Hard Seasons: Kidney Failure
We’ve been in the midst of a hard season. Typically they come and go, but this one has been lasting awhile. The hardest thing right now is my husband’s health. He had been having issues for a long time. Then in March, things really came apart. He was hospitalized and we found out that he is in end stage renal (kidney) failure. In other words, both of his kidneys have completely failed.
Our kidneys function as filters. The primary job of the kidneys is to remove excess fluid and waste from the bloodstream. He had to start a treatment called dialysis immediately. Dialysis filters excess fluid and waste from the bloodstream since the kidneys could not. However, your kidneys have other duties as well. They make and release hormones that regulate and control certain body functions. Unfortunately, dialysis is unable to manufacture these essential hormones.
Without dialysis, his prognosis was very grim. We were told that he may only have 6 months to live if he didn’t begin the process. But dialysis is a grueling and exhausting process. He has to go to the dialysis center 3 days a week for 4 hours each time.
The best case scenario for my husband now is donation. If he could receive a kidney from a living donor, this could save his life and the kidney could last for 15-20 years. He would also be able to stop the dialysis treatments if the transplant is successful. Unfortunately, it just isn’t that simple to make it happen. Gratefully, his sister has decided to be a donor for him, and we have been moving through that process for several months now. But recently we have hit some bumps in the road.
Right now, we are in the midst of this difficult journey. We have no idea what happens next. It has been a lot to process, but we are taking it one day at a time. We keep moving forward by the grace of God.