the Signs
I Missed the Signs
For years, my body was sending messages I refused to hear. Fatigue that I called laziness. Swelling I blamed on travel. A diagnosis I thought was manageable — until it wasn't. This is that story.
The book I wish had existed when I needed it most
Nobody tells you what kidney disease actually feels like from the inside. The medical community gives you lab numbers. Family gives you worry. The internet gives you worst-case statistics. What I needed was a real person telling me what it felt like to walk through it — day by day, decision by decision — and what happens when you wait too long to take it seriously.
I was that person who minimized, rationalized, and delayed. I was the one who thought "I'll deal with it after this trip" and "it's probably just stress." The signs were there for years. I missed them — or more accurately, I chose not to see them. That cost me in ways I am still accounting for today, sitting in a dialysis chair three days a week.
I wrote this so you wouldn't have to find out the hard way. Whether you've just been diagnosed with CKD, or you're watching someone you love ignore symptoms that concern you, this book is the conversation I wish someone had forced me to have earlier.
If you recognize yourself here, this is your book
A passage from Chapter 1
The doctor said my creatinine was elevated. I heard the word "elevated" and nodded like I understood what that meant. I didn't ask what creatinine was. I didn't ask what elevated meant for someone my age. I didn't ask what the next step was.
I smiled, said thank you, and made a mental note to look it up later. I never looked it up. I had a flight to catch.
That was 2019. By 2022 I was on dialysis.
Recommended reading order
Written from the inside
Michael Moore was diagnosed with Stage 5 Chronic Kidney Disease after years of ignoring the warning signs. He has been on dialysis three days a week for over six years — Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, four hours each session. He is on the national kidney transplant waitlist.
This book was not written by a doctor. It was written by a patient who lived it — who missed every sign, paid the price, and decided the experience was worth putting on paper so others don't have to learn the hard way.
I Missed the Signs is Michael's first published book. It is available now on Amazon in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover.
Kindle $9.99 (ASIN B0GR1ZC6X2) · Paperback $14.99 (ASIN B0HBN4PYH7) · Hardcover $21.00 (ASIN B0HC2R7GN1)
Ready to read it?
Available now on Amazon in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover. Your story doesn't have to look like mine — but reading this one might help you write a better ending to yours.
Get the Paperback — $14.99 → Kindle — $9.99 → Hardcover — $21.00 →