Thankful
The Kidney Boy
by Steve
1w ago
 Recently, I read a post on social media, detailing the people we have lost from my class, and other classes near mine.  I was just glad I wasn't on that list yet - we've lost a lot of great people I went to school with... it's a sad fact of life that this happens more as we age, but I'm still sad at the losses.  Good people, good families... life is tough.  But I am glad for every day I have above ground - even the hard ones.  And there's a lot more hard days lately... but I'm still glad for them.  Each day is another opportunity to maybe do better, and each day ..read more
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Dialysis Life
The Kidney Boy
by Steve
1M ago
 Dialysis life is rough life.  Hemodialysis isn't easy... and it's definitely weird to think that I can compare doing it in my 20s to doing it in my 40s.  It was definitely hard both times, but man, it was easier in my 20s.  It takes a lot out of me now.  And yet, I have more responsibilities now... it's difficult to juggle them sometimes.  I am really lucky, because I have a great support system on this now.  My parents help me a lot, and I'm grateful for it - but it also leaves me with a big sense of sadness, because I wish I was the one giving them the ass ..read more
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The Arrows of Time
The Kidney Boy
by Steve
3M ago
 I'm 45 years old this year.  It looks like a daunting number when I stare at it; it's even more daunting when I think about the fact that I've spent nearly 21 years of my life living with End Stage Renal Disease.  Almost my entire adult life - and the fact that I was diagnosed with this disease at a time when I was trying to build the foundations of my life, and find my way... it's made it incredibly difficult.  I thought I was building my future for many years, and I started my own business and was supported by my family.  But it was difficult to do that while naviga ..read more
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Now & Then
The Kidney Boy
by Steve
4M ago
 As my mind is wont to do when I'm spending time alone with myself, today I found my thoughts randomly wandering through memories, and for some inexplicable reason, I found myself remembering an old "video game" console from the 1980s called "Action Max".  It was from a company called World of Wonders, who had success with Teddy Ruxpin and their "Lazer Tag" game... this system was weird and unique in that the games were on VHS tapes, and you hooked a console with a light gun up to the TV, and attached a device to the corner of your TV so it could sense the light gun hit the targets t ..read more
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Getting back into it.
The Kidney Boy
by Steve
5M ago
 Dialysis is hard. Not only is the procedure uncomfortable, but the lifestyle is rough.  Switching gears from my transplant where I had to drink at least 2L of water a day to where I must try to drink only 1-1.5 L of fluid, total, a day, is so hard.  Fluid is everything - coffee, water, milk, juice, soda, etc.  You find that it adds up quick - and one of my favorite things in the world was drinking a very large glass of water with an absolute ton of ice... and avoiding foods high in potassium and phosphorus.  It's just difficult to switch the gears. The process is disr ..read more
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Back on Dialysis
The Kidney Boy
by Steve
7M ago
 This summer, I took my kids out to breakfast, and at the restaurant, I stumbled and fell into a set of metal chairs... hard.  I ended up with a basketball sized hematoma under my arm, and after spending several hours in the ER screaming in pain, they finally admitted me and I had surgery to remove it.  I spent about a week in the hospital recovering, and during that time my nephrologist said it was almost time to go back on dialysis. When I got out, I was in rough shape, and a few weeks later, I developed pneumonia in my right lung... I ended up back in the hospital, courtesy o ..read more
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Running Out of Time
The Kidney Boy
by Steve
1y ago
 I am reaching the end of my time. I feel it in me - and my lab work shows the same. This last transplant is giving out - it has been since it was implanted.  Sometimes transplants work out great, and other times - through no fault of the donor or recipient, it does not work out as you hope.  The kidney had issues shortly after I got it, and after several biopsies, they couldn't determine quite why, other than it seems the kidney had damage from the donor they did not detect.  But my time with this graft is nearing an end.  It's my third kidney transplant in 20 years ..read more
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All This Time
The Kidney Boy
by Steve
1y ago
 I wrote a song once, when I was about 17 or 18.  Pretty sure it was just before my 18th birthday - I know I was a senior in high school, barrelling towards graduation, which seemed so daunting at the time. In your youth, you're kind of hurtled towards this goal - the end of high school, in which your adult life is supposed to start after.  When you get older, you realize it's just one step into a great big world that you never really ever complete growing in... but I was feeling the arrow of time at that tender young age, and feeling much older than I actually was.  The so ..read more
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Lucky in Love
The Kidney Boy
by Steve
1y ago
 Yesterday, my parents came over to my house to help me remove and replace some old rugs in my house.  My dog, getting up in her years and becoming more obstinate, has made a habit of peeing on rugs in my home and it's only gotten worse lately.  I had to get rid of two rugs in my house; my folks came over, and hauled them up and out and helped me get ready to put new ones in.  It's a lot of work; I'm trying my best, but between being a single Dad and my health steadily declining, a lot slips by me lately.  They help me out a lot - and I cannot tell you how many times I ..read more
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Simpler Times
The Kidney Boy
by Steve
1y ago
 I drove by a section of the Old Erie Canal today - I was out for a drive by myself on this Fourth of July, and I took in the sights.  But seeing that old Erie Canal Park reminded me of just how intrigued I was by it as a kid.  We studied about it a lot in elementary school - growing up in Central New York in the 1980s, it was just part of our local history.  They seemed to be doing a lot of work then at restoring sections of the old Canal and turning it into a park - one long park that ran for miles. (36 miles, I am told as I research - from Dewitt to Rome NY) I kind of to ..read more
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