stories of a real life wonder woman

Hey there, It has been almost a year since I have given any kind of health update. It's nice to be into the daily life stuff of my disease instead of the more dramatic days of around 7 years ago. But as many of you know that doesn't mean I am not dealing with things that come up periodically. And the day to day medical routines that keep me alive are still and will always be a thing. I thought I would write today to fill you all in on some non-kidney health things that have come up and are proving to be a problem. Well really thing that I have been dealing with for a long time and putting off taking care of until my kidney health was under control. Though never officially diagnosed with it I show and have shown a lot of the symptoms of having endometriosis. Within the past year or so it has been so bad that missing work has become quite frequent. While that sucks I do have a doctor who as far as I can tell believes me when I talk about the pain and sickness that accompa...

Hey there, So it’s been a while. I wish I could say I was returning with amazingly great news about life or some mind blowing tidbit about Jesus. But I think by now if you are reading this or have rread any of my posts in the past you know that is not this blog. Having a blog that mostly chronicals the downs of being a person with a chronic illness means that posting again after a bit of a hiatus can really only mean one thing - more downs to report. If you’ve seen my recent social media posts. You might think, “How can that be? You are doing all this work at your house.” Well when you are sick you get good at knowing that life goes on no matter how you feel. So you go on and sometimes above with it. Here’s what is going on - after having a horrible appointment with a gynecologist in something like October I finally decided I really needed to see someone else because the increasing pain on and off my period is not ok. And as someone who has wanted a hysterectomy for more than 1...

Hey there, It's been a while. I thought about writing more than a few times about soaking up summer sun about fear about who our real enemy is (not each other) but then I would decide to spend more of my day relaxing or working in my yard or whatever instead of writing. But I have been thinking recently I should write again about illness in particular write about how even when I look healthy my body is still sick. Even when I look healthy my body still would not function without the carefully monitored concoction of medications that I ingest twice a day. Say I miss one dose - I will be ok but I will feel the side effects. If I miss a full day I will feel like shit. If I miss two or three days of those pills then a hospital stay is likely. I just say that to try to make it fully known how sick my body is. And the importance of those medications. Even though they make it so things like a common cold knock me out for days they also keep me alive. And any change of dosage wrecks ...

My mom mentioned this weekend that every morning when she gets into work and gets her computer going she plays this version of this song. Every morning - and the students that walk into the office in the morning hear this. I love that this song because of all that has come our way has become an anthem for my mom. This has been a bit of a stressful, nerve-wrecking week for her and many others. But from what I have seen and heard so far the people of my hometown continues to choose love and to stand strong together. And I just gotta say that makes me pretty dang proud. Another thing that makes me proud is that I got to celebrate some of the people that I deeply love with some of my favorite people. Friday we celebrated mom's birthday with a group of friends that we also celebrated with on Saturday when that bunch plus more went to a wedding. One of my camp brothers got married and gosh it fills my heart with such joy to see my brothers happy and loving and living for Jesus. My h...

Hey there, So it's been a bit longer between posts recently and today I thought "Why not post this week?" So here we are. This past month my mom has been posting on facebook different things about dealing with kidney disease. It's been at times a painful walk down memory lane but I think also a good eye opener for people (even those who have known us for years) that I still deal with my health issues on a daily basis even if I am not in the hospital right now. Some cool things have come from her posts and I am glad she can advocate for not just me but others dealing with kidney failure issues. Also it's always great to hear your mom say good things about you. Last week while my mom was posting she was actually at my house part of the time during her spring break. Basically she's the best on many levels. Not only does she encourage me from afar and speak words of life on social media but she also takes time to come see me and take care of me and my house....

Hey guys, So last Sunday I was worn out and thought "Whatever I can post later." Then Friday I thought "Whoops, I completely forgot to post at all." Ha! That happens sometimes. What also happens sometimes is me not knowing at all what to post about. I have been trying to think of things to post about that pertain to my health. Things that I deal with regularly that I don't really think about but that not everyone has to deal with. Sometimes though I can't think of anything. I think in part because sometimes I am so used to thinking about those things that I forget others don't. Things like watching how much time I spend in the sun because I am more susceptible to skin cancer because of the meds that are keeping me alive. Though lately that hasn't been something I have to think about because of the grey end of winter days. I am coming to terms with the fact that it's ok that I might not always have anything much to share in this setting but...

Hey, So last Sunday I couldn't think of anything to write. Then during the week all I could think to write was that Tuesday's change of weather here was fantastic for my spirit. Nothing lifts the cloud of depression that hangs over you in the gloominess of winter like the first day of bright blue, sunny skies reminding you that spring is coming. I didn't feel like that was enough for one post so I decided to just skip for the week. This week's post is a little early because I have been trying to think of things related to my health to post about that I don't talk about. But I've been having a hard time thinking of things. During the week I thought I could post about how because of everything my body has under gone I am in constant pain. And how sometimes that drains the life out of me and other times I can get busy and mostly ignore it. But constant pain from your body being put through a lot of surgeries, even more medicine, and stress beyond belief is not ...