After recording my latest YouTube video for the fifty-leventh time before getting a usable version, I realized I didn’t answer the question posed by the inspiration email. In the video, I talk about how to bring up the notion of stopping dialysis to the nephrologist, but the writer was asking how to bring it up to their sister on dialysis. Anyone familiar with the vernacular “fifty-leventh” knows that means I did not have it in me to do even one more take. But I can address their question here.
the medical distrust we've earned
I believe there is a way for kidney function to return.
I believe the truth about that is held back from mainstream.
These are lines from a recent email asking about treatment options for their loved one who has been miserable on dialysis for two years. This email served as fodder for my latest Real Kidney Talk with The People’s Nephrologist YouTube video. I hope you’ll check it out, like, subscribe, share, and let me know what you think. 😉
introducing...the people's nephrologist!
I made a simple wish list for Christmas. Some new fuzzy Uggs since I wore down the last pair to fuzzless. A lavender candle or two for my bubble baths. And a pretty journal for writing.
If you knew my hubby (and holder of my left kidney for 16 years now), you would not be surprised that not only did he present me with new fuzzy Uggs, bubble bath swag, lounging PJs because he had grown weary of seeing me in the red plaid Target PJ set I bought at least three years ago, but also a trough of journals. And not just simple journals. No, the trough from my forever and wonderfully extra Robert was filled with soft brown leather-jacketed journals with a fancy wrap-around tie, each embossed with: Dr. Vanessa Grubbs, The People’s Nephrologist.
the truth about dialysis
I recently learned that my piece, “When Dialysis Is the Wrong Approach to End-Stage Kidney Disease,” published on the CHCF blog nearly 4 years ago has proven to be evergreen, a story that lives on rather than dying on the vine of whatever is hot at the moment. Last year it was viewed more than 25,000 times, making it a top blog post.
In the piece I argued that not every old person approaching end-stage kidney disease should start dialysis. But judging by some of the folks who have reached out to me, many eyes don’t register phrases like “elderly patients over 75” and “who have dementia or ischemic heart disease.”