My Kidney Failed 7 Years After Transplant

The other parts of me remember why I have written and then I don’t feel so bad anymore.

I started having excruciating pain down my left side. It started on the left side of my stomach and spread all the way up to my shoulders and down the left side of my back. This white hot, burning pain just wouldn’t go away. I took Tylenol. I used pain cream and ice packs. I used CBD and laid down most of the day. The pain had moved in and was here to stay.

Dealing with chronic pain throughout the span of many days takes a toll on your mental health, no matter how strong you are. The pain made me nauseous and extra fatigued all the time. It got so bad that I had to use my cell phone to call my friend to help me out of the bathroom. The couch in the living room was only maybe 20 feet away, but I just didn’t have the strength to get there.

My friend found me covered in a thick sheet of sweat and trying hard to breathe. Luckily, I had only gone into the bathroom to brush my teeth so I was fully clothed. She helped me back to the couch and put an ice pack on my head to help cool me off.

My transplanted kidney is on my left side. Any kidney doctor would tell a transplant patient to rush to the hospital if they’re having any pain where their transplant site is. I wanted to go to the hospital, but I didn’t have any insurance in Michigan. Under the ACA, I had Blue Cross Blue Shield Alabama and it doesn’t cover much of anything out of state.

The thought of a huge medical bill kept me home. Unbeknownst to me, toxins were building up in my body. I didn’t think about it at the time, but I had also stopped peeing as much as usual. I was so focused on how bad I felt, I was grateful I didn’t have to make as many trips to the bathroom. It was a red flag, but I was too busy trying to reassure myself that it would go away on its own.

My adoptive mom was scheduled to be off the next day. She turned her “Do Not Disturb” on her phone off and made me promise to call her during the night if I needed her. In…

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