In today's video, I want to share with you my personal experience with kidney failure and what not to do to avoid accelerating kidney damage. I've talked a lot about my time on dialysis and my recovery from my kidney transplant, but I haven't really talked about how I got to that point. So, if you're interested in hearing about my journey and learning some important tips for kidney health, be sure to stick around and subscribe to my channel.

Let me take you back to the time when the phrase "ckd" was introduced into my life. It was 2005, and I was 5 months pregnant when I had a high fever and was sent to the hospital. The doctors said my fever was off the charts, and I had to be laid on an ice blanket to bring it down. It was then that I was told I had ckd, and I was at stage 2 almost 3 when I was diagnosed. Despite being put on a high dose of prednisone to regain some function, my diagnosis was FSGS, and it remained a mystery as to what caused the disease.

Fast forward 12 years, and my creatine levels started to increase rapidly. I started to develop symptoms like fatigue, itchiness, nausea, and headaches. Looking back, I now know that the stress I was experiencing in my life at that time was the culprit. I was living in constant stress and never made a conscious effort to manage it. Stress is dangerous, especially when you already have an underlying condition like ckd.

In 2019, I started the evaluation process to get on the transplant list in NC, but the pandemic disrupted everything, and I ended up moving to California in the middle of the process. My creatine was 9.5 and my kidney function was only at 7% when my doctor said my best option was to start dialysis. I was on peritoneal dialysis for 9 months until I finally finished my evaluation and was scheduled for a kidney transplant.

My advice to all of you, whether you're sick or healthy, is to avoid stress as much as possible. Looking back, I wish I had put all of my energy into avoiding or decreasing stress. It's a real problem and can be even more dangerous when you have an underlying condition. So, take care of yourselves and stay positive. Thanks for watching!