Dialysis & CKD Blog Report 4/24

By Miriam Lippel Blum

Here are the CKD related blogs updated since my update on 4/20. If you have or know of a blog that should be on the list let Bill know. Comments in parentheses are mine.

• Dialysis from the sharp end of the needle Bill takes a break; blog report updated
• Kamal Shah's Blog Kamal compares attitudes of younger vs. older members of his swim club; his fistula pain may be due to his restless turning at night (He's on nocturnal dialysis) and he is going to try to reduce the movement.
• Kaply, Inc. Tracy goes to Costco, reorganizes her apartment, and gets Netflix; she also is dealing with low iron levels that leave her exhausted.  (I've been there, too, Tracy.  It's like gravity increases under your spot of existence.  Maybe you need some more EPO and a bigger iron infusion to build up your stores.)
• Toastiest explores why he writes his blog and dislikes Twitter and Facebook.  A quote from his entry "I think that the reason that I blog is because I am desperate to find someone on the planet who shares some obscure belief or observation with me. I am desperate to find commonalities with others because I live with the belief that I am alone in how I interact with this world. " (I don't think, as you state later, that this is either juvenile or pathetic.  I think there is an innate loneliness with being human and struggling with chronic disease that we attempt to address with our writing.)
  
• Hasten down the wire Michael comments on credibility
• The Life of a 20-Something With Lupus X-ray shows she has a broken bone in her foot; unidentified men bang violently on her door and scare her to death...they turn out to be door repairmen (You were right to  not open the door but I would have called the police right away.)
• The Adventures of Stacy Without An E Stacy spies a lovely redheaded girl but is too shy to talk to her, is determined to make contact with next beauty he sees; Stacy's creation myth and an important insight on finding truth and beauty now, before it's too late.
• CHRONIC POSITIVITY - Life with Polycystic Kidney Disease Transplant anniversary is coming up (May 3) and labs are mostly normal, remaining fistula is causing soreness.
• Jack's Kidney Adventure has a urethral stent removed successfully with no pain (These are used to keep the ureter open after a kidney transplant and are removed through cystoscopy about 6 weeks later.); a lab report. 
• Life on dialysis ... and now life after my transplant! Holly writes a pitch for encouraging organ donation; and reflects on what she has learned from being involved in her organ donation education project, what she has accomplished, and what she wants to do next. (You go, Girl!)
• PKD & Dialysis ... Where I Tell It Like It Is is doing better and doctor is late to her appointment but spends time answering questions.
• On the Road to a Cure Lupus Walks updates; a letter that talks about the death of her sister from lupus and bemoans the lack of new treatments.
•  I Am. Are you?  has an inspirational story about a woman who holds a table-tennis tournament to encourage participants to register to become organ/tissue, blood and bone marrow donors; an Ontario campaign on organ donation called "Recycle Me."
• Chronic Chick Talk has been busy working on her book; suggests an alternative med to Viagra.
• Bud's Ramblings he is enjoying the warmer weather but may have electrical problems with his heart, tests to follow.
• Disability Prejudice And Civil Rights Watch a  resource link for advocates and family to find disabled persons lost to institutionalization.
• Precious Bodily Fluids a study on what causes hyponatremia (a low sodium level) in marathon runners (This can cause severe brain swelling and other neurological issues).
• Renal Fellow Network a description of "Banff Criteria" - the most widely-used scoring system for describing renal allograft biopsies; the difference between hypovolemia and dehydration; the renal pharmacokinetics of phenytoin (aka Dilantin) (Congratulations on your blog's one year anniversary!)
• Uremic Frost  a cartoon about how to die while urinating; the American College of Physicians has a new guidebook to help people manage hypertension; Fresenius Medical Care's RightStart program, which provides one-on-one case management to educate and empower new dialysis patients, has reduced mortality rates by nearly half and significantly reduced hospitalization rates during the first 90 days of treatment during its pilot program; Renal Dietitian Linda McCann receives the NKF Champion of Hope Award; an article about how a new Medicare Payment policy may lead to restricted access for black dialysis patients (This has to do with ESA dosages); and a yummy new study that suggests blueberries may be beneficial in decreasing abdominal fat and lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.
• Renal tsar's blog a Q & A rregarding transport of MRSA carriers; and a new booklet on end-of-life care planning.
• Free range fish sticks is unsubscribing from his satellite radio service; and reports on an article about how home hemo might solve the lack of access to dialysis problems in Labrador.
• Neophron's Senescence description of a trip to Hong Kong and Vietnam.
•  pkdmom2five Photo of crockpots full of beans being prepared for a graduation dinner (Don't forget to take your binders.)
• Kidney Notes - Exploring the Intersection of Medicine and Technology a really strange video entitled "Clowns vs. Cops in a Hospital" (This will give you nightmares.)
•  Mid-life ramblings got dirt loaded in her garden.
• Work In Progress is feeling so much better on home dialysis and is so glad not to have those AWFUL weekends anymore.
• The Ballad of Billy The Kidney critiques an Australian senators' stance on "alcopoop" drinks; and tells us about Sam Chisholm, a lung transplant recipient and remarkable person.
• NephrOnline Blogs Mark E. Neumann updates on the heated discussions at the nephrology conference  going on now in Boston.
• Renal BizBlog finding a kidney on Craigslist, ethical or not?
• The Renal Unit current tweets and renal news

Comments

[John Daley]

Gday Miriam

Thanks for including me in your listings (The Ballad of Billy The Kidney).

I have just picked myself up ROTFL regarding "alcopoops" - actually its alcopops (those wine cooler drinks or similar with high alcohol and sugar content, designed to appeal to young people).

Sincerely (& good-naturedly)

John

[Miriam Lippel Blum]

Hi John,

I always enjoy reading your blog. Sorry about the typo, at least it gave you a good laugh. I think I need to go drink and alcopop now, maybe it will improve my typing! :-)

Best wishes,
Miriam