When I was 18 years old, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This is going to be an odd follow-up sentence, but I was lucky.
I was attending a university (Penn) that had one of the best psychiatric units in the country.
My professors and resident advisors knew how to respond to maximize the chance that I got help.
My diagnosis was very clear.
I responded well to treatment with lithium and have been able to lead a life without significant interference from having bipolar disorder due to finding the right medication quickly.
Despite that diagnosis, I have been able to meet many of my goals. After taking a year off from college, I went back and finished my Bachelor's degree in Physics. I got to work with some amazing teams at Florida State during my time in graduate school there. I was unable to finish my Ph.D. at that time, but applied to USC in 2004 and was able to finish my doctoral degree in Physics -- concentrating on questions in Cosmology -- in 2010. I was hired as a tenure-track professor at Cerritos College in 2009, and I have been working with students to help them better understand physics and astronomy for 14 years.
I was not about to jeopardize my mental health when I found a treatment that worked, so I stayed on lithium for 20 years. One of the possible side effects of taking lithium is CKD.
The first signs of kidney damage appeared when I was in graduate school at USC. After getting hired by Cerritos, I was able to switch my medication to one that doesn't affect the kidneys. Regular appointments and testing showed a slow decline in my kidney function. Then, 13 years after the first signs of Stage 3 CKD, I began evaluation for a transplant. I was listed for transplant in February 2022.
Aside from the medical necessity due to damage to my original pair, I'm not sure. There are about 100,000 patients waiting for a transplant. If you know someone else who is waiting, look into being their donor. I hope I can find someone to help me, but I will be glad if people reading this decide to help anyone in this situation. Even if you can't donate, maybe you can help support someone who can. Living donors need care for about 2-4 weeks after their surgery, so if you could act as caretaker for a donor, that would be awesome, too! People stay silent about these issues and can suffer as a result. If someone brings up that they are dealing with CKD -- or any other chronic illness -- ask if they want help and how you can help them.
I would prefer not to put my body through dialysis. I've made changes to my diet and exercise routines to try to give myself more time before that becomes necessary. Dialysis can be very hard on the body, and outcomes are better from a transplant than they are from long-term dialysis treatment.