Yes, we are all living in the middle of three movies right now. Between a virus, BLM and a Tweet-happy President, my mind is spinning. I’m glad to be sheltering in a quiet spot of Oakland that backs up to the East Bay Regional Park. These trails where I run keep me calm and centered.
Did I say run? Yes, pre-pandemic me would not recognize quarantine me. But here I am, running because I now have no excuse and because I better get serious about my osteoporosis. I also committed myself to a 31-day walk/run fundraiser challenge for the month of July.
My kidney donor Superman and I decided that in gratitude for our good health, and in response to the coronavirus burden on kidney patents, we would raise support for the National Kidney Foundation. As a multi-organ disease, COVID is sadly damaging many kidneys in the process. If you are able to give, here’s our Team Fundraising page.
You can also watch our step progress on the StrideKick app. I’m “kidney_bristow” in second place. Superman Skip is heroically trekking along despite a hurt toe. Superwife (aka “laureend”) is smoking us all at 92%.
Marty and I are working full time in our offices at home. I occasionally see him in the lunch room. He’s also the mail guy who brings me my magazines. And there’s some teenager in another room. We’re not sure what he does all day. Management should really reassign him to the mail room.
Work has nice perks. I’ve set up a bird feeder and watch the finches and orioles outside my window. At 5:30pm daily, a turkey family comes to visit. And every day is Bring Your Dog to Work Day.
By the way, that teenager has now graduated high school! He’s off to college in September. Though classes are virtual, he’ll live in the dorms and hopefully be able to safely play lots of spike ball and ultimate frisbee. I am SO excited for his new adventures!
Last month, I signed up for a cook-along demonstration with chef Phillip Franklin Lee as part of a charity fundraiser, and it was so much FUN!
We’ve all gotten into cooking a lot and now making our own pasta including Ramen noodles.
So that’s a glimpse of what’s going on here. I hope you are all staying safe and healthy. Please share some quarantine activity ideas with us!
Hello Kidney! 
Good day Doris
Found your blog while trying to find out more about PD. I can’t find any blog you had written before your surgery and after for PD. Can I kindly check if you can even recall how it feels to have a catheter inside your abdomen? Is it painful and uncomfortable? Trying to find out more for my dad who is getting weak from CKD. Looking forward to hearing from you.
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Hi Sharon! So sorry I did not see your comment before!… I do have some blog posts about my PD experience. If you look on the left hand side of the page you’ll see a list of all the past posts I wrote. There are some about dialysis. Or you can type “dialysis” in the search box. … Having the catheter inside was for the most part not uncomfortable at all. I got used to it and barely noticed it was there. The first month was a bit rough getting used to having so much fluid inside me. But my nurse adjusted my prescription so it was more comfortable. Once in a while I felt some cramping but repositioning helped. On the other hand starting dialysis chased away a lot of my other symptoms – nausea, itchiness, lack of appetite. So dialysis made me feel better than before because it does some of the work that healthy kidneys do. …. you’ll find a lot more info in the blog posts. Let me know if you have more questions. Did your dad start PD already?
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Love your blogs, Doris! Congrats on Kyle going to Cal Poly! My daughter, Kat, graduated from the architecture program at CalPoly and loved it there!
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I remember your daughter went there! We’ve always loved the campus and energy. Kyle can’t wait to be there!
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Carry on Spiritual warrior!! Abundance of inspiration!! Love you all and sending Light , happy happy joy joy caring for our inner temple!!💜🌻🙏
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Thank you Toni!! Lots of love to you!! 💕
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Hi Doris-Thank you, thank you!!! I so enjoy your notes….congrats to your son. My daughter, Lara, still says that her O’Dowd education was the finest!!! Great blessings for each of you! Betty
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I forgot that Lara went to O’Dowd! We have the best memories of Kyle’s four years there. Love you Betty! ❤️
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