The Kidney Boy - Back on Dialysis

07/21/2025

Just some more writing from me; a middle of the night mind dribble about small beautiful moments.

I’m 14 years old. I’ve been playing guitar for a few years, but I was struggling to get better. I played my guitar any chance I could get, ...

07/09/2025

I posted an update about a recent milestone - two years of being back on dialysis. You can read more at the link in the first comment. Thanks for sticking with me.

05/14/2025

Hey, I post updates and such on my ever going gofundme so you can check them all out here

Thanks so much for considering donating to this campaign. Steve is a great guy and he'… Shawn Mills needs your support for Help with Steve's kidney transplant

04/02/2025

So yesterday I got an epidural & steroid injection in my spine to help relieve pain & pressure along my very herniated L4-L5-S1. It had gotten really really bad to the point where I was using a walker for a while, and even had to be wheeled into Dialysis in a wheelchair because it was both so painful to walk and I was so anemic that I was exhausted taking a few steps. So I was rather excited to have this procedure done, and to see what kind of results it would give me. I may still need surgery in the future, but for now I wanted to see what this would do. I have had it done in the past with varying degrees of success ranging from very helpful to not so much. It all seems to depend on where the doctor decides to place the needle and we had a good conversation beforehand about where we should do it this time and I think that we chose a good spot. It seemed to go very well and even with sedation, man, did I feel it when the needles went in. But after that initial minor discomfort, I have slowly started to feel better over the course of the last day. I didn’t sleep very well last night, but that is to be expected after an injection like that. However, I did notice that all the times I got up and down and walked through my house in the middle of the night, I was already walking better and significantly less pain than I have been. So I am looking forward to seeing my progress over the next week and maybe I could actually get back to being able to walk like a somewhat normal human being. Right now walking anywhere leaves me a tremendous amount of pain, and you grit your teeth & bear it, but it is nice at the moment not have so much pain. I’m actually looking forward to walking into Dialysis today. I’m using a cane for balance because nobody wants this gigantic body of mine falling anywhere but baby steps towards a more normal life. Whatever that means.

09/15/2024

This is so on the money.

Anyone else besides me?

08/12/2024

Trying to relax at dialysis.

07/05/2024

Trying to post regular updates on my GoFundMe - thanks to everyone who takes a look, and has supported me in a million ways over the years.

Thanks so much for considering donating to this campaign. Steve is a great guy and he'… Shawn Mills needs your support for Help with Steve's kidney transplant

06/24/2024

There is apparently some real progress in regeneration of kidney tissue; if this holds true, this could be amazing for people like me - peoples whose kidney filtration tissues has died beyond regenerative capacity. I couldn’t imagine a world where I could get treatment like this and actually be cured. Seems like a dream but it might happen sooner than we think.

Explore this post and more from the kidneydisease community

04/24/2024

Gonna be real here, dialysis is really hard on me. It’s definitely more difficult to do this now as a 45 year old than it was in my 20s/30s, especially being a Dad to two kids. I’m trying to navigate both the financial hole this has put me in and straightening out things between insurance and Medicare. It’s a lot of paperwork and dealing with people at a time when my head/brain is often foggy and I don’t feel as sharp as I normally do. Trying to manage my life and be the best Dad I can is my primary concern, and frankly it’s hard. You don’t want to be less than for your family but unfortunately I just don’t have as much to give as I’d like. I get a lot of help from my family, but I hate being a burden to others and relying on others to assist me. I like to be the one who helps others and, man, I’m severely limited by that at this time in my life. So I’m trying to sort finances, insurance and now I’m trying to focus on possibly getting another transplant. I really want one - but I’m scared. Scared of it not working again. Scared of all the work I’ll have to go through setting up a new practice with it in Rochester, all the tests I’ll have to go through yet again. It’s intense. But I want it. I want the freedom of it. It’s hard having to do treatment basically every other day in a center. I can not miss treatments if I don’t feel like it, there’s no break or vacation from it, and it’s physically and emotionally draining. I miss both not feeling better on a day to day basis and being as stable as I can be - I miss being available for my family & friends. It’s going to be a lot of work to get another transplant but I want it. I feel like I talk about this a lot but this is my life now. I’ve got SO many tough hills to climb from here so thank you for your support. Love & friendship are the most important things to me, and this has only come more into sharp focus as the years have passed. Thank you.

04/13/2024

I fell asleep watching a movie earlier tonight, and woke up with a start not too long ago. I was dreaming that my Transplant still worked & life was relatively normal. I don’t know if I have properly expressed how devastating it is to watch an organ transplant slowly degenerate. I think because you just have to keep pushing on in life, because I have so many other obligations, I may not really have given time & space to process & mourn the loss. It’s the death of hope and any sense of normalcy… and I’m incredibly sad about it on top of everything else.

03/20/2024

Hey, this is on sale now, and a small portion of proceeds goes to me.

Help get my husband a new kidney. Buy this shirt. Help us get him a new kidney - proceeds will help pay medical bills for his dialysis and future transplant.

01/09/2024

Here’s a little update on my new kidney transplant and Dialysis journey… going into 2024, and seeing what this year will bring! You can check out the update here. Thank you very much.

Thanks so much for considering donating to this campaign. Steve is a great guy and he… Shawn Mills needs your support for Help with Steve's kidney transplant