You know, when I first found out I needed dialysis treatments, I thought about a lot of things… but I never thought about paying for parking!

Yes, I wondered if dialysis would be painful. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to do so many of the things I love to do. I knew I’d probably have low energy, and that my wife and I would have to live our lives around dialysis appointments.

But I certainly didn’t think about all those extra expenses that would come with going to a hospital an hour’s drive away for treatments several times a week. The extra gas, the parking (which is not cheap!), the special protein drinks just to get some energy into my exhausted body. I can tell you those things really add up, especially when you can’t work and you’re really just trying to survive.

My journey with kidney disease began when a test indicated there was protein in my urine. At first my doctor thought it was minimal change disease. With minimal change disease, there’s no risk of kidney failure, so I felt like everything would be okay as long as I ate healthier. And it was, for a while. I managed fairly well through a healthy diet of reduced meat and sodium, along with increased fruits and veggies.

But then a few years later the protein started to increase. My doctor said I’d need a biopsy—which determined that I actually had focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Not good news. That meant it was pretty much a sure thing I’d end up with kidney failure and ongoing dialysis treatments … it was just a matter of how long.

Doctors thought I’d have a couple of years before I needed dialysis. So, my wife and I seized the moment and did some travelling while we could! We had no idea what our lives would be like once I started dialysis but knew I probably wouldn’t be able to travel much.

I’m so glad we took that time, because not six months later I started peritoneal dialysis, hoping that would be enough. But it wasn’t. I switched over to hemodialysis in hospital and later accessed government support to equip my house so that I could do daily hemodialysis from home.

Eventually I had to return to the hospital for dialysis treatments. At one point, I was doing more than five treatments in hospital a week, travelling an hour each way and sitting in hospital for three to four hours each time.

I’d get up in the morning, go for dialysis, come home and eat some lunch. Then I’d go to sleep until supper. After supper, I’d get up and interact for awhile, then go back to bed. It was hard to work, travel, visit friends or family… or pretty much do anything except my dialysis treatments.

Life continued on like that for four long years, before my cousin—my hero! —came along and donated his kidney.

I’ve been living healthfully with my donated kidney since October 2011. I’m so glad to be done with dialysis, at least for now!

I’ll be forever grateful to my cousin, for saving my life.