Hello, from

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

My name is , and I am now finishing up what has been by far the most

horrific chapter of my life so far.

In December 2007, I was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure (brought on by

Alport Syndrome) during a weekend trip home from college, only two weeks before

finals. My blood-work numbers were so off the charts that the doctors had no

idea how I was standing, let alone just driven across the state for four hours

to come home. About 2 hours later I went into surgery for an emergency dialysis

port.

One year, 700+ hours of dialysis, innumerable complications, pages of

prescriptions, and one very awesome best friend later--I received a living donor

kidney transplant.

I'm now going on my fourth month post-op (and dialysis free!) and doing great. I

am looking forward to going back to school in August to complete my BS in

Electrical Engineering, along with my best friend and donor.

I look forward to reading your stories, and perhaps sharing some of the methods

I came across to cope with kidney failure, dialysis, pain, and transplant.

I also wear hearing aids (another present from Alport Syndrome) and have done so

for 14 years now. If anybody wants to discuss that, just yell real loud.