New Kidney, New Life

Writing this wasn't easy at all. I do not wish to release my own name, or the names of the people I will mention in this writing period. However, I will mention the names of the hospitals I've been to. I do not ask for money, just for someone to at least listen to me and have knowledge of kidney transplant recipients. So please, do not ask, and thank you for taking the time to read.

I was diagnosed with congenital renal dysplasia when I was born. Now you may ask, "What is congenital renal dysplasia?" The doctors explained that while I was still in the the womb, I had a bacteria cell that completely took over my right kidney and killed it, that same bacteria was traveling to my bladder, and onto my left kidney. The situation became so hazardous to where my mother gave birth to me earlier than expected. I was supposed to be born on Thanksgiving, however I was born two weeks earlier. Now that may not seem too bad because I wasn't premature, however I wasn't fully grown.

When I came into the world, I didn't have a butt. You might be thinking "Huh?! Let me read that again!" It's true, I do not remember the name of the actual defect I had, however I do remember the name for problem with my kidney. After I was born, my mother was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes by a doctor who literally had no record of being at the hospital. I know right? Pretty crazy. Well, the dude was right when he diagnosed my mother and I. Everything was resolved two days after I was born.

My birth hospital was Kaiser Permanente. I'm not saying they're not a good hospital, maybe it was the team I was assigned too, or maybe they have a better system now. However, my doctors told my mother that I wasn't going to live past the age of 12. I wasn't on any medications at the time. I was five at the time, and I looked like I was three or four years old. I was practically dying away and of course my mother, being the strongest woman I knew at the time, was practically begging and breaking down in front of these doctors. She was asking if there was any specialists I could see, anything that I could take, or any programs she could apply for to help me in the long run. I mean my mother was ready to give up her life to see me be able to breathe another day. And these doctors flat out told her "We're sorry ma'am, but there is no solution."

My father was present in my life, but my mom always told me he and my older sister hated me. That's another section I would need to develop on its own. When my father's insurance switched to where I was on my own, I ended up going to Loma Linda University Health Center. My mother nor I were prepared for the longest and craziest roller coaster ride of life itself.