My kidney disease came on suddenly without any warning. One day in 1987, upon returning to work from lunch with a friend, I glanced down at my shoes and was surprised to see what looked like Daisy Duck-like feet, complete with puffy, round-topped appendages bulging out of my pumps. The ordeal prompted me to write the following:
I looked down at my feet with some surprise.
For suddenly, they seemed twice their size!
And looked for all the world to me like Daisy Duck’s feet on TV.
The docs tried every trick in the book, from hemo and transplants to PD.
I set aside my disbelief that this had happened to me … “Why not me?” was the
question I asked, counting my blessings and trying hard to be me.
Then one day God smiled on me. “Here, take a break,” he said.
And my kidneys started back again …
Could it all have been a mistake?
For 14 years I ran and swam, did everything it seemed.
No tubes, no pills, no nightly machine, just freedom and immense delight.
The experts said it wouldn’t last – I’d be back within a year.
But the disease stayed at bay and I lived on, believing it would stay that way.
The blessing was tremendous, but the time was not forever.
The disease came back in 2008 – with no choice but to adjust.
So now I do my PD and follow the rules (well, mostly) since I must.
I still believe in miracles. And there’s another just on the horizon –
A printer kidney made from scratch, giving hope to thousands like me!
I’m holding out for one of those – it’s not very far away.
And one day I know I’ll be free again to run and swim and play! So, don’t give up and don’t give in, because you never know.
What wonders our futures hold for us before it’s time to go.
With everlasting love and gratitude to my caregivers, especially my devoted husband, Mitch.
Jean is a long-time kidney disease survivor who lives with her husband of 36 years, Mitch, in Orange Park, FL. She was diagnosed with glomerular nephritis at age 36. She has had three transplant attempts, but none have succeeded. She has learned to expect the unexpected, including a 14 year reprieve from dialysis following her first two transplants. She has been on PD for the past 11 years. She is a retired paralegal, and enjoys singing, painting, guitar, and yoga.
Jean’s personal motto is “What do we live for, If not to make life less difficult for each other?”
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