I have been blogging off and on for many years, twelve to be exact and I thought this time around I had a more compelling story to tell seeing as though I'm living life as an end stage renal disease patient. In layman's terms: KIDNEY FAILURE. Just seeing that in bold print looks so scary and intimidating right?? But thankfully the super scary, life changing stuff is over and I'm on the road to recovery and possible transplant. I say possible because I've just begun the journey of trying to see if I'm healthy enough to get on the kidney transplant list.
My health struggles began during 2014 in the midst of my pregnancy with my second child, my daughter Peighton. While I was pregnant, I suffered from severe hypertension and over the course of my pregnancy and the months to follow that high blood pressure did a doozy on my body and my precious kidneys. I didn't realize my health was deteriorating until late April 2015. During this time I began to feel extreme fatigue, nausea and exhaustion, I attributed this to my busy life as a working mom plus I was nursing so I figured it was just a bad combination of doing too much. it wasn't until May 6, 2015 that my life changed FOREVER... I had been feeling extremely ill and needed to go to the hospital immediately, it was there that I was told that my kidneys had failed and that was the reason for all of my terrible symptoms. when the doctor told me that my kidneys were done and that I needed dialysis I felt like a brick wall had fell on top of me and that I was going to die. I had never felt so devastated in my life (and I hope to NEVER feel like that again).
Over the course of the Summer of 2015 I had MULTIPLE surgeries and dialysis treatments to help me regain my health and my strength and thankfully with the help of my family and loved ones I was able to finally get well enough to return to my job September 1, 2015.
Although my health has improved greatly, I'm not "out of the woods" yet, I need to begin the process of getting on the kidney transplant list and I will begin this February 2016.
This has been the roughest 8 months of my life, but it has taught me so much about myself as a woman and as a mother. I knew I was a strong person, but this was the ultimate test of my fortitude and faith. Yes there were moments where I cried, worried, and prayed but the fear was only temporary because I knew in the end that a higher power was watching and guiding me.
I truly believe 2016 will be a wonderful year for me, I'm turning 35, my oldest, Braylon will be 10 and my precious daughter will be turning 2.
I'm excited to see where this journey goes.
Shantel
