A Candid Look Behind the Scenes During Home Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Treatments featuring Rachel Cluthe and Kristin Rice. Watch as Rachel Cluthe of Houston, TX, along with her husband and two daughters demonstrate a home-hemodialysis treatment from start to finish. “I’ve been doing home hemodialysis for four years now. It offers a sense of freedom and independence. Instead of visiting a clinic several times a week, I have the ability to manage my dialysis treatment on my own terms. Setting up the dialysis machine, connecting the needles, and monitoring the process have become familiar routi ..read more

May 13th, 2024, GLENDALE, CA — Renal Support Network (RSN) is thrilled to unveil the theme for its 22nd annual essay contest. This year, we invite people who have kidney disease to share their personal story about how a form of entertainment media helps you in your journey of navigating life with kidney disease. We encourage writers to explore the question: “Which film, television series, book, or song provides you with comfort?” The contest is open to all people in the United States who have been diagnosed with kidney disease, have had a kidney transplant, or are on dialysis. RSN’s Essay ..read more

As we sit down to chat, Lesley H. shares that she’s just returned from travels to her native New Zealand and to Australia. She’s returned the very day before, but the 87-year-old shows no signs of fatigue, of jet lag. Perhaps when you’ve seen as much as she has, zooming back and forth across the world doesn’t affect you quite as much. She’s cheerful, delightfully twangy in her “Kiwi” accent, and delightfully purpose-driven: helping children has been, is, and always will be, her guiding light. Lori Hartwell and Lesley at the 2022 University Kidney Research Organization (UKRO) Gala where Lori re ..read more

Mary and Vinny join the call first, followed shortly by Marlene and Joey. The mother-son duos appear in parallel squares, mirroring one another, each mom on the outside of the frame with the sons next to one another, separated only by the thin column designating Zoom windows. The families have known one another for about fifteen years, and despite them tuning in from their separate households, the energy flowing between the two rectangles, next to one another on the screen, is palpable. Joey and Vinny and Marlene and Mary are entwined in one another’s stories—the gift of friendship, understand ..read more

Mike J.’s life is full of serendipity, coincidence, full-circle moments. He’s as aware of this as anyone, and has chosen a life path to help others, the full-circle coming again once more. Loops, graceful repetition. From when we first begin our conversation, his story tumbles forth, almost unstoppable, in anecdotes and hard facts, rambling and beautiful stories, snippets of a history. Together, the patchwork of his life. Cinematic: the lows of chronic illness, addiction, heartbreak, rage alongside the highs of true love, a supportive family, parenthood, finding purpose. Mike has experienced t ..read more

Isela K. lights up a room twofold—with her autumnal red hair, the color of changing leaves caught in golden hour, and with her bright and beaming smile. On the night of the twenty-fifth Renal Teen Prom back in January, Isela greets guests in the front hall of the Stars on Brand venue, dazzling smile on display and a soft yet direct voice to follow. “So great to see you tonight.” Assisting Lori Hartwell with managing the day-to-day operations and helping coordinate events, volunteers at RSN is Isela’s day job—she’s the grounding force to Lori’s ever-ideating artistic spirit. Her path there has ..read more

Kidney disease is a chronic condition, in addition there are five stages. How you are going to feel from day to day and through each of the stages can have a negative impact your mental wellness. Felicia Speed, PhD, LMSW, VP of Social Work Services, Fresenius Kidney Care and Lori discuss  coping strategies and other options that are available to help. https://rsn-file-storage.us-southeast-1.linodeobjects.com/Kidney%20Talk_11.14.23_Felicia%20Speed_Final.mp3You can also listen to and download the podcast with these apps: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts iHeart Radio Hosted By Lori Hartwe ..read more

Asha J. loves to work on declination letters for the DA’s office. For those of us not familiar with the legal jargon, a declination letter is a polite, professional letter of rejection. There is likely something cathartic about saying “No” to strangers—a source of power. Asha works in the Compton branch of the District Attorney’s office (for now, at least, hoping to transfer to Long Beach where she’s from) and her days are organized by task: typing, answering and transferring calls, forwarding mail, constructing memos, and checking on the status of cases. It’s straightforward until it isn’t, i ..read more

Meghna V. is a girl on the go. A woman, rather, with a burgeoning career, a beautiful marriage, two dogs to care for, and art to do. When we connect, she breathlessly explains the busy week she’s in the midst of: balancing her studies with work and acrylic painting, which has been a source of comfort and joy for her. Meghna’s in school, working on her masters for Public Health, following an undergraduate track in Biology. She explains it all, peppering in bits of humor, letting a laugh shine through, listing off the responsibilities as if they’re commonplace, the colors of the rainbow. She’s a ..read more

I would like to share my younger sister Lori’s story, which highlights the importance of preemptive kidney transplantation, in the hope that this will help others on the same path. A preemptive transplant is performed on a person living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) before kidney function deteriorates to the point of requiring dialysis. Thanks to her donor, Paul, my sister was able to undergo a successful kidney transplant and never had to undergo dialysis. When I was 7 years old, our father passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage at the young age of 28. At that time, we barely knew the cau ..read more