Renal "Rehab"

and learning to live with chronic illness

One of the long term "side effects" of Type 1 diabetes is kidney impairment.

My own kidneys have been shonky for a long time which is fairly standard

for someone who has had Type 1 for close to forty years.

In my recent health crisis which was actually a bleed in the liver,

my kidney function plummeted.

On my return home I was invited to join the next session of the Renal Group.

Apart from the fact that most of the attendees were at least 20 years older than me,

which is daunting, it has been a very informative exercise for me.

Knowledge is good and it can be motivating.

Sometimes, the knowledge can be a bit overwhelming, making one feel hopeless,

but it is definitely the aim of the very devoted Chronic Kidney Disease

team to encourage us.All of us were folk with Chronic Kidney Disease

 at some level above the need for dialysis.

Scarily, my GFR (renal function) dropped into the level four category
which is just one step above dialysis, at the time of all the trauma.
It is s-l-o-w-l-y rising and I praise God for this reprieve.

What have I gotten out of this time spent in education?
All the usual things are stressed - diet, exercise, take you meds.
But it has been good for me to learn more of what our
"fearfully and wonderfully" made kidneys do in the body,
to refocus on keeping them for as long as
possible on the level they are - no matter how shonky.
It was interesting today to get a better picture of what each
medication does and why it is so important to take them.
I also found it helpful throughout the program to discuss not only
the effects of our actual illness but also of these medications
and their side effects _
some of which I have had, not realising they are related.

So, if I seem tired and flakey at time -
well I probably am :-)

I am planning to begin a Cardiac Rehab session soon but since it is a
much bigger time commitment and I have done parts of it before.
I am putting it off until the long holidays in the hope
of not eating up too much school time.

I have always tried to accept my chronic health problems and carry on
life regardless but I realise that I also need to learn
to accept my limitations.
Like most people in this situation I tend to have big ideas
and I overdo things when I am feeling well -
Only to crash there after!

This is not my usual type of post but I wanted to share with you
friends what it is that keeps from blogging etc these days.
Have a great week.

"My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my life and my portion forever."