Hope Starts at Home

Dawn是一位女儿、母亲，也是来自纽约皇后区的全职肾脏患者倡导者. 她的肾病之旅始于30年前，当时她还是一位年轻的母亲，刚刚开始她的职业生涯. 

唐恩说:“被诊断患有肾病对我的家庭和工作产生了巨大的影响。. 

1992年，道恩得知自己患有晚期肾病，在开始透析之前，她尽可能多地了解了相关信息, 但当时关于治疗方案的细节并不容易获得，她被鼓励开始在中心进行血液透析.

Being diagnosed with late-stage kidney disease, which requires either dialysis or a transplant to sustain life, is an ongoing journey. Few patients engage in just one therapy from the time they are diagnosed, often transitioning to other therapies for personal or clinical reasons. Therapy options for kidney patients fall into three categories: 1) home dialysis (peritoneal dialysis (PD) is the most common form of home dialysis); 2) in-center hemodialysis (ICHD) and; 3) kidney transplant. 

Over Dawn's journey, 由于临床和生活方式的原因，她需要过渡到所有的模式. After spending three years on ICHD, 道恩决定转到警局这样她就能有更多时间陪女儿. 

“我花了三年时间在中心进行血液透析，我不喜欢我的生活方向," said Dawn. “事情变得如此激烈，我知道我必须做出改变，能够在家里开始PD, which allowed me to do therapy while I slept. On PD, I had my whole day back to manage my life; I was able to go on my daughter's school trips, take her to playdates and do normal activities."

在接受肾脏移植手术之前，道恩在家进行了10年的肾脏护理. Seven years later, Dawn’s transplant failed, and she needed to go back on dialysis; this time she was no longer clinically able to receive PD and was able to initiate home hemodialysis. Dawn is currently awaiting a new transplant.

“对我来说，成为一名家庭透析患者很重要的原因之一是，我能控制病情," adds Dawn. "It may sound scary to do home dialysis, 但这是一种力量，因为更频繁的透析让我感觉更好，我可以在自己家里进行治疗."

对于有免疫功能障碍的肾脏患者来说，家庭透析也可以成为他们的天堂，这些患者在COVID-19期间发生严重病毒感染的风险更高. Dawn says, “我非常感谢疫情期间能在安全的家中进行透析治疗，以降低在公共场所感染的风险."

Though the pandemic is challenging for kidney patients, 这并没有减缓道恩分享她的护理之旅，帮助别人，因为她记得在她护理的早期没有同伴学习是多么困难. 

“对我来说，分享我的经验非常重要，因为我认为对其他肾脏患者来说，接受教育并有权做出明智的决定是至关重要的."