One Nephrotic Life: The Bad Days Make Me Stronger

Here I am. Trying to think of what to say about my life with a kidney disease. It's great? Who am I kidding? Glad I have it? What a load of bull. I'm only 17, not 70. I shouldn't have to remember the 10 pills I have to take two times a day. That's for seniors, right? WRONG. I was just a normal 15 year old. Had a boyfriend crazy about me, had many friends and had a lot going for me. So what happened?

I was in Florida on vacation with my family. One morning I woke up and one eye was swollen. I didn't even notice it until my brother said: "what happened to your eye?" I didn't think it was anything serious because the night before I was kicked in the eye while playing around in the pool. I wasn't worried. When we got home it started happening every day. I would be afraid to sleep over friends' houses. I didn't know what was wrong with me.

Well, one day I woke up and my legs and ankles were swollen. I wasn't really concerned because I had some ankle injuries from sports in the past and I thought it was just acting up again. My parents knew something was wrong and took me to a couple doctors. They misdiagnosed me and when I went to a kidney doctor, I had a biopsy done. It showed I had Nephrotic Syndrome.

I was devastated when I learned I had to go on a low salt diet. Food was something special to me since I planned on being a culinary artist. I had no idea what to do. I remember going to the movies and while everyone in the theatre had popcorn with extra butter, I had brought celery sticks and carrots with low-salt dressing.

Of course all my friends supported me and didn't make a big deal out of everything that was going on. But I did. Especially when the side effects of Prednisone started to hit. I gained weight and went into a deep depression.

Last year had to have been the worst year for me. I could not bear to go to school and when I did I thought everyone was looking at my face. People questioned me about my face and my weight and I was super sensitive about that issue.

Because of the medicine I became too tired and depressed to go to school or go out with my friends. I had tutors and did everything at home. My friends became very mad at me because I wouldn't return their calls or hang out with them. I felt like barely no one understood what was going on.

I stayed away from my friends and even broke up with my boyfriend. I feel horrible about doing that now because he was the only one who seemed to care and listen to me when I was upset. I practically lost all my friends and had no social life at all. Instead of going to the mall or parties, I would watch movies in my room and sleep half the time.

Looking back on it, I decided I'm a stronger person. Sure I've had bad days, but I have good days too. I know my family has a huge effect on the progress I made. For some reason, they never give up on me no matter how hard it is/was.

I have to say that things are better for me right now. I take one day at a time and even though I may have a bad day, it doesn't stop me from having a good year. I go to a private school now where they can actually work with my absences and I'm catching up in my schoolwork. I'm actually pleased with my medical results because my protein went down drastically. I was a plus 4 for a whole year and now I'm two. I know I would not be able to go through this experience without my parents and family. I also hope I can make kids realize think that you can accomplish anything if your put your heart into it and 'never say never'.

You can e-mail me at nephcuregirl@aol.com and I would be more than happy to answer questions and talk more about my kidney disease.