FB Live – March 19th: DPC Education Center’s Healthcare Consultant, Velma Scantlebury, MD, Live on Facebook to answer your kidney related questions. This month, Dr. Scantlebury answers patient questions about what can happen if you miss a dialysis day, how patients might feel after dialysis treatment, possible side effects of anti-rejection medication, and many other kidney-related topics.
As a dialysis patient, it’s important to adhere to your dialyzing schedule, but what happens if you miss a day? Dr. Scantlebury explains how missing one treatment means that you’ve double or tripled the amount of waste products in your body that the next round of dialysis will have to take off. This can lead to congestive heart failure or heart attack due to the excess weight on the heart. She also goes into why you might not feel very well after dialysis treatment, which can depend on the amount of fluid that needs to be pulled off, which can cause your blood pressure to drop.
Dr. Scantlebury also answers a patient’s question about the side effects of anti-rejection medicine. Since the medicine’s purpose is to keep your body from recognizing your new kidney as foreign, it is designed to dampen your white blood cells’ ability to fight. As a result, you can be at a higher risk of infection and your doctor will monitor you to make sure your white blood cell count does not get too low. There is also the possibility of hair thinning or loss initially as your body gets used to the medication, but after about six months that will come back, or stomach upset. If there are any changes in how you feel, always let your healthcare team know so they can work with you to address those concerns.
We invite you to join us for our live events and ask your kidney-related questions! Find us on both Instagram and Facebook:
- IG Live @patientcitizens the first Wednesday of the month, 12:30pm EST
- Facebook Live www.facebook.com/patientcitizens the third Wednesday of the month, 12:30pm EST
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