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Dialysis Cruising

2024-03-28T20:57:21-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Dialysis, Hemodialysis, Quality of Life, The Kidney Citizen|

Joanne Smith, RN, Kidney Care Advocate, Fresenius Kidney Care Whether you are on in-center hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, or home hemodialysis taking a cruise is an option for you. It takes a bit of planning, but what vacation doesn’t? I have experienced several cruises that have offered services for dialysis patients. The treatments were performed in staterooms on the lower level of the ship, close to the infirmary. We used a portable reverse osmosis machine attached to the water from the bathroom to provide the purified water needed for the dialysis treatments. We used jugged acid and bicarbonate solutions [...]

Fighting Back Against Implicit Bias in Health Care

2024-03-28T20:57:23-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Additional Resources, Mental Health, Physical Health, Quality of Life, The Kidney Citizen|

Tips for how to speak up and speak out against discrimination in a medical setting Kirsten Weir The receptionist requests two forms of identification from you, yet the White person in front of you required no identification to be verified. A nurse who uses a condescending tone of voice: “you people are all alike.” A doctor who doesn’t listen to you: Having just told the doctor you have knee problems, he recommended that you walk 30 minutes every day. Are they just having a bad day — or is it implicit bias? Implicit bias is an attitude or [...]

Andrew Carr Knows There’s More for Him

2024-03-28T20:57:24-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Dialysis, Kidney Transplant, Mental Health, Stress Management, The Kidney Citizen|

Andrew Carr Kidney disease has been part of Andrew’s life since he was 7 years old, when he was diagnosed with Hydronephrosis. Now 29, Andrew has had kidney disease for the majority of his life, but he’s guided by the principle that his kidney disease doesn’t control his life, he does. Andrew began dialysis treatments when he was 19. While Andrew’s exposure to kidney disease happened so early in his life, he does not remember how he felt about it at its outset, but vividly remembers the beginning of his dialysis treatments. For three-and-a-half years Andrew persevered through [...]

Four Things You Should Know About the New Medicare Dental Rule

2024-03-28T20:57:24-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Additional Resources, Physical Health, The Kidney Citizen|

Andrea Moore, LMSW, Health Equity Specialist, Quality Insights Renal Network 5 1. Before January 1, 2023, Medicare would pay for a dental exam only for patients who were actively seeking a kidney transplant. Now, the new Medicare dental rule will pay for a dental exam and dental treatment (e.g., dental filling, teeth removal, replacement of teeth, etc.) for patients actively seeking any organ transplant. If you are living with kidney disease--with or without dialysis--Medicare will not pay for preventative care, like teeth cleanings. What this means for you: If you have Medicare and are actively seeking transplant, meaning [...]

The Making of An Advocate

2024-03-28T20:57:25-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Dialysis, Kidney Transplant, Medication, Mental Health, Support, The Kidney Citizen, Treatment|

Gene Blankenship, DPC Board of Directors Thinking about Life Sitting in my recliner watching the leaves fall like big fat orange snowflakes, I see the trees begin to change colors. My immediate first thought is “How many more seasons of change will I see? Is this my last fall”? Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is a constant passenger in my life. Anytime you have a passenger with you for long periods of time, you will go through events together that stamp your life. For example, as a child, I watched Eugene Taylor Jr., my dad, hook himself up every [...]

For Mike Guffey, Working Was Key to Staying Positive

2024-03-28T20:57:27-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Diagnosis of Kidney Disease, Dialysis, Employment, Hemodialysis, In-Center Hemodialysis, Kidney Transplant, Mental Health, Quality of Life, The Kidney Citizen|

Mike Guffey When Mike Guffey began dialysis treatments in 2008, one of his top priorities was to ensure he had a reason to keep moving forward, something to look forward to when he got out of bed which would allow him to push through his treatment regimen. For him, that meant returning to work as quickly as he could after starting his treatments, especially given how quickly he crashed into life on dialysis. Normally based in Kansas City, Mike was working temporarily as a project manager in Colorado when he noticed something was off. He went to the [...]

8 Ways to Be a Safe Patient

2024-03-28T20:57:28-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Immunizations, Medication, Physical Health, Resources, Staying Healthy, The Kidney Citizen|

When you have surgery, receive dialysis, or visit your doctor, you deserve safe care. Everyone plays a role in patient safety and quality health care. CDC and its partners provide expertise, data, and programs for safe health care to support public health, healthcare workers, patients, and caregivers. How Can I Be a Safe Patient? Speak up. Talk to your healthcare provider about any questions or worries. Ask what they’re doing to protect you from infections. Keep hands clean. Make sure everyone, including friends and family, cleans their hands before touching you. If you don’t see your healthcare providers clean their [...]

A Career and Dialysis Become a Way of Life

2024-03-28T20:57:39-04:00February 1st, 2023|Categories: Dialysis, Employment, eNews, Hemodialysis, In-Center Hemodialysis, Physical Health|

By Gene Blankenship, DPC Board Member I was 42 years old when I crashed into dialysis, though my family obviously knew about my kidney disease. I also worked full time and so the next step was to tell my employer, OPEA. I cannot compliment my employer enough. From the second I told my Supervisor and our Executive Director it was, as the cool kids say, "cake". First words out of their collective mouths were "How can we help?'  My doctor and I had already discussed what I could do while still keeping my health a priority. This made [...]

Just a Dad with Kidney Disease

2024-03-28T20:57:40-04:00January 11th, 2023|Categories: Dialysis, eNews, In-Center Hemodialysis, Kidney Transplant, Quality of Life|

By Gene Blankenship, DPC Board Member Being a dad with kidney disease is something that I never imagined when I was younger.  Actually, I never once pictured myself as a person who would be challenged by kidney failure, even though I watched my dad "Big Gene" struggle with end stage renal failure all my life until his death when I was 12 years old. Now, my weeks each have an automatic 16 hours at the dialysis center (20 hours with travel) during “prime time” completely scheduled for me until I receive a transplant.  Those 20 hours are the perfect [...]

COVID is Surging Again

2024-03-28T20:57:40-04:00January 4th, 2023|Categories: eNews, Immunizations, Physical Health|Tags: |

We are now at the end of the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic and once again in a winter surge. According to data from the CDC, hospitalizations have surpassed what was seen this past summer and for people 60 or older – the group most vulnerable to more severe infection, that number has drastically increased since mid-November. In part, this latest surge can be attributed to XBB.1.5, the latest Omicron subvariant, which has evolved to be better at evading immunity from both vaccination and previous infection. There are other factors that play into the surge though, including time of year [...]

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