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Hurry Up and Wait

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 Hello! Welcome to my blog about living with kidney disease, and my hope is to find a transplant donor soon. It's been filled with ups and downs, and I'm just trying to hang on during this crazy ride.  Some Updates If you're all caught up to this point, you know that along with going to dialysis three times a week, I'm also dealing with several side effects of kidney disease. I've continued treatments for the spots and lesions around my ankles. It's still painful and annoying, but I've had some relief. As for my eye situation, unfortunately, not much has changed. I was told I need a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) so they can measure the pressure in my head to see if that's the cause of the swelling of my optic nerve. I was told I need it done ASAP and that the order would be sent in. Spoiler, it's been damn near 6 weeks and come to find out the doctor's office never submitted the authorization paperwork, so I am stuck waiting again. Yay, American H...
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Keep it Pushing

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 Hi friends! Thank you for coming back to read my blog about my journey with kidney disease and (hopefully) my transplant process. My name is Matt (or Matty) and the past few weeks have been a lot, so let me fill you in.  More Side Effects If you've read my previous entry, you heard about my biopsy on my ankle to get treatment. The biopsy came back inconclusive (because of course it fuckin did), but my dermatologist was confident it was his initial diagnosis. Essentially, I have a buildup of calcium in my blood vessels, leading to the red and purple dots. Some of these areas have flared up and caused lesions. It's very painful, but thankfully, treatments have started, which include an injection while I'm on dialysis. I've only had a couple of treatments thus far, but I'm hopeful it'll start to bring me some relief. In addition, I had an MRI recently to determine why my optic nerve may be swollen. This has caused a random blurry spot in my eye that comes and goes...
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The Waiting Game

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Quick Recap. Hello again! It's Matt Sotelo, sharing about my kidney journey. If you're caught up, you know I'm currently on dialysis as a result of Chronic Kidney Disease. I spent 21 days of December 2024 in the hospital until they could find me a space at an outpatient center. It was a hard experience to go through, and I'm still very much working on improving my physical and mental health from the experience. Luckily, I have folks like you in my corner sending positive vibes and prayers, along with thoughtful check-ins. I'm truly humbled and grateful.  Some Challenges. A few weeks ago, I had a minor case of shingles. Something I've always heard from docs, family, and friends is, "You're too young to be sick!" I think most people are just unsure of what to say. Hearing it doesn't help the situation, and it serves as a reminder to me that this shit sucks, but even more so because I appear as an outlier. Well, when I got diagnosed with shingles,...
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Asking for Help is Hard.

Hello! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Matt Sotelo. I’m a proud Arizonan and Sun Devil alumnus working in the nonprofit/community space. It’s been an amazing and rewarding experience for the past 15 years. I’m a proud military brat, as my parents served 20 years each in the United States Air Force. I wanted to create this blog to give friends, family, and strangers a glimpse into what I’m going through at the moment as a kidney patient. Please read on, and if I haven’t had the chance to tell you about my condition yet, I apologize. You’ll see it’s been quite the journey thus far.   Some Background. Like all of you, I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs throughout my 38 years of life. One event in particular impacted me than any other – the loss of my Mom due to a heart attack in 2011. She was only 55 years old, and I was 24. Being an only child and very much a “mama’s boy,” I was devastated. It absolutely fucked me up to be honest. I tried to cope responsibly and...
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