Hey ! Let's put on a show!

There was one defining moment in my first hospital stay last month. On the last day, Dr. P. came to check me out and he looks at me for a second and says "Do you have a way to get on the internet?" To which I responded "Well, not with me." He laughed, and that was the first time I had ever really thought that doctors are regular people.

He gave me the URL for the National Kidney Foundation and said it had a lot of information. I looked, and frankly I thought he was nuts. I did not find what I considered a lot of information there. I shrugged my shoulders, wrote Dr. P off as an internet philistine and went on about my business.

I'm not sure what made me go back tonight, except that I started my first peritoneal dialysis exchange a few hours ago and I'm looking to kill another hour so I can drain the fluid and sleep without all that stuff sloshing around inside me. I thought "hmm, kidney.org." and I found much more information.

There's all this activity going on. For instance, I learned that each treatment at the center costs the government--or somebody's insurance company--$125. Each kidney patient receives roughly 156 treatments every year, for a total cost of $20,000 a year.

I thought it would be more. Apparently the number has been the same since 1983. I'm not even one of them any more, and I think the $125 per treatment is too low a number. Although the feds pay for 80% of kidney treatment, I think it's weird that they set the amount that they'll pay out. That's just surreal.

I don't really want to be an activist or a crusader. I don't want to be an advocate, a champion, or an inspiration to anybody... but I keep thinking maybe I could do something.

In any case, it's time to drain. Get used to hearing that, it's my life now.

before - after