For this assignment, I chose the first option of doing an interview of a woman with a

chronic illness because my mother, whom I have a wonderful relationship with has chronic

kidney disease stage III as well as medullary sponge kidney but for this assignment I will be

focusing on chronic kidney disease. I wanted to raise awareness about this and share with others

how it can impact one’s daily life. For the sake of this assignment and protecting her identity, I

will be using the pseudo name Suzanne. She was diagnosed around 2013 and has been receiving

treatment ever since. She currently sees a nephrologist who checks her creatinine and glomerular

filtration levels every year. She was getting those levels checked every 3 months when she was

first diagnosed, but as she is still doing well, he has increased the time between visits. She has

had kidney stones for a month now and recently had surgery to have the two 4mm stones

removed from her right kidney and have a stent placed. After she completes her recovery from

the first surgery, she will have another one done on her left side.

She feels defeated. Having a master’s degree yet so often not being able to work. She

stated” I can’t let this illness define who I am.” She often feels like she holds her family back

from doing things they would enjoy because of her pain; however, she is strong and often pushes

through because her desire in life is to please God, her husband, and her children.

First and foremost, this illness ebbs and flows. Many individuals think of kidney stones

as being rushed to the hospital having it removed and returning back to work. Unfortunately, this

is not the life she lives. As someone who lives with chronic kidney stones her pain is sometimes

unbearable other times, she may be fine and working or spending time with her family with no

problem. What most people don’t know is she constantly has stones and her pain begins as the

stones move throughout her urinary tract.

 She has two Physicians that she sees on a regular basis that help her regulate the amount

and size of the stones that are present in her kidneys. She sees a Urologist, he is the one he turns

to when a kidney stone is moving or causing pain. She also sees a Nephrologist to help maintain

the nutrients in her system. Her interaction with him is often medication or other changes she

may need to make. Her last visit he increased her intake of water to 100 oz. per day.

When asked what the disease has given her, she smiled and said,” hopefully it has given

me a testimony that God can help me through all things.” Yet when ask what it has taken from

her, she had to pause, and her answer surprised me, she stated “the only thing it has take from me

is time and what is time but a fleeting moment.” (Mahan, 2018).

“Trying to answer what it is like to be a woman living with the disease is difficult some

days I don’t realize I have it and I just continue my day.” (Mahan, 2018). She doesn’t feel like

being a female or male makes a difference, pain doesn’t choose by gender.

She feels like her age affects her just because she has other pains she deals with as well.

She feels that she her disease is invisible unless she opens up to someone to explain her pain, her

life, and her experiences no one would ever know.

I questioned her about the medical community and what it does well and what are some

things that need to change or improve about care. Her thoughts were varied, in some ways her

quiet disease makes life easier without so many questions; however, when she is in the middle of

a kidney crisis trying to get employers and co-workers to understand is often difficult. This is

why she works the way she does.

When I spoke with Suzanne about what I learned from my medical fact sheet (I used one

from the CDC since it wasn’t on the WHO’s), I chose to discuss with her about the use of
NSAIDS and that those can worsen CKD (CDC Fact Sheet, 2017). When asked her reaction she

told me that she thought it was important to know this information because some doctors aren’t

aware of this and may prescribe these, so knowing this information she can now advocate for

herself to prevent further harm to her kidneys. She wanted to teach me that it has an ebb and flow

and that so many people will think that it will just recover quickly and move on and in reality,

sometimes you can feel better for a day or two and back in pain the next day. she thought this

was important to teach me since I have already had a kidney stone of my own (2 actually) and

she wants to prepare me for the future and what I may deal with if I continue to have kidney

stones.
 References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Chronic Kidney Disease Fact Sheet, 2017.

Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention; 2017.

Mahan, S. (2018, November 08). Chronic Kidney Disease [Personal interview].