A little background on me

About 10-12 yrs ago I was diagnosed with IGA. It started out as a regular checkup at the doc. After some really weird lab results I was sent to a Nephrologist . He was a little stumped as well because I appeared to be a very healthy female in my early 20's. A kidney biopsy confirmed the
IGA.

The disease more or less was controlled for about 10 years, even through the birth of our daughter. About 2 years ago test results started coming back a little weird again. After changing medication around we decided to get a second opinion this year. Really just another set of eyes is what we were looking for and hoping someone may some other ideas.

We weren't really expecting to hear what we were told. When looked at on paper things appeared to be a lot worse than we had anticipated. So we are in the process of trying to get me on a transplant list. I do NOT need a transplant right now, but with the way things have changed recently we are unsure when or how long before I need a new kidney. It can take quit a while to go through the process of getting on the list, much less actually having a match. We are just trying to prepare in advance.

Fortunately things have been pretty stable over the past 9-12 months. One of the problems is I am on an immune suppressing medication. Therefore, colds and such hit me a lot harder than the average person (kind of like a baby). When I get sick I get tired and it's hard to fight it off. This also puts a strain on my kidneys.

I am currently getting Procrit injections every 2 weeks to help boost my hemoglobin. This will also hopefully boost my energy level.

I am waiting to go in for a day of testing for the next step in getting on the list.

We'll keep you posted.