I Never Knew Kidneys Mattered—Until Dialysis Hit Close to Home

02 Apr 2025 #misc

All marketing goes to hearts and lungs.

Buy sunflower oil because it’s good for your heart.

Don’t smoke. And if you buy a pack of cigarettes and it comes with a picture of damaged lungs.

But what about kidneys? I haven’t seen any ads for them.

***

“She needs blood transfusions. Sign the consent here,” I was told.

My loved one was in the ICU. After lots of blood tests, a full-body scan, and urine exams, the diagnosis: chronic kidney disease.

Two days earlier, we took her to the ER.

Her abdomen was swollen. She couldn’t hold a simple conversation. She threw up constantly. Sometimes, she couldn’t even recognize us. Her body was poisoning itself.

Her kidneys had collapsed.

It was 2020, in the middle of the bat-soup crisis. We were scared of what she had and scared that she might get that deadly thing from the hospital air. Either one could kill her. Two invisible enemies.

She got the highest priority in triage at the ER. And she didn’t spend long time there before getting into the ICU. A couple of unknown heroes stood up for her with their blood.

An internist, a urologist, and a nephrologist saw her. She wasn’t fine at all.

***

Kidneys have two main functions:

1. Remove excess liquid from your blood.
2. Filter waste and toxins from your blood.

High blood pressure, diabetes, and kidney infections are signs that you should look for to start taking care of your kidneys more closely.

Drink enough water, exercise, stop smoking, and avoid salt. Take care of your kidneys.

Don’t trust me. Trust the US National Institute of Health. Or talk to your doctor.

***

“My life depends on a machine now,” she told me.

My loved one was shocked after her first session of dialysis.

When your kidneys are damaged, a machine replaces them. You’re “connected” to a machine that works like your kidneys. It takes out some blood, filters it out, and puts it back in. That happens for 3 or 4 hours, three times a week. That process is called “dialysis.”

It’s like going to a gym or exercising three times a week to stay healthy for a regular person. The only difference for her? She can’t skip a day or two. There’s more at risk for her than a slim body.

She first had a small tube in her neck, then in her chest. That’s how she got connected to that machine. And later, a vascular access on her arm (a vein and an artery are connected to get more blood out). This time, she got connected with two large needles. Ouuuch! That’s painful.

Sitting for 4 hours is uncomfortable.

But that’s not the worst part after a session of dialysis. High or low blood pressure, headaches, dizziness, and tiredness. That’s the worst part.

After every session, she eats and then goes right to bed. No more mental or physical energy for anything else. The day is over.

Does her life depend on a machine? Technically, yes. But we prefer to see it as the machine giving her life. It’s not her enemy, it’s her fighting partner.