Renal failure, several bouts of peritonitis and comments from classmates didn’t stop Minnie Slaven from achieving her goal of living a normal and healthy lifestyle. Today, she is living on her own, holding a steady job and accepting her renal failure. Thirteen years ago, however she did not understand what was happening to her.

Minnie was born with small kidneys that never developed properly and at the age of 11 her kidneys failed.

“At that age, I did not know what it meant to have kidneys that did not work,” said Minnie. “My physician tried to explain it to me, but I did not understand it until I was older.”

Minnie was first placed on Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) where she was required to perform several exchanges a day. She would perform one exchange during school hours in the nurse’s office. Some of her classmates asked questions because she was always leaving the classroom. It was not until the junior high and high school levels however, that Minnie was affected by classmates as their questions turned into comments.

“I was having a lot of problems with CAPD because of peritonitis and received a transplant when I was in junior high school,” said Minnie. “The medication caused changes in my appearance and a few classmates would make comments about my weight gain. At that age you are concerned about your appearance and those comments really hurt.”

About three years later, Minnie lost her kidney and started hemodialysis. This happened when she was a sophomore in high school. She would dialyze three times a week in the morning and would arrive to school a few hours late.

“After dialysis treatments, I was really wiped out and I had to push myself to stay awake. Unfortunately, as a result my grades suffered. I was glad to graduate high school,” said Minnie.

After high school, Minnie attended a community college for a year, but did not go back because hemodialysis was placing a strain on her. Minnie was experiencing low blood pressure and her graft was frequently clotting. For the past year and a half, she has been performing peritoneal dialysis with the assistance of a cycler.

“I really like this form of treatment. Out of all the modalities, this one works best with my schedule. It does all of the work for me at night while I sleep and in the morning I disconnect and go to work,” said Minnie.

Minnie might have had some setbacks with her renal failure and her treatments, but she has not given up and continues to move forward. On a Saturday night, if you’re lucky, you might catch her having fun singing with the backup of a karaoke machine at a local Tampa club. She works at the ESRD Network of Florida and has been there for almost five years. She is interested in taking classes to advance her career and has started an exercise program to stay healthy. She is a typical 24 year old who is enjoying her life.

“Minnie is very ambitious, eager to learn and looks forward to work each day,” said Spero Moutsatsos, executive director of the ESRD Network of Florida. “She’s pleasant to be around and has a good sense of humor.”

“I have to admit that when I was in junior and high school, I did not have a positive attitude and that wasn’t helpful. Now I know it is important to talk about your feelings and to keep a positive attitude,” said Minnie. “If anyone is going through what I went through, just remember not to give up, strive for your goals and most importantly, like yourself for who you are. That will help to get you through the tough times.”

This article originally appeared in the Winter 1997 issue of aakpRENALIFE, Vol. 12, No. 3.