The first three days of 2023 could have been better for me. I needed dialysis because my last session in 2022 was on Friday, 30th December. Yesterday, on 3rd January, I got the dialysis session that should have been on Monday, 2nd January. Not quite a whole day late, but it was still late, and boy, did I need it.

Today, I am heading for my dialysis session at my usual time, so I will catch a train at about 10:16 and then walk to McDonald’s in Port Laoise to get some breakfast (a treat before dialysis) and then walk up the hill to the dialysis unit.

I am already sure I will be in a better mood today than yesterday. I know this because yesterday’s mood was about as low as I had been for some time. I was questioning the point of dialysis and wondering if it was time to stop the treatment and let nature take its course. A friend that I had said this to told me:

Dialysis, medical intervention, health, prolonging of life, managing quality of life etc – all of these things ARE nature taking its course.

So to him, thank you. And thank you to my husband, Andrew, for getting the bear pictured right. He’s called Liam and is my dialysis support bear. He was well and truly cuddled yesterday. I am sure he will be again today.

Today is the next day of the year, and so far this year, I am back to taking baby steps, taking one day at a time.

Originally posted at https://cohost.org/hivblogger/post/780276-day-4-of-2023-hope/.