Another Day in my life...

Today's not a dialysis day, which is good! 🥳 But, I do have a retina specialist appointment tonight for an Avastin injection in my left eye to help with the swelling from diabetic retinopathy. I'll probably need these for life, and they hurt afterward. 😢

I weighed 132 lbs yesterday (62.7 kg at my dialysis center), which is my lowest weight since high school (I'm 61)! 🤩 It feels awesome to beat my goal. About 2.5-3 years ago, I was over 340 lbs, my health was a mess. 😩

I had high blood pressure and was on 3 meds for it. My diabetes was out of control. My cholesterol was high, and my body was struggling with all the extra weight. I even got 2 hernias because I couldn't handle it. 🤕

Even my diagnosed and controlled mental illnesses were acting up. 😟😔 With the way I was living, I was headed for an early grave. ⚰️😵 It took End Stage Renal Disease, when my kidneys shut down, to really shake me awake. 🚨💥 But to be fair, I was already losing weight and changing a lot of my habits by then. 💪🌱 Still, that was a huge reality check for me. 💡🤔 And my current health situation was just what was going to do me in! 😨🏥

So, around late March 2025, I got hit with really bad pneumonia in my left lung and a bunch of fluid around my heart. 😷💔 Being in the hospital for 17 days (April 1st-17th, 2025) was super scary. 😱🏨 I wasn't even aware of what was happening for the first few days. 😵‍💫❓ They placed a chest tube in my left side to drain my lung and another tube to my heart to remove that fluid. 🩺💉

Then, on April 2nd, 2025, I started dialysis. 🏥🩺 I didn't even know it was happening because I was out of it. 😵‍💫 On top of that, I ended up with nerve damage in my left foot and leg (they thought it was "drop foot"). 🦶🤕 I was stuck in bed for so long, which probably put a lot of strain on my spinal stenosis. 🛌😖

After the hospital, I got sent to a rehab center (which was also a nursing home) for a month since I couldn't walk. ♿️🏨 I guess the pressure on my spine caused the mobility issues? 🤔🤷‍♀️ I worked my butt off to get out of there as fast as I could. 💪🏃‍♀️ I just wanted to go home, and my family was really worried about me. 🏡😟

This is the time where I was losing most of my weight. 📉🏋️‍♀️ With the gross food they served at that rehab center and the isolation of being in my room for the majority 

of my days, (It was also a period where I struggled emotionally. 😔💔 I had the time to think about the poor choices I'd made in my life that I need to change.) 😥🙏

I made it a point to reconnect with my therapist for telehealth visits. 🗣️💻 (I still do them!) I just didn't feel like eating. 🍽️🚫 I hope I never have to go to a rehab center again in my lifetime because there was very little I could say that was good about that place. 🏨👎

Well, that it for me today. 👋😊 Thank you for taking the time to read my words. 🙏📖 Have a great weekend and I'll talk to you tomorrow! ☀️💬

Tina ✍️

My quote for the day:

• "Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud. "—Maya Angelou

Below is my personal National Kidney Registry microsite. It wont steal your information or ask you to donate money. Its an information site with stories from people looking for a new(to us) living kidney or pancreas donor.  Tina's Personal Microsite 

Tina's Blog