Along for the Ride

Yesterday afternoon I had my monthly dialysis visit at Davita UTSW.  My mom went along with me so I'd have company in mid-afternoon traffic, and - BONUS! - we stopped for a delicious (and healthy) dinner afterwards. Yum! I was excited for this visit because it was the first time I'd been able to see my doctor and ask him questions about the transplant process.  There are still so many unanswered questions, but I was able to ask him some things and get a little bit of clarity. I thought I'd share some of what I learned here.  I've discovered over the years that this blog not only helps me communicate updates easily, but it also allows me to chronicle developments in my journey.  Rereading entries helps me piece together "muddy" moments in my memory and fill in plot holes in the story. So, here goes... Q:  I had been doing some reading online, reading a lot of articles on good-ol-Google MD.  The articles sufficiently freaked me out by stating that the...

Well, hello there... I know... it's been a while.  I suppose I haven't posted because I didn't feel like I had any news to share.  I've been rocking and rolling along on peritoneal dialysis for the last five years, and - to be honest - I think I've been on a bit of auto-pilot.  I read through some of my old posts, and dang... what a journey. So here's the update... Remember that whole kidney transplant thing?  To catch you up, in 2011, before starting dialysis, I went to UTSW to be evaluated for a transplant, and they basically said I need to go lose 60 pounds and the come back.  Well, for any of you who have struggled with your weight, you know it's not exactly that easy.  I worked on my own to stabilize my illness and lose weight for about 4 years, but  had only lost about 10 pounds.  So I decided to join Weight Watchers in October of 2015.  The program had worked well for me before, and I knew it would allow me to implement my specia...