Covid-19 and Kidney Disease

Posted on March 21, 2020 by chrisperrault

If you are following the developments of the Covid-19 virus as most people are at this point, you know that a lot of information is flying towards us at a pretty fast pace right now. Things are a little confusing and very much out of the ordinary. If you are a kidney disease patient with autoimmune concerns, this is especially true.

Below is a short video that was posted on Youtube by Nephcure Kidney International with some general advice for kidney patients (a lot of this applies to everyone really) on how to avoid the virus as much as possible and what to do if you feel you may be getting sick.

It’s a short video and worth checking out.

Nephcure Nephrotic Syndrome 101 Webinar

Posted on March 20, 2020 by chrisperrault

If you are like a lot of people there’s a chance you’ve never heard of Nephrotic Syndrome. It’s also possible you are now reading this because you’ve only recently been diagnosed or have a loved one who been diagnosed with this condition. I know I’m still trying to sort out not just the different diseases that result in NS, but why they are such a common cause of kidney failure. There’s a lot to learn here.

This video, a webinar from 2017 hosted by Nephcure Kidney International is a great introduction to NS by Dr. Mindy Banks. It runs for just under an hour and I recommend carving out some time watch her presentation as she does a good job of covering a lot of ground not just for relative newcomers like myself, but she also answers some questions for patients and parents who have already been struggling with this condition.

Are you new to Nephrotic Syndrome? How has it impacted your life?

Book Review: Who Lives, Who Dies With Kidney Disease

Posted on March 15, 2020 by chrisperrault

So a couple months after my diagnosis after nearly exhausting my web searches for kidney disease, I finally remembered to branch out and being something of an avid reader decided to track down some Kidney Disease themed books. To my surprise and disappointment, there isn’t a whole lot out there.

One of the books I did find I decided to take a chance on. It’s titled Who Lives and Who Dies With Kidney Disease by Mohammad Akmal and Vasundhara Raghavan.

Continue reading →

Kidney Transplant Animation

Posted on February 16, 2020 by chrisperrault

This is a great animation I found on Youtube that details how a kidney transplant is performed. While a lot of the jargon is over my head, it’s fascinating how they pull this off and the care involved. I never thought I’d be so fascinated watching veins get sewn together but it really is amazing how they do this.

It’s not a long video, so it’s a good seven minutes well invested.

IgAN and Transplant

Posted on December 25, 2019 by chrisperrault

This is a recent talk at the University of Leicester in the UK. It is a good basic overview of how transplantation is done in general and also adds some interesting IgAN specific information at the end regarding whether or not it comes back post-transplant which is of great interest to me. It’s not too long so give it a look!

What is Nephrotic Syndrome

Posted on December 8, 2019 by chrisperrault

Nephcure Kidney International has some great material on Nephrotic Syndrome and the various diseases that lead to it. Nephrotic Syndrome is a little hard to describe but as NKI has it stated, it is an umbrella term for any number of conditions brought on by glomerular diseases, especially those that lead to protein and blood being leaked into your urine. Focal Segmentation Glomerulosclerosis(FSGS) is one such disease, with another being IgA Nephropathy. There are other diseases that will lead you down the same path, so check out the Nephcure site at https://nephcure.org/livingwithkidneydisease/understanding-glomerular-disease/ to learn more.

This is a great intro video to Nephrotic Syndrome and the real life impact it has on patients and caregivers.

Would You Donate A Kidney To A Stranger?

Posted on November 24, 2019 by chrisperrault

A couple things about this article:

As this article asks, would you donate a kidney to a complete stranger? Of course some of us here don’t have the kidney to donate so that makes our answer a little easier. But if we could? I have to think about that now.