Anna Bridgeman, mother from Redbank Plains, luckily avoided death despite experiencing incredibly low kidney function, reported The Queensland Times. Anna had gone through much of her life without any serious problems and really showed only very minor symptoms until she turned 18-years-old. Any potential problems she experienced, she attibuted to her period. Yet, Anna was diagnosed in 2008 with kidney disease, which is much more common than people today realize.
Anna experienced very small symptoms prior to her diagnosis. A few times she had a UTI (urinary tract infection) and often felt tired. Yet, UTIs are common in general and essentially everybody gets tired. What could she compare it to?
Quickly, doctors learned she had a very specific form of the disease, she had horse shoe kidney — a rare disease that essentially fuses the kidneys together in a U-shaped manner. From this, doctors decided to operate by putting a stent in one of her kidneys to hopefully improve its function. Right after her surgery, she learned that she was pregnant and already 20 weeks in.
During her pregnancy, Anna was very close to end state renal failure. She was extremely lethargic and felt depressed. After Anna had both her children, she then decided to get her dysfunctional kidney removed and now, her kidneys are almost to 85% function.
It’s been a journey from Anna, but what she wants people to take away is that kidney failure happens more often than people think and sometimes can sneak up on you. She encourages people to take yearly blood tests, or, at very least, take an online test that can determine whether you’re at risk or not. It’s been reported that 1.7 million Australians are affected by kidney disease. Anna reiterates it’s not worth taking a risk, and tells everyone to get checked before it becomes too late. She escaped death and hopes others who are at risk can do it too.
