A Family Affair
The transplant doctor called a meeting for my whole family and told us that since I was AB positive, I was easy to match and they were all possible donors. So who would donate? The doctor helped us make a decision. My daughter was not the top choice because she might still have more children, so he suggested my oldest son, Robert, be tested and my other son, Michael, be the second choice.
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A Nephrologist as a Cancer Patient Finds Enlightenment in a Support Group
Lessons learned about health and illness came not from an extremely busy nephrology practice, but, for me, from becoming a sarcoma (cancer) patient. It started in my thigh but metastasized to my lungs. After intensive chemotherapy and two major chest surgeries, I had a new respect for health, and realized that the experience of battling malignancy paralleled that of being a kidney patient. In fact, my dialysis and transplant patients were my source of inspiration, and still are.
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A Peaceful Mission Silenced
Seventeen years ago, I met Joey--a man who changed my life forever. We became not only partners in life, but in advocacy for ourselves and others who, like ourselves, had to live an effective life while dodging disease and its complications and treatment. We also had to learn to remain positive about our life's journey, to love, learn, and do for others what we had to do for ourselves.
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A Roundup of Anti-Rejection Medications for the Kidney Transplant Patient
Your body's immune system protects you against foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses. The problem is that the immune system also recognizes the transplanted organ as a foreign invader and will try to reject it. For this reason, you will be prescribed anti-rejection drugs, also called immunosuppressive agents, in an attempt to dampen down your body's natural immune response.
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Celebrating 35 years and Counting (Podcast)
Are you old enough to remember Woodstock? Do you know what you were doing the week of Woodstock (assuming you weren't at the concert, that is)? A die-hard rock-n-roll fan, Charles Rosenberg remembers quite well. On KidneyTalk this week, Lori and Stephen visit with Charles, a living legend in the kidney community. In 1971 he received a cadaveric kidney transplant and has just celebrated his 35th anniversary. Listen in as Lori and Stephen discuss with Charles the ups, the downs, and the in-betweens on all the years of living with chronic kidney disease and transplantation. Lori also asks about an important piece of legislation regarding organ donation that has been enacted in New York thanks to Charles.
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Did You Know? Nobel Prize Laureate Joseph E. Murray, MD, Performed the First Successful Kidney Transplant
Nobel Prize Laureate Joseph E. Murray, MD, Performed the First Successful Kidney Transplant
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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.
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Eyewitness Account of Kidney Donation (Podcast)
Donating a kidney to a friend or family member is becoming more common. Listen to Phillip Palmer, weekday morning anchor for KABC7 Eyewitness News in Los Angeles and hear him describe his journey of what it was like to give the "gift of life" to his good friend Dale Wade Davis. Phillip describes how he made the decision to become a living donor and what inspired him to make this decision. Don't miss this extraordinary act of kindness!
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Finding Alternative Solutions for Organ Donation: A Patient's Perspective (Podcast)
On this week's show, Lori Hartwell and Stephen Furst speak with Sally Satel, MD--a psychiatrist, writer, and kidney transplant recipient--on the often controversial subject of organ donation. Dr. Satel ("Sally") added fuel to the debate over organ donation when an article she wrote appeared in a recent edition of "The New York Times." How do you feel about organ donation? Should the United States follow the lead of many European countries by adopting a policy of "presumed consent," whereby a person is automatically considered an organ donor upon his/her death (unless otherwise noted)? Should we offer financial incentives for organ donors or keep the act of donation strictly altruistic?
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Guiding the Future: Patient Involvement in UNOS
UNOS (pronounced you-nose) stands for United Network for Organ Sharing. It is a private, non-profit, membership organization. The UNOS headquarters is in Richmond, VA. For administrative purposes, UNOS has divided the country into 11 geographic regions and has a staff administrator for each.
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High Antibody Count - What To Do? (Podcast)
Howard Feinberg had a transplant that unfortunately ended up failing. Now back on dialysis, and back on the list he learned his chances were very slim to receive a second kidney. Howard took control of his care and found out all his options. He learned of a new therapy that helps reduce your antibody count. Listen to Howard’s journey of how he was able to receive his second transplant.
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How Can You Care For Your New Kidney Transplant?
No matter how long you have your new kidney, your body will always know that it does not belong to you and will try to attack it. As long as you have a working kidney transplant, you will be taking medicine to prevent rejection.
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How Sweet Life Is! (Podcast)
Virna Elly a diabetic since the age of eight has had her shares of life's ups and downs. Her kidneys failed and she started dialysis. At one point she thought life was sour! Hear her remarkable story.
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How to Multi-List for a New Kidney
Be aware that it is against federal law to buy or sell an organ in the United States punishable by severe fines and jail time. So unless you decide to go outside of the United States and take the risks in some third world country of buying an organ, you had best learn the "ins and outs" that UNOS allows by Multiple Listing
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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.
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Mr. Right and My Left Kidney (Podcast)
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We have a great love story for you this week! We have two shows we are airing in honor of Valentine's Day. The first one is this week's show about finding love later in life. Next week, we will find out how Sweet Life Is! Joan Saltzman, author of Mr. Right and My Left Kidney, joins Lori and Stephen on KidneyTalk to discuss the juicy details of how she met her husband John, how they fell in love over the Phillies/Toronto World Series, how John’s kidney disease played a part in their new marriage, and how she made the decision to donate a kidney to him. Everyone say, "Ahh".
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New Version of MedActionPlan Helps Transplant Patients Manage Their Post Operative Care
Are you concerned that there are too many instructions to follow and that your doctor’s directions are confusing and hard to read? If that’s the case, there is help at your fingertips. MedActionPlan version 4.0 is a powerful, Internet-based tool that has helped both transplant centers and patients throughout the country.
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OPO Official Addresses the Alleged Premature Organ Retrieval Actions of a Transplant Physician
According to a detailed report in the Los Angeles Times, Hootan Roozrokh, MD, a transplant surgeon from San Francisco, CA, was criminally charged with possibly hastening the death of Ruben Navarro, a severely disabled, cognitively impaired 25-year old, 80-pound man with the purpose of facilitating the premature harvesting of his organs. He was accused by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney of "dependent adult abuse, administering a harmful substance, and prescribing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose." The felony charges are believed to be the first in the US against a physician for his role in an organ transplant.
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Organ Donation: Inspire Someone Today! (Podcast)
On this week’s show, Lori Hartwell and Stephen Furst speak with someone who’s truly caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the old adage, “It’s better to give than receive.” For you see, this week’s guest, Bryan Stewart, encourages people to give the “gift of life” so that others can receive the “gift of life!” (On second thought... that’s not such a bad rock or hard place to be caught between.)
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Preparing for a Kidney Transplant (Podcast)
How do you know if you’re a candidate for a kidney transplant? What is Title XXII? What are the criteria for getting listed at a transplant center? What are the benefits of receiving a transplant? Have you ever heard of a “telephone tree”? Do you have questions about transplantation? Lori and Stephen visit with this week’s guest, Jackie Harris, RN a certified clinical transplant coordinator. Tune in and listen to KidneyTalk! as Lori and Stephen ask the hard questions and Jackie provides the answers.
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Social Networking at the Transplant Cafe (Podcast)
Nelson Freytes went to the hospital and ended up in a coma. He awoke with a new liver. What makes this story so fascinating is he never knew he needed a transplant until he had one. Nelson wanted to connect with others and as a result created transplantcafe.com. Join us for a cup of java and hear some ways he's made his transplant work for him.
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The Courage to Live
My doctors told me that my kidneys would function for about six more years. After that, I would either have to begin dialysis, have a transplant, or die. As a mother, this frightened me. My daughter was just a few weeks old, and my son was only four. I was terrified. I did not want to die and leave my children without a mother.
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The Evaluation and Process of a Kidney Transplant
Anyone who is in or has kidney failure is a potential candidate for a renal transplant. Yet, it's important to know that the procedure comes with both advantages and disadvantages, and it may not be a good choice for everyone.
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The Heart of Kidney Disease (Podcast)
Dr. Carol DiRaimondo, an internist specializing in kidney diseases, gives some no-nonsense, straight-as-an-arrow talk about why it’s vitally important for people with kidney disease to take care of their heart—and how to do it. Because patients on dialysis are at a higher risk for heart disease, they will be especially empowered by this discussion. Find out what you can do to prevent heart disease or work your way towards a healthy heart in this information-packed show
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The Kidney Connection - Anemia and Kidney Disease
Anemia can be either a temporary or a long-term disease/illness. People with mild anemia may not have any symptoms, or they may have only mild symptoms. Those with severe anemia can feel tired, get short of breath with activity, and have problems doing the things they usually do.
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The Kidney Connection - Diabetes Mellitus
Only 5%-10% of those with diabetes suffer from the more serious type 1 diabetes. In this type, the body stops making insulin, resulting in the need for the patient to take insulin daily.This type is more likely to lead to kidney failure. Up to 40% of those with type 1 develop kidney failure by the age of 50.
The vast majority (90%-95%) of diabetic patientshave type 2 diabetes and do not require daily insulin doses. Type 2 most often occurs in people over 40, but can occur at any age. Many are overweight and do not know they have the disease.
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The Kidney Connection - Glomerulonephritis
Glomerulonephritis (GN), also known as glomerular disease, can be either acute such as a sudden inflammation attack or chronic, which occurs gradually. It can occur as part of a systemic disease like diabetes or lupus or it can be a disease on its own, known as primary GN.
Mini-epidemics of the condition have occurred in certain geographic areas and is most common in individuals aged 40 to 60. The condition sometimes runs in families, indicating a genetic factor.
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The Kidney Connection - Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)
Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is the most common cause of sudden, short-term kidney failure in children, and is most common in kids aged six months to four years. While the condition is more prevalent in children, adults can also get it. Progression to acute kidney failure occurs in about 50% of HUS cases.
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The Kidney Connection - Hypertension
What is hypertension, or high blood pressure (BP)? It's when the force of the blood pumping against the walls of your blood vessels is too high. This causes your heart to struggle to pump blood through the arteries to the rest of your body. Hypertension also damages the blood vessels by making them more narrow and their walls thickerand "harder" (a.k.a atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries).
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The Kidney Connection - IgA Nephropathy
IgA nephropathy, also called Berger's disease, was named for the doctor who originally discovered the condition in 1927. It is caused by abnormal deposits of a kind of protein that helps fight infection known as immunoglobulin A (IgA) inside the glomeruli (small blood vessels of the kidneys), resulting in inflammation of the glomeruli.
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The Kidney Connection - Lupus Nephritis
Lupus is short for "lupus erythematosus." The word "lupus" is the Latin word for "wolf." It was named because of the skin rash resembling a wolf's bite that some patients get over the bridge of their nose.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease because the immune system, which usually protects the body from illness, turns against it. This causes harm to organs and tissues, including the skin, joints, kidneys, and brain.
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The Kidney Connection - Renal Bone Disease
Many patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are unaware that the kidney is involved with the health of their bones. Renal bone disease (a.k.a renal osteodystrophy) occurs when your kidneys fail to maintain the proper levels of calcium and phosphorus in your blood.
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The Kidney Connection - Restless Legs Syndrome
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a movement disorder that causes uncomfortable, unpleasant sensations in the legs. It affects up to 10% of the US population and as many as 40% of those on dialysis. The condition mostly affects older individuals.
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The Kidney Connection - Secondary Hyperparathyroidism
The most common cause of SHPT is CKD. SHPT occurs when damaged kidneys do not convert enough vitamin D to its active form or they may not excrete enough phosphorus.
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The Kidney Connection - Sex and Sexuality
What is sexuality? Many believe it refers only to sexual intercourse, but it actually has a much broader definition. It also refers to self-image, how you communicate with other people, and simply building a relationship. It includes such activities as touching, kissing, and hugging, or just being with each other and participating in activities you both enjoy.
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The Kidney Connection - Skin and Hair Problems
Skin and hair problems affect many people on dialysis. As a dialysis patient, your skin may appear to be more fragile and may tear or bruise more easily than normal.
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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.
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The National Kidney Registry
The National Kidney Registry was started and is personally managed by a complete transplant industry outsider - a dad who just wanted to find a compatible donor for his daughter. Below is the founder's story.
When my youngest daughter was 10 years old, her kidneys failed. When we learned that she would never recover her kidney function, I raced home to check my old military records for my blood type to see if I would be able to donate my kidney. I was overcome with relief when I discovered that we were both "A" blood type and I would be able to donate.
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The RightStart Program (Podcast)
Do you remember how you felt when you started dialysis? Anxious, scared, and with endless questions? This new pilot program called "RightStart," is designed to educate and help new patients feel better and more in control of their health during this critical time. Rebecca Wingard, Nephrology Nurse and Vice President of Quality Initiatives for Fresenius Medical Care, joins us today to talk about the RightStart Program.
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The Surprise Gift of Life
What if our kidney disease gave the gift of life? I am a 35 year-old female from South Hadley, Massachusetts. I have been on dialysis for 18 months. At the beginning of January, I was scheduled to receive a kidney from a lifelong friend of mine. Instead, he received the gift of life from me!
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Tips on Adhering to a Medication Regimen For the Dialysis and Kidney Transplant Patient
As a dialysis or kidney transplant patient, you know that taking medication the way it is prescribed is one of the most important things you can do to help keep yourself as healthy as possible. Even though you know how important it is, medication is not always the easiest thing to swallow.
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To Be or Not To Be Steroid Free (Podcast)
On KidneyTalk this week Lori and Stephen talk with Dr. William Marks, transplant nephrologist/surgeon and Director of Transplantation at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. The question “to be or not to be” covers the issue of kidney transplant without using steroids. So, what is non-steroidal transplantation? In short, it is a transplant without the use of steroids. Knowing that steroids are effective but have a lot of side effects such as weight gain, risk of infection, and problems with healing, physicians are beginning to use different medications and protocols that don’t require the use of steroids. Steroid-free transplantation is a new therapy. This is not a widespread therapy and is not available at all transplant centers. To find out more about this interesting topic, dial in to your favorite online radio show and listen as we discuss this relatively new therapy option. As always, you should check with your physician and healthcare professional to find out what treatment option works best for you.
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Transplant Website Review
Today's feature site is US Transplant, at www.ustransplant.org. I've been a huge fan of this particular site for many, many years, as it gives volumes of center specific information as well as nationwide stats. I reference it frequently for data that I need to gather for lectures, 1:1 talks with patients regarding their particular situation as well as to just stay current on transplant statistical information. There are areas to check national stats, local hospital & OPO stats and research resources.
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Understanding Anemia: Learn all you can about this energy draining condition (Podcast)
Okay, all you couch kidneys out there, listen up! (We can’t be couch potatoes because we have to watch our potassium, right?!). Do you feel tired? Out of energy? Cold? Have you failed the “stair test”?
On KidneyTalk this week, Lori and Stephen discuss anemia (a complication of chronic kidney disease) with Dr. Mahesh Krishnan, Medical Director of Amgen in the Dialysis Services Department and author of The Kidney Guide.
Dial in to your favorite Internet station − KidneyTalk − and learn why you need to know about anemia, how it affects kidney patients, the treatment for it, and other important issues regarding this energy-draining disease. You’ll also find out how to energize yourself and stop being a couch kidney!
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Understanding the Process and Participating in Your Own Healthcare is Key to a Successful Kidney Transplant
An effective organ placement system requires a great deal of communication, planning, cooperation, and trust among the candidate, the transplant coordinators, social workers, nephrologists, and surgeons. Candidates for a kidney transplant are best served if they participate in advanced planning, understand the process, and are forthcoming with their transplant teams.
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What In The World Is Mineral and Bone Disorder (Podcast)
A Nephrology nurse since 1970, Gail Wick has seen treatment for chronic kidney disease improve considerably. But one of the hidden side effects, happening long before kidneys fail, is secondary hyperparathyroidism, now known as Mineral and Bone Disorder. Find out what it is and how to cope with it from an expert.
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What is Being Done to Increase the Supply of Donor Organs?
Mr. Undis has focused on a significant problem in the United States. The number of candidates on the deceased donor organ waiting list is increasing at a faster rate than the number of deceased organ donors. His solution is to change the organ allocation system so that those candidates who have indicated that they are organ donors for at least six months prior to their need for an organ go to the top of the waiting list, an "A" list so to speak. All others are in a second category, a "B" list. They would only receive an organ if there are any still remaining after the needs of the "A" list are addressed.
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