So toward the end of September of 2023, I had these terrible stomach pains. I wasn’t sure what was going on. I thought it was hunger, but it wasn’t. I thought I had to use the restroom but that wasn’t it either. No matter what I did, the pain wouldn’t go away and it got progressively worse throughout the day. It finally got to the point that I said something is really wrong and told my dad I need to go to the ED. We ended up going to WakeMed here in Cary. As I was in the triage waiting to be seen, the pain just got worse and worse. Finally when the doctor came to see me, he saw the level of pain I was in and administered morphine. It was an instant relief.

We weren’t sure what was the cause of the pain but at this point they had admitted me into the hospital and I was awaiting the results. After numerous tests, they had determined I had pancreatitis. They checked my gallbladder and it was fine and I don’t drink alcohol, so the doctors were a bit baffled as to the cause of the pancreatitis. After reviewing my medical history, they realized I was on Ozempic for my diabetes and determined that it was the root cause of the pancreatitis. Pancreatitis is a known side effect of Ozempic and it was my luck to get it.

While in the hospital, they did blood panels every day. It was then that my doctors noticed that my creatinine levels were off and called a nephrologist for a consult. Dr. Sheliya joined my care team and kept a strict eye on the levels. Because the levels wouldn’t trend down, I ended up staying in the hospital for a week. Finally, once the creatinine level dropped ever so slightly, they discharged me, with the instructions to continue following up with Dr. Sheliya.

From this point, onward, we monitored my creatinine levels and I continued to follow up with Dr. Sheliya. While we were hopeful that the pancreatitis was the root cause of the spiked creatinine levels, we soon learned that it wasn’t. Dr. Sheliya unfortunately dropped the bomb that it appeared my kidneys seem to be failing and I would need to get on dialysis. It didn’t appear to be an urgent need at first but around March of 2024, that was when things changed.

On THE day when everything changed, I had 3 appointments scheduled. The first was with my podiatrist. I went there and was quite winded, but didn’t think anything of it. My second appointment was with Fresenius Kidney Care to learn about dialysis and the different types. It was just a simple educational meeting which my parents had joined me. When I got there, I was really winded and having trouble catching my breath. The coordinator noticed it and was very concerned. Not to my knowledge, she called Dr. Sheliya and informed him. My third appointment happened to be with Dr. Sheliya. By the time I got to his office, I was having a lot of trouble breathing and when they took my blood pressure, it was sky high. It was actually so high that Dr. Sheliya took my blood pressure manually and it showed even worse than the machine. Right away, he sent me to the ED and contacted them to have them immediately admit me into the hospital.

It was this visit to the hospital that changed everything. A chest x-ray revealed that I had fluid in my lungs, which was the reason for the shortness of breath and trouble breathing. With several rounds of diuretics over a few days, they were able get the fluids out. I had genuinely thought this was it for me. Not being able to breathe properly was truly scary. I felt like I just couldn’t catch my breath and was almost hyperventilating. I was so grateful when the diuretics worked.

While I was recovering, Dr. Sheliya came every single day to check on me, even Sunday. When I tell you how grateful I am for this man, there aren’t words that can truly express my gratitude toward him. After he saw that I was getting better, he suggested that I consider getting the catheter surgery done so I could start peritoneal dialysis. Since I was already in the hospital, I had decided to get it done right then and there. He called in a favor with one of the surgeons and had the surgery done that Monday.

I was discharged about two days after the surgery and just about a week later, I began peritoneal dialysis with the Fresenius team. Normally they’d wait about 2-3 weeks post-catheter surgery to start dialysis, but with me, there was an immediate need to start. After a week of training, I was doing manual exchanges and after two weeks, I was working with the cycler (machine) to do the overnight exchanges.

So that’s where we are now. Since the middle of March I have been on dialysis and doing my exchanges nightly. Each night, I sanitize my room and equipment, gather my dialysis supplies, setup the cycler and connect to the machine. The machine runs for 8.5 hours overnight and in the morning, when the treatment is over, I disconnect from the machine, clean up and go about my day. It’s not ideal, but it is what I have to do to survive, until I am able to get a transplant.