Renal Support Network

The pediatric lab services station at University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF) did not always have its own home. Sometimes it was...

When my kids were little, in a different place and time, we watched Veggie Tales every day. These days my kids have marooned me...

I am not a perfect patient. When I first began dialysis, I missed treatments, and not always accidentally. As I progressed in my journey...

Tap, tap, tap! The doctor kept tapping on my forehead. “Is it over yet?” I asked as he kept tapping. “Don’t think about it,” he stated...

In March 2019, a door slammed shut. I found myself in the intensive care unit of my local hospital, dazed, in pain, and begging...

“Mom, will it hurt?” These were the first words that came out of my mouth the day after my kidneys completely stopped working. The day after I...

When I embarked upon my dialysis journey, I was not a willing participant. I had been diagnosed with stage 4 chronic kidney disease in...

When I was a child, I told myself that 32 was going to be a year in which something magical happened. I didn’t know...

… I couldn’t believe it. I was numb as I rose from the conference table and headed toward the inner sanctum of the dialysis...

Writing this essay is an exercise in gratitude. My kidneys failed 12 years ago so I have had all types of challenges. I know...

April 5, 1998, is not a day that you’ll read about in history books many years from now. It is a day I will...

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening, I pass through an empty lobby and walk directly to the white door. After firmly pressing the silver...

Wow, what a great theme to write an essay about. Unfortunately, with our overburdened healthcare professionals also suffering from the COVID-19 virus both mentally...

To answer the question, “Who is your Healthcare Hero,” I had to take a sobering look at what the word ‘hero’ truly means to...

I was born and raised in the small town of Blythe, California. In recent years my life forever changed as I was sadly diagnosed...

“Is your blood pressure always this high?” asked Dr. Craven. Every day since turning 35, headaches followed me to bed. There was no need for...

Nurse Judy loves me and my mom, but we are not related to her. We did not know her until my kidney problem became...