by Maxella Roe » Tue May 09, 2023 4:41 pm
I'm kind of at a complete loss of what to do with myself at the moment. I've just found out that I have kidney disease. After a pretty rough stay in the hospital earlier this year, we naturally wanted answers, and don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have gotten them. But at the same time I feel frustrated and stressed. I have a pretty sizeable cyst on my left kidney, and they want to do some further testing as well as monitor for kidney cancer. I'm like, not sure if I've just not fully processed this news or if I'm just not surprised, because I'm also already being monitored for two other types of cancers due to barret's esophagus and one other disease I won't get into because I don't even fully understand it quite yet.
On the one hand, it's nice when you finally get answers to some pretty rough times, but it's also like, one more thing I have to worry about on top of other chronic illnesses that have left me completely disabled by this point. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in my mid teens after quite a few years of endless tests, appointments, and misdiagnoses. Then a few years of wondering where it came from, though it kind of all made sense after my dad finally got diagnosed with FMS at 50, several years after I got my dx. But in the years that followed that initial dx came a list of other things that are comorbid with FMS, and these conditions can get worse with age, so I guess this is why I seem to feel crummier as the years go on. Gotta spit some appreciation for my healthcare providers though, everybody I've worked with has always done their best, and I'm so grateful for that. I wouldn't have any of these answers if they hadn't encouraged me to get a second opinion when they felt like they were out of their area of expertise. Circumstances could definitely be worse, but I'm still frustrated and don't know how I should be reacting at the moment; if my frustration is misplaced or not I guess.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is after so many years, this was just kind of the tipping point of like, extreme frustration. Like, I'm okay, this news hasn't ruined my whole life or anything. In terms of immediate action, I really just need a few more diet tweaks, I'm not in dire straits or anything. I'm just really frustrated with it all after so many years of it just, compounding, and could maybe use a pep-talk, a thumbs up, a pat on the back, maybe some common ground with someone who kinda gets it, I dunno. No pressure, in no way should anyone on here feel like they have to reach out or something, I'm just spitting my thoughts somewhere that isn't my journal, cause I just need it to be like, seen by another human person, if that makes sense.