And now, explanation.
Rho usually goes to the dialysis clinic once a month for blood tests and a general checkup. Yesterday, she went for her results (everything's looking good, except her phosphorus levels are a bit high), and she happened to ask her doctor just what exactly her condition is.
Yes, Nic, they are two conditions: Rho has
Reflux nephropathy which has caused
Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis in both her kidneys (Rho's doc has crappy handwriting...big surprise, eh?
). The first part is a condition she has apparently had since birth, which led to a manifestation of the latter around last March or so (and was diagnosed last June).
We both had heard the terms before, but didn't give them a whole lot of thought. The main train of thought that ran through our minds was "kidney failure...dialysis...will need new kidney one of these days...fuck..."
So, when we actually saw the conditions written out, we both got a laugh out of them. Yes, they are incredibly serious conditions...but we try to lighten things up whenever possible.