Kidney Function

There is no single way of coping with kidney failure and treatment. Due to the fact that each person has a different experience with, and attitude toward, dialysis, you must find your own individual way of coping. There are, however, several suggestions that other people with kidney failure have made to ease adjustment to chronic illness and treatment, including education about kidney failure and treatment, physical fitness, communication in maintaining important personal relationships and motivation to complete projects and goals.

Education
Being educated on kidney failure and selected treatment is of the utmost importance. Knowledge of what is happening inside your body, the reaction to dialysis, why medication is needed and why certain foods and fluids must be restricted is crucial to your overall understanding of what is happening. The feeling of helplessness and dependency of the medical staff can be reduced by knowing and understanding kidney failure and treatment. Putting this knowledge to use will help you to feel better and can give you a sense of being in control of your own life. Fears and anxieties can be the result of lack of information; the unknown, which we all fear, can become known through education.

Fitness
Physical fitness should be important to everyone, regardless of kidney function. Mild and regular exercise can help rebuild strength, help with insomnia and anemia and strengthen bones and muscles. A physical fitness and exercise program developed with the help of a physician can give you a feeling of accomplishment and overall well-being.

Communication
One important way to maintain important personal relationships is via communication. Talking things through with your partner, family members and friends is very important in maintaining relationships. Sharing feelings, concerns, fear and anger with others not only helps you feel better, but it will also help your family and friends to better understand and accept what is going on with you. Closing out those people who are important to you can hurt the relationship by making them feel no longer needed or wanted. Ongoing communication, like education, may help you to become aware of your feelings. Once you are aware of your own feelings, you can begin to accept kidney failure as an unfortunate, but challenging, part of life, and then you can go on living.

Motivation
Setting personal goals, completing projects and continuing to lead life as close as possible to the way you did before kidney failure is very important. Continuing enjoyable activities, being with loved ones and continuing to plan your life should not change with kidney failure. Most people’s feelings of self-esteem or self-worth depend on what they do and accomplish. Although kidney failure and treatment can change some external aspects of your life, your essential worth and value to yourself and others can and should remain unchanged.

In some cases, uremia, the building up of waste products int he bloodstream between dialysis treatments, can affect thinking. Sometimes, a person may experience difficulty in remembering things, inability to concentrate and confusion. On rare occasions, they may lose contact with reality or experience hallucinations. Experiencing things, like seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling or smelling things that do not exist, can be very frightening. If this happens, it is important for you to tell your physician. Some people who experience hallucinations do not tell anyone for fear that they are losing their minds, when in reality, the hallucinations can be caused by inadequate dialysis treatments, the need for medications or by fever and infection (delirium).

Kidney Failure and Sex
Sometimes, your desire for sexual activity, or sexual appetite, changes with chronic illness. The ability to enjoy sex, on the part of the male or female, depends on you as an individual. Impotence, or the inability of a male to have an erection or to maintain an erection, can occur. Problems with ejaculation are also a possibility. However, your ability to participate in sexual activity and to enjoy sex is still possible. If you find your sex life changing, talk to your doctor or social worker, because these problems may be treatable. Very often, the stress and anxiety that is related to kidney failure and the subsequent treatment can affect your sexual appetite and ability to enjoy sex.

Counseling
A social worker has the necessary skills and training in counseling and family therapy. If you think that counseling for you or your family members is needed, you should talk with a social worker. This professional member of the medical team can help determine if counseling can benefit you or other members of your family.

Famous actor/comedian Tracy Morgan is now in recovery after successfully receiving a kidney transplant on December 10th. The 42 year old star was diagnosed with diabetes nearly 15 years ago. While he lived with the disease for several years, it wasn’t until recently that Morgan started taking his condition seriously, after his doctor informed him that he may end up losing a foot.

“That was it for me,” Morgan explained. “Now I take my insulin every day. My blood sugar doesn’t get over 120.”

People that suffer from Type 2 diabetes (the most common type) are particularly at risk for kidney failure. This type of diabetes inhibits the body’s natural ability to properly produce insulin. Insulin is a vital hormone that is necessary to get glucose into cells so that it may be used as energy. If this process is obstructed, the glucose may build up in the bloodstream which may lead to eye, nerve, and kidney damage. If this problem is neglected, there may be serious consequences such as loss of limbs, stroke, or heart disease.

Along with frequent doctor visits, there are many ways for people with Type 2 diabetes to minimize their risk of experiencing kidney failure. For instance, eating fish twice a week is believed to significantly reduce the risk of kidney disease for diabetics. Poor diet is one of the biggest risk factors.

Tracy Morgan is expected to recover quickly, and will probably only have to be absent from a couple episodes of 30 Rock, his current hit television show. Upon returning, Morgan will be welcomed by his fellow cast members such as Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, and fellow kidney transplant recipient Grizz Chapman.