Imagine experiencing flu-like symptoms and getting the news that your condition is actually far more serious. That was the case for podcaster Dee Moore, whose journey with kidney disease began in 2018 when doctors realized that her kidney function had plummeted.
"I felt hot, I felt sweaty. I felt really run down and progressively I was getting worse and worse. Everyday tasks became very difficult," she shares. "A week into being in the hospital was when they said that my kidneys were failing and they didn't know why. I don't drink, I don't smoke. I was exercising regularly... It was completely out of nowhere. I was really, really shocked."
Moore had to spend two months in the hospital while doctors performed test after test trying to determine what was causing her kidneys to fail.
"I was fevering all night, every night, soaking through my clothes-- soaking through the sheets like two, three, four times through the night," she adds. "I got to the point where I just couldn't move. I [would] just lay there and I was just like, 'this is too much, I can't do this anymore'. I felt at that point that I was going to die."
In May 2019, Moore received even more bad news: she was six months away from needing dialysis and unfortunately, her BMI was too high to be placed on the transplant list.
"I thought, 'no I'm not. I'm not going to be on dialysis in six months' time. I'm gonna prove you wrong'. And then I left the appointment and I went home and all the different emotions started to hit me," Moore says.
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Although she was hit with emotions, Moore kept her promise of doing whatever it took to prepare herself should she ever need a transplant. This meant getting in the best shape of her life and losing weight.
Choosing to live
Her journey to better health didn't end with the physical, however. She also got her mental health in order with the help of family, friends, colleagues and a health coach.
"My light in the darkness were my many visitors: family, friends, work colleagues and managers who brought cards, gifts and sent messages; all pouring love, hope and prayers into my suffering and lifting my severely broken and exhausted spirit. The irony was through this kidney failure experience I have felt more loved than at any time in my life before," Moore says.
In fact, her health coach helped her find the perfect mantra: one she still swears by today.
"She said to me, 'Dee, I want you to choose to live and I want you to say those words, I choose to live' and I sat there in silence. I didn't say anything. I didn't want to say anything," Moore shares. "Eventually I just said 'I choose to live'. And I kept repeating it and getting louder until I sat there and I shouted 'I choose to live' at the top of my voice and that was the turning point for me."
After two months in the hospital, Moore was able to be discharged with the help of a steroid medication that reduced her fevers after one dose and completely stopped them after the second.
Two months after she was discharged, doctors tried a risky treatment hoping to improve her kidney function to no success. "The treatment failed and I was now confronted with the reality that my kidney disease wasn’t temporary, it was for life," Moore shares.
Moore is currently under the care of a renal consultant. She has regular tests to monitor drops in her kidney function. The good news is, that she's been able to maintain enough function to avoid dialysis and a transplant.
She is also running the "Diary of a Kidney Warrior" podcast, which she started in 2020 to reach out to other patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).
"I want to take somebody from that point of getting the diagnosis to being empowered with the knowledge that they need to thrive with the disease," she says.
She hopes that fellow kidney warriors will understand that kidney disease doesn't have to be a death sentence.
"I want to share the message with kidney patients across the world that kidney disease is not just a death sentence, you can live a full life. You might have to do things differently. But you can live a full life," she notes. "It's now 2022 and I'm not on dialysis, so I'm proof that it's possible. There is hope."
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Kidney disease in the Black community
These are the 5 main risk factors of kidney disease:
- Diabetes (you or your family)
- High blood pressure (you or your family)
- Heart disease (you or your family)
- Family history of kidney failure, diabetes, or high blood pressure
- Obesity
Your race can also play a role in your risk of developing kidney disease. According to research, people from Black, Asian, and other minority ethnic backgrounds are five times more likely to require dialysis than white patients due to how prevalent diabetes and high blood pressure are in these communities. As noted above, both diabetes and high blood pressure are known risk factors for chronic kidney disease CKD.
Other important risk factors for kidney disease include:
- Age 60 or older
- Low birth weight
- Prolonged use of NSAIDs, a type of painkiller, such as ibuprofen and naproxen
- Lupus, other autoimmune disorders
- Chronic urinary tract infections
- Kidney stones
Knowing if you are at risk for kidney disease is the first and most important step you can take toward leading a healthier life.
To learn your risk, take this Kidney Risk Quiz and find out if you are at risk for developing kidney disease.
