I received a comment from Sue asking what Nephron News meant. I decided to take the opportunity to use this as a little teaching session!! I have thirteen years under my belt as a dialysis nurse, and through that process, learned a lot about kidneys and their function (or lack thereof....).
I felt the title Nephron News was catchy and also fitting for me. Working in a nephrology and hypertension office for the past eight years has allowed me to see both ends of kidney disease. In the office we see patients with chronic kidney disease (before dialysis) and are attempting to delay the progression of their disease. On the other end, having worked in the dialysis unit at the local hospital, I had the opportunity to meet the patients who had progressed to end stage kidney disease and required dialysis.
Once a patient progresses onto end stage renal disease, there are three replacement therapies available to them: hemodialysis (in-center or home), peritoneal dialysis or renal transplant.
The majority of patients choose hemodialysis at an outpatient center. This requires them sitting in a lounge chair for four hours at a time, three times per week. Some centers have nocturnal dialysis; the patients sleep at the center overnight in beds and dialyze for approximately eight hours three times per week. This provides better filtration and the patients claim they feel better with more hours per week of dialysis.
Transplant is not a cure, it is merely a replacement therapy. It is not a piece of cake, by any means. Patients are on anti-rejection medications, which increases their chance of illness and cancers. They must have frequent blood work and be monitored very closely. We have approximately 130 patients in our office who have received kidney transplants...most from deceased donors, some living related and even a few living non-related donors. Some of our patients have had their same kidney transplant since the 1980's.
I hope I didn't bore you with my little inservice, but YOU asked....LOL!!
7 comments:
No, you didn't bore me, but I did ask, LOL. The medical field is very interesting in all aspects.
Does that mean, that some people develop kidney problems from hypertension? If so, how does hypertension affect the kidneys?
Interesting! We moved and our new neighbors have a son who has his father's kidney. This poor kid is a high school student who is such a nice responsible kid. He also has epileptic seizures, so there has been some memory and learning issues as well. His parents are also amazing, as they want him to be strong -while he can because they know that someday he'll be on full dialysis. His Mom is a nurse and confronts everything with a strong, but heavy heart. She has strong faith and we've discussed this and his learning issues at length. This boy 's strength is inspiring, because I know his days are exhausting at times. This Thanksgiving I will remember how lucky I am for my family, faith, health and for friends.
Very interesting Michelle. I have family members in both areas. My mother goes to dialysis at ST Lukes Hospital 3 times a week. I don't know how she does it. The needles have made a mess on her arm. It's not a pretty picture. She left to go to my sister's down in NC for Thanksgiving but her arm was a mess. It actually looked like a hernia and when she comes back--she's headed for more surgury on her arm. I can't tell you how many times she has had them open her arm so they could do dialysis. My mother amazes me. She wants to live and puts up with all this pain. Amazing.
On the other end is my husband who has to go to a kidney doctor 2 times a year. He has protein in his urine and was diagnosed with kidney disease. He was told it's a 10 year progression. I think that was 8 years ago. So far, everytime he has gone to the kidney doctor, it's not bad. He also has diabetes and it was the kidney doctor who told him to go to his regular doctor--that he had diabetes.
Yes, we have a lot of patients who have kidney problems as a result of their hypertension. If you copy this web site into your browser, it gives good answers about kidneys and blood pressure.
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/
highblood/index.htm#2
Thanks for the link Michelle--will check it out.
My father has gone for hemodialysis for several years. At Christmas, he fractured his lower arm below his fistula. He now has developed severe edema to the point of being hard. Unfortunately he also has defibulator wires in the top of same arm. His doctors just shake their head at this point. Can you refer me to any reference websites that might help me. We are quite frustrated. Thank you.
Thanks! A very useful information.
Greetings from Colombia.
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