Tips for ESRD Patients: How to Live Well with Your New Kidneys

Patients face a choice as the illness progresses to ESRD (End-stage Renal Disease). They have to choose one to sustain their lives: dialysis or kidney transplantation. Compared with kidney transplantation, dialysis takes effects instantly but couldn’t deal with the kidney problem completely just sustain one’s life. Unlike dialysis, the kidney transplantation has a long way to go but is able to solve the problem one at a time. That explains why people would rather wait for years to receive a new kidney than count on dialysis for the rest of their lives.

Statistics collected reports that survival rate of kidney transplantation after one year is 95.2%; the number begins to slip three years later after the surgery: 85.3%; it drops to 74.2% five years later; and finally, the number bottoms out to 59.1% one decade after.

The influencing factors of kidney transplantation include chronic rejection, the recipient’s physical condition and some other factors. By taking proper measures to ensure they are live well with their new kidneys:

Rest up is vital. It is especially true for those who have just performed the surgery. The hospitalization and surgery make the patients exhausted, besides, they are pretty weak after the surgery. Rest can help them regain energy and get recovery soon.

Proper exercises are good. Taking mild exercises after the transplantation can be helpful. I strongly recommend stroll. Of course, some household chores is optional too, just don’t lift heavy within two months after the surgery.

Diet restriction is necessary for the patients who suffer from hyperuricemia, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia or hypertension etc. All because a long-term hyperuricemia, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia or hypertension will increase the incidence of renal transplantation complications, or even affect their life span.