the ki ney citizen
My Journey with Fabry Disease and Kidney Disease
By Travis Kelleher
My mother had been diagnosed with Fabry disease before I was born so I was informed about the condition I had at a very early age . However , that was in the 1970 ’ s when information about Fabry was more difficult to find . I feel my childhood was pretty normal for the most part but did come with some obstacles . The first symptoms of Fabry that I noticed were fatigue , burning pain in my hands and feet and anhidrosis ( inability to sweat ). In grade school , I was picked on often because I could not play very long outside before the fatigue and pain got to be too much for me to handle . Often I lashed out at the “ world ” as I felt sorry for myself and wondered why I have this condition . As I learned more about the condition and how to cope with the symptoms , things started to get better . I went on trying to live as normal of a life as I could . When I was in my mid 20 ’ s my doctors started to notice my creatinine level begin to rise . Kidney failure is also a symptom
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