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Truly blessed

For all the medical issues I have, for all the uncertainty that exists in my future, for all the modifications I need to make to my lifestyle... I feel honestly and truly blessed.

Yes. I have an incurable disease that can possibly lead me down a path towards  dialysis, organ transplant, lifelong immunosuppressive drugs and early death.

But...

I don't have diabetes.

I don't have a history of aneurysms in my family.

My blood pressure is well-managed.

My risk for cardiovascular events is low.

I work for a company with good healthcare.

My job allows me the flexibility to go to doctor appointments and labs. 

I have friends and family who love and support me.

Could be much, much worse.

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A drop isn't always a decline

As I prep for today's nephrology appointment, I thought this might be a good visual for people if they're just entering the world of PKD.  This is my kidney function over the past year and a half and  I've classified the data points into periods of stability and decline.  The key takeaway from this is that a single data point doesn't really carry much information - you have to look at the trend over time. And sometimes you have to wait a bit to see what that trend actually is. Did I freak out when I hit that period of decline late last summer (2nd decline period)? Without a doubt! But was the decline as bad as I initially thought? No (but it still sucked). And after the initial shock (and denial and grief) wore off, I was okay. And when my levels dropped to 23 at the beginning of this year, I'd been through enough to stop and ask myself what was going on. In this instance, I'd been put on a diuretic for five days to take care of some water retention....