LIFESTYLE
Ask Me Anything FAQs with answers from the experts
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ow do I start the conversation with friends and family to explain why I need a kidney and how they might help me as a potential donor?
The best way to start the conversation is to be honest about your health situation and tell your story. Start by letting your friends and family know you are living with kidney disease and that your kidneys are failing. Let them know that the best treatment for you to live a healthy life is to receive a living donor kidney transplant. As a potential donor, your friends and family could save your life. Describe to them how living with kidney disease has affected your life, the limitations and struggles you face and how lifechanging a kidney transplant would be for you. Do you want a transplant so that you can watch your grandchildren grow older? Do you want to travel the world? How would a transplant change your life? What are you passionate about that a transplant could give you an opportunity to do? If you have friends and family members who are not eligible to be your donor but would like to help, ask them to be an advocate for you. They could share your story with work colleagues, create a social media campaign, create
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an awareness campaign with their social clubs and share your story widely to help you find a donor. The Centre for Living Organ Donation has many resources to help you find a living donor. We host weekly webinars, have first person stories, peer mentors and information on our website livingorgandonation.ca, on our YouTube channel and social media channels. Reach out to us at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca for more information or speak to your transplant coordinator and nephrology team to assist in your journey. Candice Coghlan Education & Outreach Coordinator Centre for Living Organ Donation at UHN Ajmera Transplant Centre Sometimes when I finish dialysis, I feel very weak and lightheaded. Is this normal? What can I do to make dialysis leave me feeling better, not worse? Post-dialysis fatigue is a common symptom: about one third of patients feel worse in the hours after dialysis. We don’t fully understand why some patients feel weak and fatigued after dialysis, while others do not. We do know, however, that it can be debilitating and associated with depression. Excessive fluid removal may make it worse and physical activity may make it better. While fatigue is common, lightheadedness (feeling faint or woozy) is not. This could be a sign of low blood pressure or too much fluid removal during your dialysis session. You should mention these symptoms to your nurses and nephrologist. They may want to check your blood pressure during the period of lightheadedness to make sure it’s not dropping. If you have recently gained “good” weight (e.g. fat or muscle), they may increase your target weight. Perhaps the dosing and/or timing of your blood pressure pills needs adjusting. Finally, some patients feel better on more gradual forms of dialysis (e.g. peritoneal Spring 2022 / Kidney Living / 21
