#nephrology Archives - All Things Kidney ~ Official

Kidney Transplant: Hospital Recovery after the Surgery

August 27, 2021September 3, 2021Leave a comment

Imagine this. You’re yet to open your eyes, but you’re conscious. You can hear hushed voices around you, sense a strong ambient smell, get a feeling of being “lifted & wheeled somewhere”. At a point, you feel a sudden pain on one side of your lower abdomen. It’s only a matter of time that you open your eyes nice & wide and if health & luck are on your side, you recognize most of those masked faces, where you are and what you just underwent. Wondering what’s this all about? Well, that’s my own experience of waking-up after my Kidney Transplant Surgery.

Of course things may differ individually, depending on how the new kidney works in a recipient and his/her general health. Despite variable experiences, once you do wake up, you officially enter the Transplant Survivor Club. Congratulations!

So how does the rest of your hospital stay look like?

That is what we aim to walk you through, with this article.

Continue reading “Kidney Transplant: Hospital Recovery after the Surgery” →

Kidney Transplant Complications

July 8, 2021July 13, 2021Leave a comment

Kidney Transplant saves precious lives. But it also qualifies as a major surgery involving complicated procedures. This holds true for both the donor kidney retrieval surgery and implantation of the donor kidney into the recipient (patient). Quite naturally, both surgeries may entail risks / possible complications during and after the procedures, both in the short & long term. It is these possible risks/complications of Kidney Transplant are what we aim to walk you through, today.

We will first cover the risk-profile associated with Kidney Donation followed by that for the Kidney Recipient. The article presents the list of complications as per the time points at which they usually appear after the surgery. Read on to get a comprehensive insight on the what-why-how of these complications below.

NOTE: This article only covers complications from the kidney transplant procedure. Adverse effects expected from anti-rejection & other medications that a kidney recipient is put on, will be explained in a separate article.

Continue reading “Kidney Transplant Complications” →

Protein in CKD: A Comprehensive Guide

December 16, 2019May 21, 2021Leave a comment

Protein intake in CKD

Protein is a superstar of sorts in the Nutrient Circles, be it in sickness or in health. But do you completely understand all that you must, when it comes to this “celebrated nutrient” in the context of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)?

Continue reading “Protein in CKD: A Comprehensive Guide” →

Protein & CKD Diet: Part 1

December 3, 2019May 21, 2021Leave a comment

There is severe Protein Loss in urine in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) & Kidney Failure. However, your medical team still advises you to Eat Less Protein.

Sounds counter-productive right?! Continue reading “Protein & CKD Diet: Part 1” →

Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR)

November 8, 2019May 21, 2021Leave a comment

If you are a member of the kidney community – whether as a patient, caregiver, advocate or knowledge seeker – it is likely that you have come across the term “Glomerular Filtration Rate” or more commonly, the GFR. Perhaps you are also aware that this term broadly relates to your kidney’s functional capacity.

But do you completely understand what GFR really is?

How does your medical team clinically assess the GFR for your kidneys?

How valid is it throughout your CKD journey?

And is it always indicative of the true health status of your kidneys?

All these are some very pertinent questions that each member of the Kidney Community, especially the patients & caregivers must thoroughly know the answers to. And that is exactly what we are here to help you with, today. Continue reading “Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR)” →

Breathing Difficulty in Kidney Disease

August 11, 2019May 21, 2021Leave a comment

Breathing Difficulty in Chronic Kidney Disease is an inevitable accompaniment in advanced stages. But why does CKD make you breathless in the first place? Learn here.

The other day, some of us at Team ATK just sat reflecting on our pre-transplant days with Kidney Failure. And we all concurred on the helplessness we felt about that relentless “out-of-breath” sensation even at the slightest exertion. In fact, right after transplant, this was one of the first positive changes that I remember as uplifting my quality of life. I could breathe fully, freely & effortlessly again!

So, what is this “breathlessness” or as the fancy medical terminology would have it, “Dyspnoea” (pronounced as “disp-neah”) in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) all about? Continue reading “Breathing Difficulty in Kidney Disease” →

Muscle Wasting in CKD: Treatment

July 8, 2019May 21, 2021Leave a comment

Muscle wasting & pain is a common complication reported in most patients with Chronic Kidney Disease, worldwide. Speaking from personal experience, this is also one of those “visibly apparent” physical changes in the course of CKD, which can have a negative impact on our already complicated quality of life.

So, can you prevent this from happening? Well, that’s the million-dollar (research) question, isn’t it?

In our previous article in this category, we covered the whole bunch of causes that conspire together in CKD to make your muscles gradually “lose themselves” over time. Fortunately, medical research has offered us effective solutions to keep muscle wasting in CKD at bay for as long as possible. In addition, some approaches can also partially restore muscle bulk and strength after muscle wasting has already started.

Let’s explore these treatments then, shall we?

Continue reading “Muscle Wasting in CKD: Treatment” →

Muscle Pain & Wasting in CKD

June 20, 2019May 21, 20212 Comments

Muscle Pain

Muscle Pain & wasting (shrivelling) is a constant, debilitating & rather frustrating accompaniment during your CKD journey, in the advanced stages. It is only but one of the many myriad “complaints” arising from across multiple organs — something that’s a part & parcel of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).

Previously, Team ATK has simplified the concepts of “Protein in Urine“, “Blood in Urine“, “Anemia” & “Bone Pain“, in the context of CKD.

Adding to this list, today we seek to cover the significance of skeletal muscles in kidney disease and explain why muscles begin to “lose themselves” when we enter the great abyss of Chronic Kidney Disease!

But first things first. Continue reading “Muscle Pain & Wasting in CKD” →

Bone Pain vs Muscle Pain in CKD

June 20, 2019May 21, 2021Leave a comment

Bone Pain Muscle Pain

Pain as a sensation, wherever it might arise from, is solely felt because nerves present in that region relay it to our brain and back. This is a “protective reflex”, Continue reading “Bone Pain vs Muscle Pain in CKD” →

Bone Pain in CKD: Treatment

June 3, 2019May 21, 2021Leave a comment

Bone pain is an inevitable consequence of advanced Chronic Kidney Disease. Our previous article explained why this is the case. We elucidated on the “crosstalk” that exists between kidneys and bones in normal health, and how their “relationship turns painful” when Chronic Kidney Disease hits!

This article serves to cover the treatment principles that help make that debilitating pain go away, literally by acting as “relationship counsellors” for the Kidney & Bones.

Let’s get started then, shall we? Continue reading “Bone Pain in CKD: Treatment” →