#SlowItDownCKD 2012

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Not Sushi

Welcome to 2025. We were lucky enough to have our New York daughter, Nima, with us for the new year. One thing I like to do when she’s here is make sure she gets the kind of food she wants. That’s easy for me because I don’t cook it. We order it via Door Dash. One of the meals she requested this visit was sushi. You guessed it. I started to wonder why we never ate sushi. Did it have to do with…

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The Heart of the Matter

Before we get to that, I couldn’t resist sharing what AI has to say about me (spelling errors and all). “Gail Ray Garwood, also known as Slow It Down CKD, is a passionate advocate for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) awareness. Gail’s journey began when she was diagnosed with CKD, which motivated her to educate herself and others about the disease. Through her social media presence, Gail shares…

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The Marriage Between the Lungs and the Kidneys

Here we are just a couple of days before Christmas and Chanukah, which just happen to be the same day this year. Remember, Chanukah is based on the Lunisolar Calendar, so its dates change yearly. This is one year we will not be celebrating with our family on the actual day. Why? Because I have bronchitis and it sounds like most of my little family does, too. I’m not worried about the celebration.…

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Graftically Speaking…

And today we have another reader requested topic. “Keep those cards and letters coming in,” as first urged by a 1950s radio DJ. While I have my list of topics I’d like to cover – honestly – yours are more important. Starting at the beginning, let’s find out what a graft is. First hint: it’s used for certain types of dialysis. According to the Cambridge…

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There’s a New Kid on the Block

Well… not exactly a new kid. I live in Arizona in the United States, Phoenix to be precise. What I’m going to tell you about today has already been available on the East Coast for a couple of years. The new kid part is that they are now in the east side of the Phoenix valley. Maybe I’d better start again. Since Bear now has chronic kidney disease, I made an appointment with my nephrologist for…

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Sometimes I Get Lonely

Last week, I had a date to go to Starbucks and sit outside to have a coffee with my friend. The important part was not really the coffee, but the friend. It didn’t happen. First, I had to move the time forward due to an unscheduled delivery; then she had to cancel due to Thanksgiving prep. I was far too disappointed. It struck me then that I was lonely.  If you remember [and even if you don’t],…

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Get a Good Night’s Sleep  

Welcome to SlowItDownCKD’s 801st blog. Blogging on the average of once a week, that’s a lot of weeks, and even more days … and nights. It’s the nights I wanted to write about. Well, not exactly the nights themselves but how you sleep during the nights. When you go out of town and stay in a hotel, should people in the next room complain about your snoring, you may have sleep apnea. Should your…

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Your Kidneys in Your Mouth… Or Something Like That

I love it when readers ask me to cover specific topics. Today’s blog was written due to just such a request. Everyone needs to take care of their dental hygiene, but we – those with chronic kidney disease and/or diabetes –  have to do that in a very specific manner. DaVita, a dialysis center which also educates about CKD explains:  Photo by Evelina Zhu on Pexels.com “Both tooth decay and gum…

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It’s Good for Your Teeth, But…

Bet it didn’t take too much for you to figure out what I’m talking about. Yep, that’s it: fluoride. Just in case you forgot what that is, let’s take a little trip to my all time favorite dictionary for the last 50 years or so. That, of course, is the Merriam Webster: “a compound of fluorine” Even I have to admit that doesn’t help much. Let’s try this another way. I looked at the uses of…

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Women Only Today

I’ve heard the term ‘endometriosis’ tossed around for years and thought I understood what it was. Since I keep exploring anything that might affect the kidneys, I finally started wondering if endometriosis does. Surprise! It does, but only rarely. I found this fascinating. The logical place to start was the Endometriosis Foundation of America. I was certain I could find a definition of…

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I Know You  Want to, But You Can’t

I’m lucky. I get to speak to my New York daughter every day. The other day, she was telling me about a documentary she’d seen concerning altruistic donation. This is a grown women whose mother has been writing about chronic kidney disease for 14 years. Nima is very smart, yet she didn’t know if some of her medical conditions would prevent her from donating a kidney should she ever decide to do…

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Grey’s Anatomy and Your Kidneys

Without a doubt, I am addicted to Grey’s Anatomy, a hospital soap opera which deals with some pretty important topics. I’ve even gotten Bear addicted. I’ve watched all 21 seasons and eagerly await the next episode each week. It all started when the song of a girl my kids grew up with was used on the show. Ingrid Michaelson, I owe you one. The show has periodically dealt with kidney disease. In…

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It’s Time to Get Shot

When I had surgery to remove the pancreatic cancer tumor, the spleen went too [and the gall bladder, but that’s a story for another day]. The spleen is a small, but important, organ that: “Stores blood. Filters blood by removing cellular waste and getting rid of old or damaged blood cells. Makes white blood cells and antibodies that help you fight infection. Maintains the levels of fluid in…

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10/7    The Behind the Scenes Member of Your Healthcare Team

Many of us, possibly most of us, use medications to help with our chronic kidney disease. It’s been 14 years since I started writing about CKD, yet I’ve been remiss in exploring the pharmacist’s role on our healthcare teams. Then I met Dr. Soo Jang online… and I started thinking about the pharmacist’s role on our healthcare teams. She’s known as The Kidney Pharmacist on social media. So, I did…

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Another Surprising Connection

I often receive requests from readers to write about certain topics. Last week, a reader asked me if I’d ever written about chronic kidney disease and dementia. I checked the blog’s topic list, which is on the right-hand side of the blog post. Dementia was listed. I looked at each blog post that mentioned dementia, but that’s all each of them did – mention dementia. I’d never written a blog…

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Let Us Hear Your Voice

You know of my passion for spreading awareness of chronic kidney disease for the last 13 years or so. After all, you read the blog every week. Years ago, at a meeting for those involved in dispersing awareness, I met Valen Keefer electronically… and met her again at another computer gathering… and again several times over. When Valen launched her podcast with Cristen, I was impressed. I knew she…