ABSTRACT
Nancy, a 31-year-old woman diagnosed as having chronic glomerulonephritis in 1975, typifies a course of renal disease and deterioration. The decrease in her kidney function had been gradual and subtle, but punctuated with complications and serious physical episodes. A kidney biopsy revealed the onset of an irreversible disease process, but for years she was essentially asymptomatic and made only quarterly clinic visits. Nancy states, she didn't seem sick, there was no daily reminder of a problem. In 1978, when a friend suggested she had a disease that could ultimately affect her life's goals, Nancy responded, she don want to think about it. She is normal. In 1983, a repeat biopsy indicated that her kidney function was reduced to 30 percent and her doctor observed, People now have to plan their life around this disease. At about the same time, she began hemorrhaging, a complication that precipitated a five-week nightmarish ordeal of bleeding, pain, and clotting.
