Meredith

Hi, I'm Meredith! I'm here to tell you a little bit about how my last year has gone and to show you some things that could be helpful in my situation. We are still waiting on a decision from disability regarding my case. I know everyone says "I hate to ask for help" and all that but I truly do hate it and I really appreciate you being here and reading this. I had a rare kidney disease called Nutcracker Syndrome. It is extremely painful and the symptoms were relentless. I would describe the pain as if I had the flu and a UTI while my kidney was in a car compactor. 24/7. In June of 2025, I had a renal autotransplant in order to treat the Nutcracker. My kidney was taken out of my body, treated, and then implanted into my pelvis. After what seemed to be a great recovery, a few weeks later I ended up back in the hospital with surgical complications. Since then, it's been a never ending nightmare. I'll spare y'all the nitty gritty medical details, but all of these complications have caused 9 hospitalizations in 9 months, 5 minor surgeries, and 2 major surgeries. I've failed stents and I now live every day with a nephrostomy bag (my kidney drains into a bag outside of my body). Last week, the surgeons revised the area of a surgical connection that we suspect was causing all of the trouble. We are hopeful that this operation, if successful, will get me out of the woods! I'm supposed to rest and let the kidney kind of have a vacation (lol) before we do some other stuff to see if it's ready to function on its own. So, I'm couch and bed bound for a month, very exciting stuff. My goals are literally "rest" and "gain weight" right now. It was another big surgery and I have incisions on my abdomen, ureter, bladder, and a muscle called the psoas. Not to mention all the soreness from the internal work! I feel like the Frankenstein monster! It's been a rough recovery. I'll be honest, I cry every day. It's been super difficult to get pain under control. I'm starting to get nervous about the pile of medical bills that just gets taller every day too. But I am trying to stay hopeful that this is just a recovery phase and I will be good as new soon! I gotta be ready for the Mets season! Obviously not everything on this list is "necessary", but if I added it here, I thought it could be beneficial in other aspects of healing or to provide variety during prescribed downtime. Anyway, that's my novel even though I said I would write "a little bit". I'm sorry!! Thank you so much for reading and I appreciate all the love and support from the bottom of my heart!