SAN FRANCISCO – Kidney disease is increasing at an alarming rate, with many patients requiring dialysis to survive. A new UCSF study shows that dialysis doesn’t have to be a life sentence for some people.
It all started in October 2020, when Liddy Lawson, then 36, started feeling unwell.
Her white blood cell count was abnormally high, and she was flown by helicopter to California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, where she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia.
Lawson immediately started chemotherapy, but for a moment it seemed like he was out of the woods.
A bone marrow biopsy revealed she was cancer-free, but then everything changed, her heart stopped twice, her kidney function declined, and her lungs filled with water. Lawson spent 51 days in the ICU and was on 24-hour dialysis when she woke up.
“When I woke up in the ICU undergoing dialysis, I knew I had been admitted for cancer, but I didn’t know that I also had kidney failure, so I didn’t know why. Lawson told CBS News Bay Area.
The treatment made her miserable. She had migraines and she was constantly vomiting. Her weight dropped dramatically and she had to have a feeding tube put in. There was no end in sight, but there was a glimmer of hope.
Dr. Chi Hsu is the chief of nephrology at UCSF and, along with Dr. Ian McCoy, conducted research on how patients with acute kidney disease who require dialysis are currently managed in outpatient dialysis clinics. Patients like Lawson were young and did not have comorbidities such as heart disease or diabetes.
“I want people to understand that patients with acute kidney injury are different from patients with chronic kidney disease. In the real world today, people are treated very similarly,” says Sue. he said.
Dr. McCoy continued, “Most of the research on acute kidney injury is concerned with when patients should start dialysis, or how much dialysis they need while in the hospital, and whether dialysis should be stopped when they begin to recover.” There is relatively little research on how to do this.” How do we recognize recovery? ”
Participating in Sue’s research was not an easy decision.
“We were so worried. All I ever knew was that I had to go on dialysis. One guy said to me, ‘You might not be on dialysis.’ ” she said.
More than seven months have passed since Lawson’s last dialysis treatment. She keeps in touch with Sue regularly and goes for her blood tests less frequently.
She is training to walk a marathon with her mother, Debbie. Lawson has also competed in baking competitions, but what makes her happiest is knowing she has a future.
