October 10, 2011



Wedding Anniversary in 2009



I found out today that my kidney function is so reduced that I need to consider dialysis and transplantation. I am devastated by this news, although not surprised. I have only one kidney, and I've known for months that my kidney function was declining. My nephrologist and internist have been tracking my function, and the rate of decline took a steep downward step starting about 3 months ago.  At the end of July I had a kidney biopsy, which showed damage from high blood pressure and athersclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

I am writing this blog to have a place to express my feelings, to rant and rave at the unfairness of it all, and to have a place to collect my thoughts, keep a list of things I need/want to do (my bucket list), and to keep a record of what happens along the way. 

A little history may be in order. In 1972, my father was diagnosed with terminal renal failure. We were told that he had less than a week to live unless we could somehow come up with at least $15,000 to pay for dialysis. I was a graduate student at the University of Texas at that time, and I had a hard time rubbing 2 dimes together; $15,000 might as well have been $15 million. I am the oldest of 4 children, and I felt compelled to try to save my dad. But I was at a total loss about how to come up with so much money. At that time, Medicare did not cover the cost of dialysis, although Congress was already working on a bill to cover that.

Fortunately, a volunteer at the hospital was able to determine that my dad's insurance policy was still in effect, and got a commitment from the insurer to pay for the dialysis.  My dad underwent hemodialysis at home for about a year, at which point he was strong enough for a transplant. I donated my left kidney to him in September 1973. He quickly regained his strength and vitality, and once again began planning for the future. He died less than 6 months later; the kidney was working fine until the last, but he suffered a brain hemorrhage that killed him in his sleep on March 7, 1974.  At his funeral, I had a weird sensation knowing that a physical part of me was going into the grave with him, that part of me had died.

I've lived a full and normal life all these years with only one kidney. I was married to Richard Wackerbarth from 1967 to 1977, including the time of the transplant. We divorced in 1977 and I remained unmarried until 1997, when I married Ramiro DeLa Fuente. I practiced environmental law in Dallas and Houston from 1977 to 2005, at which time Ramiro and I moved to Arkansas to retire. We didn't stay retired, however, and both of us went to work in Fayetteville, AR. Ramiro retired again in 2008; I'm still working as of this writing, but I can see that I will likely need to quit, either because my health won't permit it, or because the schedule of dialysis will interfere with it. Even if I can work a schedule around it, I won't want to work in an office on the days that I don't do dialysis--at this point, I want to spend every moment that I can with my husband, even if we're not doing anything more exciting that just sitting in the same room reading the newspaper or watching the golfers outside our backyard.