| Author | Subject: Hello from an Old Timer |
| David Axtmann | Posted At 13:56:08 02/13/2002 Hi everyone, my name is David. Forgive me Beth, for taking so long to get connected. I am a hemodialysis patient of 33+ years. I was 27 when my illness started, a young husband, the father of two children ages 3 and 5 and attending college. Now I am a grandpa of three, with one graduating from high school this spring. My life, on dialysis, has definitely not been a chosen one, but I can配 say it has been a bad one either. There isn配 much that I didn配 do if I really wanted to. Maybe my life on dialysis made me do some things that I would have passed up had I not had the setbacks. My illness taught me to smell the roses. It always reminds me that today is an important one because it may be the last one I can do anything with. Oh I do waste a few here and there, but I try not to waste too many. When I started on dialysis, we were kind of chosen. You see, there were not enough dialysis machines for everyone. I was told that only those over 15 and under 55 would be eligible for dialysis. Also, we had to prove that we could be rehabilitated, that is, that we could make something of ourselves. The Drs. told me a way to do this was to complete the college education I was doing. Now a lot of people probably don配 believe this, but that was the way it was back then. All of our lives and all our illnesses are different so I don配 know if I can help answer any questions you might have. All I can tell you is what I did or what happened to me. I am willing to try. Beth has given great information relating to dealing with diet, fluid intakes and weight gains and talking with health care pros about our feelings. That酒 a big part of the game. Another part is attitude. I always say that there are three important things to dealing with any chronic illness and they are attitude, attitude and attitude. That酒 my motto. I have seen so many people dealing with more complicated health problems than mine and I marvel at what they have accomplished. I wish the best to all of you. You are trying or you wouldn配 have gotten this far. For more about me visit my web page at http://communities.msn.com/DialysisOldTimer |
| Connie McDonald | Re: Hello from an Old Timer (Currently 0 replies) Posted At 09:09:49 02/18/2002 Hello David, Nice to know that we do have old timeer like youself. Thanks for the tips of how to live one day of a time. That make our bad days easier to cope with. Connie |
| Beth Witten | Re: Hello from an Old Timer (Currently 0 replies) Posted At 22:15:11 02/20/2002 Hi David, You are so right that attitude is a key ingredient to doing well with kidney disease. Those of us working with Life Options have come to believe that key ingredients to living successfully with kidney disease include: 1) having a positive attitude, 2) finding answers (asking questions and getting information from all kinds of sources), 3) and taking action (participating in care, keeping active, using medical professionals and "consultants"). Staff may forget to instill in new patients a sense of hope. People diagnosed with kidney disease often believe that they will die soon. Most have no idea that someone can live for 33+ years with kidney disease. New patients can find hope from talking with or reading about successful "veteran" patients. It's obvious from your history that you learned what you needed to learn and used it to your advantage. Thank you for sharing with us (and with anyone who reads your message) that hope lives and it is indeed possible to live long and well with kidney disease. |