#SlowItDownCKD 2019

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 Make It Work

Last year, I wrote about Ozempic not being for those with type 1 diabetes. Keep in mind that diabetes is the foremost cause of CKD. Recently, I read that the FDA approved Ozempic for use in type 1 diabetes. Yep, my mind was blown. I couldn’t understand how that was a good idea now when it hadn’t been just last year. So, you and I are going to explore this as best we can with the governmental…

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Volume, Explained

Not being on any kind of dialysis myself, I wondered about it. I understand what dialysis is and the different forms of dialysis, but not volume. While I could research that myself, I’m happy to inform you that Dr. Christopher El Mouhayyar  contacted me and wanted to explain this term in a guest blog. Talk about serendipity. Chris is a Nephrology Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital/ Brigham…

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Great Minds

Of course, I flatter myself  here, but I also flatter Mathea Ford. She is a registered dietician with a specialty in chronic kidney disease. Way back in 2014, she interviewed me on her podcast, Renal Diet HQ Podcast. That was then; this is now. This week, she talked about milk. Interesting because I had planned to write about a milk substitute. She happened to mention it in this week’s podcast.…

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Let’s Start with A  

Version 1.0.0 The alphabet begins with A. So do the different types of Hepatitis. I’ve written about Hepatitis B & C previously, but poor Hepatitis A has been ignored. Today, we rectify that. Let’s start at the beginning with a definition of Hepatitis A.  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary tells us: “an acute usually benign hepatitis that is caused by a picornavirus (species Hepatitis A virus of…

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Welcome back, Leesa

Last year, we were lucky enough to have not one, but two, guest blogs from Leesa Thompson. To refresh your memory, this is how she was described in RiverJournalOnline, a upstate New York journal, upon winning an award for Kidney Stories: “In 2022, Leesa founded and is the President of ‘Kidney Stories,’ a specialized club of Toastmasters International, an organization that promotes the…

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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…