“I got a virus that was an infant’s disease when I was in the ninth grade. It’s called Henoch-Schonlein purpura. Basically from the waist down, I broke out in black and blue and couldn’t walk, and I had blood in my urine.
“By the time they started figuring out what it was, I was getting better again. As time went on, it would go in remission and I wouldn’t have any problems at all. Then it would come back. I got sick after the birth of my daughter. I did a biopsy to see if I could have another child, and I got better after the birth of my son.
“But IGA nephropathy is what they said I had. In my eyes, had I been more aware how my blood pressure played a role, I probably could have saved my kidney a little longer. But I didn’t understand how crucial it was when my blood pressure went up. I thought I had migraines. I was throwing up and couldn’t take the light. It was all the symptoms they talk about for migraines.
“Since my blood pressure was so consistent, I didn’t check it. That was a big mistake. My kidneys got worse, my blood pressure went higher, and the higher my blood pressure went the worse my kidneys got. I probably took it down faster than I needed to, which you hate to look at in hindsight.
“My kidney doctor said I was a medical miracle that I didn’t go on dialysis 10-15 years ago. He worked with me and allowed me to keep my normal life. When I finally went on dialysis, he let me go on twice a week because I could still urinate.
“I was able to work out a schedule with my work. I was able to keep my job. I just took off Tuesday afternoons and Saturdays to do dialysis. As rough as that was, there are so many out there on dialysis who have it so much harder.
“I was on dialysis for two and a half years. Like anybody, I probably could have stayed on dialysis until I got a kidney or passed away. I think I was close to going on dialysis three days a week, which would have been a real crusher. I want to work, not sit at the house.
“UAB is always where I felt I needed to be. We have other programs in Florida, but this, to me, was the place I needed to be to get this awesome result.”
Nancy Roesle - 18
"UAB is always where I felt I needed to be.... This, to me, was the place I needed to be to get these awesome results."