My Life As a Part-Time Cyborg
What It’s Like To Live Your Life With End-Stage Renal Failure
Something’s wrong in your life. You know this, but you don’t know what it could possibly be. You’re losing energy, needing more caffeine to get you started in the morning. Things that you used to do lickety-split now take you longer. For instance, peeing. You don’t pee as much as you used to, or it takes you longer to empty your bladder.
You go to the doctor, for the first time in who knows how long — you’ve always been pretty healthy, after all — and you get the news.
“There’s protein in your urine, an early warning sign that you face kidney failure. Your kidneys are struggling now, and you’re losing kidney function. In time, you might lose all kidney function and require dialysis. You may get lucky, though; you might get a transplant, assuming there’s a donor match for you.
“But that could take years.
“Your only dependable option when it comes time is dialysis. You can always put your name on the transplant list and start the testing process, but in the meantime, while you wait, dialysis is the way to go.
“But don’t worry, you’ve got plenty of time yet with your kidneys.