The Kidneycast

Ari is celebrating 10 years with his kidney transplant! He looks back at the decade since his transplant and talks about what it's like to make it to ten years. (And we encourage everyone to BECOME AN ORGAN DONOR)

The Kidneycast is back again to recommend The Big Sick, and talk about how we related to the story and loved how it was told. We also chat a bit about zombies and how Ari's transplant has allowed us to have adventures that wouldn't have been possible on dialysis.

The Kidneycast rides again! We're back to talk about the recent episode of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" with the segment about private dialysis clinics. Ari and Larra talk about his experiences with the companies mentioned in the report, and how it felt to watch the episode. We also check in on how Ari's been feeling since our last regular episode.

Our last regular episode! We wrap things up by talking about Ari's current day-to-day health with his current transplant and offer some closing thoughts about his experiences with his disease and what we've learned from making "The Kidneycast". Don't worry! We'll be back someday if anything new crops up with Ari's health or any transplant and Alport Syndrome news warrants discussion.

We talk about Ari's most recent hospital stay and his experiences with CMV. We also discuss participating in the #NephJC chat about trying to make sure young transplant patients take their medication, and a new initiative from the National Kidney Foundation.

What does the financial side of chronic illness look like? Ari and Larra talk about insurance, disability and welfare programs and take some time to discuss the Affordable Care Act.

There's been some new transplant news in 2017! We spend this episode discussing France's new opt-out organ donation system (and why we think it's a better idea than an opt-in system). We also discuss a recent transplant op-ed piece we disagreed with and talk about why we think a pay-for-organs policy would be a terrible idea.

How do you cope with a serious chronic illness like Alport Syndrome? This week, Ari shares his coping strategies and challenges, talking about what has worked for him and how other people in his life have helped (and occasionally, hindered).

This week, Ari and Larra talk about their decision not to have children and how Ari's disease factored into their choice. Plus: a related discussion of one of Ari's crazier surgeries. (This episode contains some discussion related to reproductive health.)

Ari talks about working to finally earn his undergraduate and masters degrees and start teaching music (his dream job!) after his third kidney transplant and feeling like he needed to prove himself after all those years of being unable to attend school or manage a challenging career. He talks about what he was able to achieve.

Ari's third kidney transplant means new opportunities and options in his life that weren't possible living on dialysis. In this episode, we talk about going back to college in your 30s. We also discuss how the double-blind anonymous donor system works and what donors and organ recipients are allowed to know about one another and how they communicate (if they wish to).

On May 11, 2009, Ari got an early morning phone call that changed everything. This is the story of Ari's unexpected third kidney transplant from an anonymous deceased donor.

We're so excited to have Ari's parents as guests this week on the Kidneycast! Martha and Glenn talk about their experiences as the parents of a child with Alport Syndrome and Martha's own experiences with the disease and her kidney transplant. (Audio is a little different for this episode, as we recorded our guests via Skype.)

We're switching things up this time! The Kidneycast gets a host transplant as Ari takes his turn as the interviewer and asks Larra about being the partner/spouse of a person with a chronic illness.

The kidney and transplant doctors in NYC work a bit differently than Ari's previous ones. In this episode, Ari talks about meeting the rest of his new team and about making the most of life in New York while on dialysis.

Ari and Larra talk about moving his home dialysis set-up from Seattle to New York. They also tell one last Seattle story about a potential kidney transplant that didn't happen for Ari.

Larra and Ari talk about the portrayal of organ donation and transplants in fiction and popular culture. What do fictional portrayals get wrong and why does it matter?

How do you travel across the country with a home hemo machine? Ari explains the process and also talks about his mother's experiences with Alport Syndrome and her kidney transplant.

Ari talks all about home hemodialysis. He explains how it's different from in-center dialysis, the kind of training he received as a patient, and how dialyzing at home changed his life.

Ari describes what life is like while doing in-center hemodialysis three times a week. He talks about the side effects of dialysis, traveling while on dialysis, and answers listener questions about his hearing aids (and how he wakes up in the morning with a hearing impairment).

Ari discusses life after the failure of his second kidney transplant and the best of times/worst of times scenario he experienced. He talks about his move to Seattle, changing doctors and medical teams, and going back on hemo dialysis. In response to listener questions, Ari and Larra offer their advice for anyone dealing with a longterm hospital stay.

Ari and Larra report back from the Alport Syndrome Foundation Family Meeting! Ari talks about what it was like to meet people outside his family who share his disease and discusses the information and emotions from the event.

In one of our most challenging episodes to record, we talk about the failure of Ari's second transplant and his struggles with other medical issues and drug side effects that occurred at the same time.

After spending a month in the hospital, Ari takes a term off from school to try and recover. When he returns to Central Washington University, school is going rather well. But some bad weather and the side effects of one of his medications combine to create a scary situation.

After receiving his second transplant from his uncle Michael, Ari is determined to get back to school, earn his degree, and become a music teacher. He talks about what it's like to get back to school later in life (and with a chronic illness) and some of the health issues that cropped up for him during this time. We also get to hear from Ari's uncle Michael via email and he recommends some resources for living donors. Including: http://www.livingdonorsonline.org

After Ari's second kidney transplant, he and his medical team took steps to improve the new organ's chances in his body. He talks about those procedures, the future plans he made now that he had a working kidney again, and other medical issues that came up during this time.

In transplant preparation class, Ari learned that he had become a cautionary tale. He talks about that and his second kidney transplant (donated by his uncle Michael). With no listener mail to stop them, Larra and Ari get pretty geeky at the close of the episode.

What happens after your kidney transplant fails? Ari talks about life after his transplant failed and he had to drop out of college, including experiences with in-center dialysis.

Larra and Ari discuss the failure of his first transplant. The conversation and stories in this episode are on the bleak side, so we attempt to provide balance with singing and a brief discussion of an animated children's film.

Larra talks to Ari about his life right after his first transplant surgery. He discusses how being a transplant recipient (and having a chronic illness) affected his first year of college.

Ari discusses his first transplant. Larra gives Ari a quiz on misconceptions about organ donation and transplants.

Ari talks about growing up with Alport Syndrome, when his family became aware of his condition and how his and their understanding of the disease evolved as he grew up. He talks about being sick as a kid, his hearing loss, and how his health grew steadily worse and impacted his education. This episode covers the kidney-related side of Ari's life from birth to age 19 (leading up to his first transplant.)

Our very first episode! Larra and Ari introduce themselves and the podcast, talk about Ari's genetic condition (Alport Syndrome), and give an overview of his medical history.