My name is Brenda Brown. I am a 45 year old single mom of three, living in Abbotsford, BC Canada. I’ve been blogging about my story for almost a year now. I have chronic kidney disease with rapid decline that started in the spring of 2012. I went from 28% kidney function to 6%, and started peritoneal dialysis in August 2012.
Meanwhile I was added to the kidney transplant list and was told it would be 8-10 years before I might get a transplant unless a family member or friend decided to donate a kidney for me. So my 23yr old daughter decided she wanted to give me her kidney. Unfortunately, I have a lot of anti-bodies and we weren’t a match.
My peritoneal dialysis started to fail and I ended up in the emergency room the week before Christmas 2012, and I had to get another catheter to allow me to do hemodialysis. I now go into the hospital three days a week for a four hour treatment with each visit. This has allowed me to feel better, to continue to work, as I am a single mom with two teenage boys at home, one with his own special needs and health issues.
My daughter and I entered in the ”Kidney Paired Exchange Program”…where they search in the computer for another match for me and one where my daughter still donates her kidney to someone else so that I can get one in return. We believe they’ve found a match but are still waiting for test results before we know for sure. I am hopeful, scared, overwhelmed and just trying to do whatever I can to remain positive and lead a productive, healthy life despite the chronic disease that keeps trying to interrupt it.
I ran across your website last year when I started my decline. It gave me strength and offered encouragement. So I decided to share my story with you to let you know how important it is to share and discuss disease as normal. And understand that organ donation is a real gift and will allow me to continue to fight.
Brenda
Canada
Submitted 6-7-13
The informational content of this article is intended to convey a personal experience and, because every person’s experience is unique, should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.
This article is intended to convey general educational information and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.
Brenda, thanks for sharing your dilemma..I too have kidney problems..I am in stage 4 of renal failure..it is so scary…people try to understand but unless you have walked it there is no way to understand. The drs. want to put me on dialysis but i am terrified of that happening..I lost my oldest brother after he was on dialysis for 7 years….to me it is a death sentence..my kidney levels are high but steady and not climbing at this time….if it wasn’t for God i would not be able to make it thus far…it still doesn’t eliminate the fear…but i do have a peace about it…that may sound strange but God has given me a peace sort of…i guess that is what you would call it…i am so excited that you will eventually get a kidney transplant…they have not even mentioned that to me…i guess they won’t either…anyhow…thanks for your story it gives me hope…God bless you.