A diagnosis of kidney disease is one that can completely change a patient’s life.
Learning how to live with the illness and all the things that come with it, is the purpose of an annual event at Freeman Hospital East.
It’s called “Patient Engagement Days” and is put on by the Freeman Nephrology and Dialysis Center. It helps patients learn about the resources available to them through the health system as well as other organizations that also provide support services.
It also allows patients to meet with others dealing with the same disease.
“You can actually link with these patients who are going through exactly the same process and they know your pain and suffering more than anybody else, so sometimes you get tips from them,” explained Dr. Talal Khan with Freeman Health.
Kidney disease patients often spend as much as four hours a day, three times a week, receiving dialysis.