I would like to thank Tom Petty for the title of my blog. Hey, I give credit where credit is due. The thing about dialysis is that there is always some kind of waiting going on, I should rephrase that, when you have kidney disease there is always some kind of waiting.
In the beginning, when you find out you have kidney disease you wait to see what kinds of meds will help, you wait to see how much time you have before going on dialysis and so on. My waiting has ebbed and flowed over the years. I have had kidney problems for the better part of my adult life and probably even younger. My doctors waited a good long time before deciding to biopsy me to determine what I "really" had. However, once they did, and realized I have a kidney disease with a really long complicated name, my waiting to get on dialysis was now at as long as it was originally stated to be. I kind of went from oh 5-10 years till dialysis and transplant to 6 months.
I don't like waiting, I tend to be a bit impatient ( for those of you who know me can insert your comment here) I suppose most people don't like it either, but then why do we say "good things come to those who wait"? Just sayin'! So now I wait, a lot. I wait to go in to dialysis, I wait for it to be over, I wait for doctors, I wait in waiting rooms, I wait for my fistula to work better, I waited to get the catheter out (YEAH!!! IT'S OUT!!!) I wait on a list to get a transplant. I wait, I wait, I wait.
Waiting on a transplant list is like waiting for a train in front of our house. Obviously it is not coming. (unless you live at the train station ;) Not to say that transplants aren't occurring everyday all over the world, but sadly in New York State the wait time for a standard donor for someone on the transplant list is 8-10 years. Yes, I said that correctly, Michigan 6 years, Colorado 4 years. That means that you should get on the list before you have kidney disease so by to the time you need it will be available. Talk about waiting, for someone like me, all that wait time is time on dialysis. I don't know about you but I have no intention on waiting on a transplant list on dialysis for up to 10 years. Remember what I said before, I am not a patient person.
So what's a girl to do? You search, you look high and low, turn over every rock and ask anyone and everyone you know who could possibly be a match to donate a kidney. Sure sounds simple, it's not simple but its doable. You got 2, you only need 1, isn't that cool how that works out. Neither of mine are up to snuff so why not consider sharing. Didn't we learn that in kindergarten? Sharing is caring.
I have plenty of information on how to share to with me, or maybe someone else you know who needs to stop waiting. There are organizations like the National Kidney Foundation who can help you understand what being a kidney donor entails. And there are plenty of organizations out there that help find matches for people. I know someone who at the end of this month will be part of a 16 person chain for donation. Isn't that amazing. His wait time is over.
I am still waiting, I hope for not much longer.
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