AAKP's Pediatric Kidney Pals - Dec. 2018
AAKP Ambassador Kelly Cline shares this story about her daughter, Hannah: Is this where I leave you?

As I walked down the stairs of my daughter's new home, i.e. her residence hall at Virginia Commonwealth University, the reality that it was the end of what I had known for 18 years began to hit me. With each step I took down I walked further and further away from the daughter that I had devoted every worry, every sleepless night, every teardrop, and every heartache to.
  
But was it really the end of one thing or just the beginning of something greater?
  
Hannah is my first child, the baby girl I never really knew I wanted until I found out I was pregnant. Dreams of pigtails and gymnastics classes slowly gave way to doctor appointments, bedtime pills, lots of blood draws, and tears. Boy, were there a lot of tears - from us both. Hannah was 13 months old when we found out that she had a cancer of the kidneys called Wilms Tumor. My world was quickly rocked to its core and nothing was ever the same again.
 
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In This Issue
Data tracking program reduces AKI by 62% at Phoenix Children's Hospital      
 
 
In a collaborative effort between clinicians and information technology experts, Phoenix Children's Hospital has pioneered a program of tracking nephrotoxic drugs that has led to a 62% decrease in acute kidney injuries per 1,000 patient days.

"One of our most common consults in the hospital is for children who have developed acute kidney injury, up to the point of actual kidney failure, due to nephrotoxic drugs that they were exposed to, sometimes as an outpatient, but more often as an inpatient," Martin A. Turman, MD, division chief of nephrology at Phoenix Children's Hospital, told Nephrology News & Issues. "We were hoping to decrease the rate of kids getting acute kidney injury due to dangerous combinations of nephrotoxic drugs."

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PATIENT SPOTLIGHT:  Our Top 3 Picks for Inspiring News Articles about Young Patients
 
 
 
 
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PREVENTION SPOTLIGHT: Change your child's diet, decrease their need for an organ transplant
 
Obesity in children can create a myriad of problems that don't occur until adulthood if they are not put under control. A Loma Linda University Health transplant coordinator sheds light on what those possibilities may be in the world of organ transplants and how to make sure your child has the best shot at a healthy adulthood.

Almost half of overweight children become overweight adults, according to the  National Institutes of Health. Obesity in adults can then become a springboard for other health issues, some of which are caused by Type 2 diabetes. In a  study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers found that most adults with Type 2 diabetes were also overweight.

Shelly Greve, RN, Transplant coordinator for the  Loma Linda University Transplant Institute, says Type 2 diabetes has taken a toll on the majority of patients she sees day in and day out. " Type 2 diabetes is the number-one cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and hypertension is another contributing factor for chronic kidney disease and ESRD. Both diagnoses can be related to obesity, and both can result in the need of dialysis and or  Kidney Transplant," Greve says. 

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