genetic disease called Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidneys. It is believed to be a weakness of connective tissue that causes the functional unit of the kidney to expand and fill with fluid. Ultimately, it crowds out working nephrons and the kidneys stop working. It also causes very high blood pressure (which also damages the kidney).

I do have diabetes now, but it was caused by years of taking steroids as immune suppressants during my first transplant. Unfortunately, it did not go away when I stopped taking the steroids. It's well controlled with a couple of different medications and a long-acting insulin.

 

[Kiki]

I don't mind sharing. I'm sort of an evangelist for dialysis and transplant. It makes me VERY angry when TV or movies make kidney failure an immediate death threat.

I have a genetic disease called Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidneys. It is believed to be a weakness of connective tissue that causes the functional unit of the kidney to expand and fill with fluid. Ultimately, it crowds out working nephrons and the kidneys stop working. It also causes very high blood pressure (which also damages the kidney).

I do have diabetes now, but it was caused by years of taking steroids as immune suppressants during my first transplant. Unfortunately, it did not go away when I stopped taking the steroids. It's well controlled with a couple of different medications and a long-acting insulin.

Thanks!

 

[Kiki]

I don't mind sharing. I'm sort of an evangelist for dialysis and transplant. It makes me VERY angry when TV or movies make kidney failure an immediate death threat.

I have a genetic disease called Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidneys. It is believed to be a weakness of connective tissue that causes the functional unit of the kidney to expand and fill with fluid. Ultimately, it crowds out working nephrons and the kidneys stop working. It also causes very high blood pressure (which also damages the kidney).

I do have diabetes now, but it was caused by years of taking steroids as immune suppressants during my first transplant. Unfortunately, it did not go away when I stopped taking the steroids. It's well controlled with a couple of different medications and a long-acting insulin.

May I ask one more question?
If you could tell a 20 something year old diabetic, who doesn't control their diabetes at all, to do something what would you tell them?



ETA...
By diabetic I mean the kind of diabetes that you can eliminate by diet.
Not type 1 diabetes.

 

[JedJackson]

@DavidReaves and @Overo Mare I am sorry you both had to go through so much. I am reading your posts and it breaks my heart. It takes a lot of strength and bravery to face those things.

 

[tripletfeb]

My hubs had IgA Nephropathy. Could only have live donors. As a result from multiple periods of dialysis, multiple transplants, amd all the meds that go with... he also had high blood pressure, was a type 1 diabetic, and developed congestive heart failure and calciphylaxis.

 

[R2elk]

My hubs had IgA Nephropathy. Could only have live donors. As a result from multiple periods of dialysis, multiple transplants, amd all the meds that go with... he also had high blood pressure, was a type 1 diabetic, and developed congestive heart failure and calciphylaxis.

My brother's high blood pressure was due to his failing kidneys and the meds he was on. He had polycystic kidneys inherited from our father.

Since his transplant, his blood pressure is now normal.

 

[DavidReaves]

May I ask one more question?
If you could tell a 20 something year old diabetic, who doesn't control their diabetes at all, to do something what would you tell them?



ETA...
By diabetic I mean the kind of diabetes that you can eliminate by diet.
Not type 1 diabetes.

I don't know of anything that will help. In the 20s, kids still have a sense of immortality. I did see people in dialysis from both types of diabetes and the related hypertension. Many were missing a foot, or a leg, or both. Some were blind. Others had heart disease that was caused, or made worse, by diabetes.

If they'd listen, I would say do something now. Don't wait until it is too late to decide to do something. I don't that they'll listen, though. I was in the dialysis center 2 times a week with a 30 year old man that was blind. He wouldn't control his type 1 diabetes. It killed his kidneys, his eyes, and based on his attitude has long since killed him. He just didn't care.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Such a good show