Body Image and a PKD Belly

The surgeon who removed my PKD kidneys when I was 18 years old said I looked “11 months pregnant.” Some of us look normal on the outside although our kidneys and/or liver are enlarged and polluted with PKD cysts. Others must visually deal with the reminder of PKD...

Everybody’s Got Something

I love to ‘people watch.’ Like when I’m sitting in the car at a red signal light and vehicles are turning in front of me. I wonder where they are headed, what their everyday life is like, and I am amazed how we all look so different. At restaurants I love to look at...

Tick Tock

We all have different characteristics that make us tick. Each of us has varying things that can push our buttons or light up our souls. We are driven by our individual goals and desires. All sharing the unknown of how much time we will be afforded, and with the choice...

Worry Some – Hope More

Did I do something wrong that increased my creatinine? Why is ‘that’ number elevated on my blood work results and my doctor can’t find a cause? When the time comes, will I have a kidney donor? When living with polycystic kidney disease, there is a lot that we can...

We’re Better Together

As a grade school student, I often ended up in the nurse’s office due to excruciating kidney pain. After a role in a school play that called for me to have a pretend fainting scene, a cyst on my kidney ruptured and bled. I was always forced to sit on the sidelines in...

Day to Day

I am a visual person who likes to see results. I have an unwavering desire to heal and willingness to work hard to achieve that goal. I’d prefer to push myself than follow the ‘easy-does-it’ recovery timeline. I recently read about an athlete who had a similar back...