National Kidney Fund Cares

The National Kidney Fund (NKF) has several programs for kidney and dialysis patients. I thought you should know about these.

The NKF has a Peer Support system that allows patients to be mentored by other patients who have completed a lengthy training program. “This new program matches patients in need of support with peer mentors who are positive role models.” You connect with a mentor via phone and are able to ask questions of someone who’s been there, done that.

They have an Ask the Doctor program that allows you to pose those pesky questions to someone more reliable than a discussion forum. Frankly, most of the answers are good but consider the source. Asking a doctor is much better and more accurate.

They also have a “Kidney Kitchen” where you can find kidney-friendly recipes. This is really important because, if you’re in CKD, you can avoid potassium and phosphorus and increase your protein with your diet and fend off further kidney deterioration. If you’re in dialysis, eating foods low in potassium and phosphorus will help make kidney failure less bothersome and fend of long-term damage of high levels of both.

NKF has a webpage dedicated to Dialysis where you can read up on almost every aspect of the procedure including making the decision to stop. I especially appreciate that they cover this very difficult issue and in a non-judgmental, compassionate manner. But, there are many other dialysis related issues covered including “Dialysis Myths”. I liked this posting very much. Great points!

Likewise, they have a specific section about CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) where you can “Learn more about kidney disease, including risk factors, symptoms, and important prevention tips.” Some very good material in there for people with kidney disease but not on dialysis. I liked the “Three Simple Tests to Check for Kidney Disease” that discusses each and what they mean especially Glomerular filtration rate (GFR).

NKF also has a magazine called Kidney Living you can sign up for here. I recommend this as it covers all aspects of CKD and Dialysis.

I appreciate all the wonderful support that the NKF offers to CKD and Dialysis patients and the NKF Cares part of their website is especially good. Their home website has many links to other resources for kidney-related issues.

About DevonTexas

I am a person with ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) which means my kidneys don't work. Forty or so years ago that would have been a death sentence but today there is Dialysis which means I could be hooked up to a machine that would clean my blood as the kidneys should. Three days a week, I went to a dialysis center and had too very large needles stuck in my arm to remove and replace my blood as it passed through a process where it was cleaned and the fluid was removed, a process taking a little over four hours each time. In November 2017, I received a kidney transplant from a deceased donor. My life went into overdrive. With a "new" functioning kidney, I no longer had to go to a dialysis center and my days were not open to be lived rather than recovering from dialysis which meant dialyzing for three days and resting for 4 days a week. I work full-time and often 50 hours per week. It is something I never imagined. I highly recommend it! HeeHee I want to advance knowledge about dialysis and transplant so that others can learn from my experience and mistakes. We shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel, eh? There is so much to be learned and experienced about our predicament. There are vast resources available to support us and enrich our lives but many patients don't know about them. There are also many issues that we have to deal with whether we want to or not. So I blog about them in www.DevonTexas.com All comments are confidential until I approve them. If you don't want your comment public, let me know and I will respect that. So, feel free to leave a comment. I also blog in LegacyTales in WordPress if you are interested in the ramblings of a Old Man. Give a peek and let me know what you think. https://legacytales.wordpress.com/ Enjoy.

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