2008 KidneyTimes.com Annual Essay Contest!
Theme: "Funding a Dream: Giving Back"
Imagine that you go to your mailbox one morning
and inside you find a check for $100,000!
How would YOU spend it to benefit the kidney community?
(Read the Contest Rules)
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Beads of Life
It took a medical crisis to turn my life around and help me find the work I was supposed to be doing. I call myself a beadsmith, meaning beads are the focus of my work. As an artist, I've worked in many creative medias over the years-- photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, quilting and soft sculpture. Each was a new learning process and each one helped to hone my design skills and sense of color in order to ultimately design and create jewelry.
Essay Winners Spend Day Shadowing Transplant Surgeon and Learning About Dialysis
Five southern California high school students became “transplant surgeons” for the day on Thursday, April 24, at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange in conjunction with National Donate Life Month and National Take Your Child to Work Day.
Pet Therapy: Wagging Tails Come to You
Not only is a warm fuzzy face or a wagging tail a friendly distraction, but spending time with therapy animals can actually have physical benefits as well. Studies have shown that interacting with animals can lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety and stress, and generally calm a person. As a dog, cat, or other animal offers loving and empathetic support, it also helps aid healing.
A Healing Presence: Howard Netter, MD
My father, Howard Netter, M.D., spent much of his life welcoming new people into this world. His work as an obstetrician-gynecologist perfectly melded his love for medicine with his absolute respect and joy for humanity. I recently returned to my hometown of Albany, New York to practice holistic medicine and energy healing. After speaking with streams of my father’s precious patients I realized that this wonderful clinician and surgeon was, in fact, always practicing holistic medicine as well! He truly cared for every patient’s mind, body, and spirit. He offered precisely what each patient needed to feel: supported, nurtured, and respected...When faced with deteriorating renal function and health challenges due to Polycystic Kidney Disease, he practiced what he believed: You must actively participate in your own health care process.
The Miracle Continues
Throughout history the word heroism refers to people that, in the face of danger and adversity; or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice, for some greater good. Patrice Smith, a total stranger, donated a kidney to our 21-year-old daughter, liberating her after 3 years on dialysis. With pure altruism, Patrice contacted our family, persevered through the evaluation process, traveled across the US and gave a beautiful gift of love and life – giving Jenna the chance to pursue her dreams, and live the life of a normal young woman.
I Want More Dialysis...Please!
Many of my current dialysis patients as well as others around the United States are asking for more dialysis. They want to feel better and “get their lives back.” Allowing them to perform their own dialysis in the home setting and receive more total hours of dialysis is empowering. Patients have shared with me and I have witnessed how much better their lives can be when they receive the optimal amount of dialysis. So are you receiving optimal dialysis, or just adequate dialysis? This is a hot topic right now in the corporate kidney world, and should be among dialysis patients as well.
Getting Off to the 'RightStart'
When she first started dialysis treatments, Maurita felt like there was a black cloud over her head. That’s until she started the RightStart Program, an educational plan being tried in some clinics that helps patients starting dialysis better understand their dialysis treatment. Once she finished the program, she actually started looking forward to going to her treatments because she understood that they were helping her lengthen her life, to continue being with her family. Now, she even provides encouragement to other new patients. She says she hasn’t felt this good in a long time.
Resources for Living a Healthier Life With Kidney Disease
Do you want to live a healthier life, but don’t know where to begin? Would you like to improve your diet, increase your activity level, or just instill healthier habits? Here are a few Internet resources to help you get started. Consult with your physician and/or dietitian before starting any weight loss or exercise routine, however.
Medication Reconciliation: A Practical Guide For Dialysis and Transplant Patients
We’ve all heard the stories about people who were given the wrong medication or the wrong dose of medication in the hospital. These stories often have devastating outcomes, and people become scared of the care that is being provided by healthcare workers.
Fast Food Facts
Quick-service restaurants provide us with a quick, easy, inexpensive bite when we’re pressed for time.
If you are a regular through the drive-up window or frequently dine in at fast food restaurants, keep these tips in mind:
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| Weekly Quote
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"We all have burdens to bear either seen or unseen, but if we smile we are assured that others will smile back and make life all that more worth living."
-Kelly Rich, Utah
Excerpt from RSN's 2007 Essay Contest
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