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About Hannah Bracamonte

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So far Hannah Bracamonte has created 566 blog entries.

Dialysis Patient Citizens Statement Commemorating Juneteenth

2024-03-28T20:59:06-04:00June 17th, 2021|Categories: News & Events, Trending Topics|

WASHINGTON, D.C., (June 17, 2021) — Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) today released the following statement recognizing Juneteenth and reaffirming its commitment to addressing healthcare disparities among kidney patients nationwide. “Today we commemorate Juneteenth, an important day in history that celebrates the emancipation of enslaved Americans and allows us an opportunity for reflection on both our nation’s history and how much further we have to go,” said DPC Board President Andrew Conkling. “Black Americans continue to face systemic inequalities in our country, including healthcare disparities that disproportionately hurt patients from communities of color. Too many patients with kidney disease experience firsthand unacceptable racial disparities in healthcare [...]

If You’ve Gotten a COVID-19 Vaccine, Don’t Get an Antibody Test

2024-03-28T20:59:06-04:00June 9th, 2021|Categories: eNews, Immunizations|Tags: |

Thanks to the COVID-19 vaccines, life is beginning to look a little more like it did pre-pandemic and people are out and about as many states start opening back up. Some people are uncertain about the effectiveness of the vaccine or its ability to protect against different variants and have considered antibody tests as a way to check the effectiveness of their vaccine. Public health officials are urging fully vaccinated people not to get antibody tests though, as they have limitations. Antibody tests are a great way to understand if someone has been previously infected with coronavirus and didn’t know at [...]

New Online Course for Parents and Caregivers of Children with Kidney Disease

2024-03-28T20:59:07-04:00June 2nd, 2021|Categories: eNews, Mental Health, Online Courses, Support|

The DPC Education Center is proud to announce a new free course, in partnership with the American Psychological Association, for parents and caregivers of children living with kidney disease. It explores the changes that happen within families due to a chronic illness and offers tips to help your family cope and thrive. Check out the Course

Staying Safe in Summer Heat

2024-03-28T20:59:08-04:00June 1st, 2021|Categories: eNews, Lifestyle, Physical Health|

It is finally summertime! After a long winter of being cooped up indoors, it’s great to finally be able to go to the park, the beach, or even just a nice little walk around your neighborhood. As temperatures around the country are rising though, it’s important to be mindful of the risk of heat-related illness, especially if you have kidney disease or another health condition. Hyperthermia is a illness that happens when your body becomes overheated. Mild cases can cause muscle cramps or swelling in the feet, whereas a more serve form, heat exhaustion, means that your body can no longer [...]

Ask Your Nephrologist: What is happening to my skin and nails?

2024-03-28T20:59:08-04:00May 19th, 2021|Categories: Dialysis, Kidney Transplant, Physical Health, The Kidney Citizen|

Keith A. Bellovich, DO There is a broad range of skin manifestations when having to depend on dialysis. Skin disorders can affect a patient's quality of life and can negatively impact their mental and physical health. Itching (uremic pruritus) is by far the most common complaint that patients suffer. But dry skin (xerosis cutis) and skin discoloration are also common complaints in patient with severe loss of kidney function. Dry skin is caused by reduction in the size of sweat glands and atrophy of sebaceous or oil producing glands. Dry skin increases the susceptibility to infections and this is aggravated by [...]

CMS Makes it Easier for Consumers to Find Prices on Hospital Services

2024-03-28T20:59:09-04:00May 11th, 2021|Categories: Costs for Treatment, eNews|

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new rule on hospital price transparency that went into effect January 1, 2021. Under a section of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), hospitals are required to publish a list of standard charges each year. Originally, hospitals could fill this requirement just by publishing their chargemaster list (a comprehensive list of all products, procedures, and services provided by a hospital) online; now, however, hospitals are told exactly what they are required to publish, and how to publish it, in order to comply with the PHSA. Hospitals must publish the following five [...]

COVID-19 Vaccines for Dialysis and Transplant Patients – What We Know

2024-03-28T20:59:10-04:00May 3rd, 2021|Categories: eNews, Immunizations, Staying Healthy|Tags: |

As more and more people in the United States receive the COVID-19 vaccine, researchers have been able to learn more about efficacy rates in different patient populations. Unfortunately, preliminary research suggests that efficacy rates may be lower in both dialysis and transplant patients. In a small study, published April 6, 2021 on CJASN ePress, researchers found that, although study participants on hemodialysis did develop a substantial antibody response following two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine, it was significantly lower than the response of the control group comprised of participants not on dialysis. It was also found that older patients, regardless [...]

How I Cope During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2024-03-28T20:59:11-04:00April 21st, 2021|Categories: Mental Health, The Kidney Citizen|Tags: |

By Nina Kasl, dialysis patient This pandemic has us isolated from things we used to enjoy! We are unable to visit our friends and families. It is not going to go away anytime soon. Just taking walks by myself was not making me good at all. I knew then I needed to do something. That something had to be done. I was tired of the isolation I felt. I needed something that I could do on my own or with the immediate family. I made an idea sheet. It showed me what I can do. I found journaling as a way [...]

There Is No Place Like Home

2024-03-28T20:59:12-04:00April 19th, 2021|Categories: Home Hemodialysis, Peritoneal Dialysis, The Kidney Citizen|

By Shaminder Gupta, MD, Nephrologist End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) is a life changing diagnosis and impacts both the patient and the family. While waiting for renal transplantation, renal replacement therapy (RRT) is required to sustain life. RRT, also known as dialysis, can be provided either in-center or at home. Home therapies can either be via peritoneum (PD) or via fistula (HHD). Patients are concerned about their own abilities to provide this life sustaining therapy on their own. This is natural and should be anticipated as a barrier. Most of us, including medical professionals, would also share these apprehensions. Success at [...]

What We Learned from Care Partners

2024-03-28T20:59:12-04:00April 19th, 2021|Categories: Patient Support Group, The Kidney Citizen|

By Kathi Niccum, EdD, Education Director The 2020 DPC Member Survey included a section for caregivers/care partners. From the 146 respondents, 84% were women and the average age was 55.6 years. The caregivers did much of the grocery or other shopping, the housework, meal preparation, managing finances and helped with transportation and other outside services. But besides playing a key role in managing the household, they also were involved in nursing tasks, helped monitor the severity of their care recipient’s condition, helped communicate with health care professionals and helped their care recipient advocate for themselves regarding health care providers, community services, [...]

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