For my 50th birthday, I wanted to do something exciting. I decided to hike the Foothills Trail in South Carolina. My daughter joined me. We didn’t finish, but we did 15 miles straight up. It was hard and fun. We thought we were really taking care of hydrating, but apparently not. At night, I took 400mg of ibuprofen to help me get through the night and rest for the next day.
After this hike, I started feeling bad. I didn’t go to the doctor in time and was in the hospital for a week with renal kidney failure. No one understood what I meant when I said I had “ammonia mouth.” If you do, GO TO THE DOCTOR! It was a sign of kidney failure. I’m early in treatment, but I can’t work overtime anymore. I have been out of work for 2 weeks. I don’t know my stage yet. I just need to be able to pay my bills.
I took in my young cousins years ago, and now they are adults and working towards getting enough money to move out on their own. It’s hard to ask for help; I never have before. I had a blood transfusion. I can’t give platelets for a long time now (over 12 gallons so far donated). I was selling plasma for extra money, but I can’t now. I have volunteered so much to Scouts, softball, and baseball while my kids participated and even after. Anything you could donate would bring me so much joy. I have so many praying for me. I will pray for each donor and their family and friends. Thank you for listening. This in itself has helped.
UPDATE:
It’s been almost a year since my diagnosis. I am in the process of being approved for transplant. That means not only time off work but also time off work for my caregiver(s). We also live in Ocala and Mayo Clinic is in Jax so we have to stay a month up there after transplant. Not sure how we are going to cover all our monthly bills and the costs of hotel/Airbnb. We are working people that live essentially paycheck to paycheck. I do have some savings, but it won’t cover all the costs we have coming up including co-pays for lifetime of medications.