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1/9/2009 - Kidney Teens Happy to Have Night to Remember
Nicholas Wahl is 19 years old, but he’s been through more than most people ever go through in their entire lifetimes: Lymphatic syndrome at age two with an accompanying diagnosis of kidney failure; Valley Fever at age three, at which point Nick started dialysis; ten years of dialysis until at age 13, he received a kidney transplant with a kidney donated by his mother. And, by the way, he’s had thirty surgeries. That’s a lot to live through. But on January 18 he’ll be dancing with a date at the Renal Support Network’s 10th Annual Renal Teen Prom at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks. Nick is one of many teens who will dance the night, and hopefully their cares, away for a while, enjoying limo rides, entertainment, dancing with music from a DJ, and having dinner served in a magical setting themed “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” “I want to help people because I don’t want others to be affected by what has affected me throughout my life,” Nicholas says, “and I’m really interested in disease prevention.” So Nicholas, with help from his aunt who works for a senator, is creating his own foundation, a 501(c)3 charitable organization to help patients who don’t know where to turn for help. He will give them resources, advice, and let them know their rights as patients. Michelle Kats, who lives in Boston with her father, is 19 years old and has complete kidney failure. Like most people her age, she loves to dance, loves to be with her friends and loves to help others. But most of her young life has been conditioned by hospital stays, dialysis treatments, major surgery and more than a nodding acquaintance with the ICU. Last year, “Mishy” joined 300 other teens whose stories are similar to hers for the Renal Teen Prom. She’s coming again this year. Mishy’s whole family made great efforts to see that for one night she would feel like a “normal teen girl” at her prom. So she and her father embarked on a two-week vacation in California to attend a unique prom just for teens and young adults who have chronic kidney disease (CKD), a disease that affects one in seven American adults. “I got to dance.,” Mishy says. “I got to share stories with other people who were just like me. Because I’m in a wheelchair a lot, people always want to find out what I’m sick with. This is the first time I wasn’t asked if I was sick. I just want to say that being at the Renal Teen Prom meant so much to me.”
Holly, who plans to be a missionary, said, “I was really grateful to my mom who gave me one of her kidneys when I was a freshman in high school. I felt like the transplant gave me a second chance. I stopped living just for myself and began living for others.” Nick, Mishy and Holly will all be at the Renal Support Network’s Renal Teen Prom this year. They are three of many thousands of teens who have chronic kidney disease (CKD) and who are finding meaning in lives plagued with chronic illness, challenging themselves to help others and put their own experience, strength and hope to good use. CKD is more widespread than most people realize: 26 million Americans are in some stage of kidney disease and 20 million more are at risk because of diabetes, high blood pressure or family history. Anyone with these risk factors should see their doctor as soon as possible for a simple blood test called GFR. Kidney disease in its earlier stages is treatable and in certain cases may be reversed with prompt treatment and proper health maintenance. People with Stage 5 (final stage) CKD are either in dialysis or have a kidney transplant. Stage 5 means that the kidneys have failed and will not perform their function: to clean impurities out of our system, usually through the blood. Hemodialysis allows the blood to be cleaned by an artificial kidney machine and may be performed in a dialysis center or at home. Peritoneal dialysis exchanges the fluid impurities through the peritoneal cavity around stomach and intestines. Many dialysis patients are on waiting lists to receive a kidney transplant. Often the wait is several years because there are too few people who have opted in to the organ donation program through Donate Life (www.donatelife.net) by filling out a simple form. Some of the luckier patients have friends or relatives who match and are able to donate one of their kidneys, but that is rare. Most people with kidney disease are able to continue their normal tasks, jobs, and responsibilities and look perfectly healthy, indistinguishable, in fact from anyone else. At the RSN Renal Teen Prom all these factors are leveled out and teens dance, dine, celebrate and make lifelong friends—just like everybody else! Source: Renal Support Network (Renal Support Network News) < Back |