Hi MsFur08,
Good to hear from you - hope things are going well. I remember that you were studying and had a little girl when we last heard from you.

With regards to Ruth, she has never posted since the group took on this new format. I've wondered about her for a long time now. Last I heard she was unable to use the computer because she was in a great deal of pain and was awaiting a dual kidney/liver transplant. I'm facing the same thing myself, with my enormous polycystic liver and diminishing kidney function so appreciated that she shared her wealth of knowledge and experience. She always tried to help if she could.
How are you these days?

Thanks for the update.

I actually have three daughters now, haha. 6y, 3.5y, and 2y next month.

I got divorced last year; he turned out to have abused our kids and my half sister who is also 6y. He confessed to the charges regarding my oldest, but for some reason chose a jury trial over a plea, so that will take place in the fall. We have a protection order and he doesn't bother us, so we're safe.

In happier news, I'm involved in a developing relationship with someone who really treats us well and loves us. We're taking things slow for everyone's sake. The kids adore him. I actually wouldn't have even had him meet them yet except that we became friends at church and the rest just gradually evolved, so the kids had met him as, literally, my friend. It works out well though because we all get to know each other simultaneously.

Nothing new with my kidneys. They're still doing kidney stuff. So, no symptoms of anything so far.

I hope the family things are still going good. I remember Ruth from the old chatroomand wondered
what happen. Take care, lenin751

I still feel frustrated that this new format cost us most of our members...or so it seems in my mind…so many people who were regulars on here that we never see anymore.

It has been disappointing to lose members. I wonder whether they might have drifted away anyway, or just hate this format so much that they don't want to engage with it. I'm still missing things like personal messages because they're not very prominent and it's far more difficult to navigate than the old site.

MsFur08,
You've been through a lot but it sounds likes things are better for you now. Life can certainly throw some stuff at us. Long may your good kidney health continue.

Chewitt yes I guess the aimoo.com chat did not work out ? I miss
the live chat with the rooms and hearing how everyone is dong.
of course it have been years. maybe people are on facebook now ?
take care.

Thanks everyone. I emailed her as well, but haven't gotten a reply. I hope she's okay.

Also not a fan of the new format. I thought I had the wrong website at first, but thankfully it had saved my log in info from last time I logged in a long time ago (I don't even know how it did that).

I haven't found her on Facebook either. :/

I joined years ago but haven't been active for quite awhile, for all the usual reasons. But now my neph wants me to consider transplant work up, so I'm back, seeking info and support. I am trying to learn the new website. Ruth was awesome and I hope she still is.

Hi LHanley,
Good to hear from you. I'm moving towards the transplant discussions, too, so we'll see how it goes. What are your thoughts? I'm finding the prospect of a dual transplant very daunting.

I remember Ruth (Ihavepkd) from many years ago. I actually met her while in DC. Once the MSN group was dissolved, I too lost track of the group and its members. I'm guessing/hoping this is the remains of Bridget's group? I've been looking for you all for quite a while !!

Glad you found us GiggNY. I’ve been here for years and we heard from Ruth last year. She was recovering from her combined liver/kidney transplant. Hopefully she’s doing well.

Hi, I’m here. It’s been an eventful few years. The liver and kidney transplant in April 2017 was a challenge. My donor was young, and the organs were in fabulous condition. The liver has worked like a charm from the moment it was put in. The kidney kicked in right away too, but alas it suffered from torsion 11 months to the day (did a 360 and cut off its blood supply; turns out it was left free floating in my abdomen, not anchored to anything). So I ended up doing 19 months of hemodialysis until my husband was cleared to donate a kidney in October 2019 and in addition to the transplant I had a bilateral native nephrectomy (all the pain is now gone) and an unexpected appendectomy as my right kidney was fused to my appendix! The surgeon also did a little rerouting of the bowel on the right side so it wouldn’t be near the kidney, so I’m doing great! My creatinine has been steady for a year at 0.9 mg/do and my GFR is nearly 70! I finally have my life back...minus the pandemic! At least I can drive again!

I hope everyone is doing well and I’ll try to be better about keeping in touch. Gentle hugs to all!!

Hi Ruth!

I’m so happy to hear from you and to hear you are doing well now!!

~Alona