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Patient confronts FSGS head-on in her sassy new blog
Coming across Jenn Trunk on
the street, you would meet a run of the mill, outgoing 36 year old woman, with
a loving family, a successful career, and an unexplained obsession with the
Skyline Chili restaurant down the street.
If you were to stop and speak with her for a couple of minutes, you would most likely find her to be witty, vivacious, and completely normal.
One thing you would not realize however, is that her life is drastically different than that of most other young mothers, because along with the time she spends at work and with her family, Jenn spends an equal amount of time bouncing around from doctor’s office to doctor’s office, and participating in a clinical trial for a sickness most people have never heard of.
Jenn, of Indianapolis, IN, suffers from a disease called Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a disease that effects the kidney’s filter system causing protein to escape from the body. Every day of Jenn’s life is a battle against the disease, leaving her to deal with the constant effects that the disease has on her everyday routine. Still, this spirited mother refuses to let her illness stand in the way of anything.
“Knowing that I'm most likely headed for renal failure and a kidney transplant is a difficult thing to wrap my head around, but I cannot change the course I'm on,” said Trunk. “I will, however, do whatever I can for those that still have a chance.”
Jenn had found that venting on NephSpace, a NephCure Foundation virtual community of patients and families, communicating with others helped her deal with her struggle. She then tried to write about her kidney disease in a personal blog she had that was originally intended to keep family and friends updated on her three year old daughter Izzy.
“I felt, sometimes, that the darkness that hangs over me from this disease clouded that first blog,” said Trunk.
As a result, she started a new blog called FSGSsucks (http://fsgssucks.blogspot.com), as a place outside her daily life where she could vent, share her story and help others do the same.
Her painfully honest, tell-all blog reflects her personality and captures her continuing story perfectly, through bright pictures, funny videos, and a sarcastic yet funny narrative of her day to day struggles.
“It's okay to be down about this disease, but it's important to get back up,” said Trunk. “Sometimes I don't feel good...sometimes I'm very angry, and I need a place to get it out so I can let it go.”
Her blog echoes this statement faultlessly. Although she is addressing an upsetting and ominous topic, she does so with a sense of humor and an unbridled “just the facts” attitude. Although Jenn’s life is made difficult by FSGS, with her winning attitude and daily venting sessions through her blog, she is confronting her disease in her own captivating way.