Re: Discovery Health - Gift of Life Series about Organ Donation

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for the reminder Barb! I have it on my calendar so I don't

forget.

Did any of you who have gone through a transplant or who have severely

compromised function have trouble with your memory? It either has to be that or

I

am getting senile in my old age :-) If I don't write things down, I seem to

forget them!

In a message dated 9/21/2004 6:49:24 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

beebop760@... writes:

>

> Thought this might be of interest - here is the link for the Discovery

> Health

>

>

> http://health.discovery.com/convergence/giftoflife/giftoflife.html

>

> Gift of Life: The Series

> Premiering Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, Gift of Life is a six-part series that

> guides viewers through the unprecedented journey of organ donation.

>

>

> Barb

> donor to 12/09/03

[Guest guest]

,

One of the symptoms of ESRD is cognitive decline, usually seen as

memory loss. One of the nurses at our transplant unit said they always

ask about that as patients are getting near to dialysis/transplant and

that the patient often denies any problems but a family member who is

with them will say they have definitely noticed a decline. My son - at

21 - got very " absent-minded " and occasionally couldn't remember things

like what he ate for dinner the night before. The good news is that

post-transplant things go back to normal.

Betsy

> Thank you so much for the reminder Barb!  I have it on my calendar so

> I don't

> forget.

>

> Did any of you who have gone through a transplant or who have severely

> compromised function have trouble with your memory?  It either has to

> be that or I

> am getting senile in my old age :-)  If I don't write things down, I

> seem to

> forget them!

>

>

[Guest guest]

I definitely became more forgetful the closer I got to esrd. There's no

doubt about it at all. Most esrd patients will say the same, as will the

health professionals. Because the brain is affected by the toxins in our

blood, the mind just isn't as sharp. At what percentage of kidney function

this starts happening is debatable, and I suppose it varies. I would guess

probably at least down to 30% or so, but more likely in the 10-25% range. I

think it affects memory, concentration, and just about everything else. One

thing I found was that I couldn't do simple calculations in my head as

easily as I used to, and I also started to consistently forget where I put

things.

At dialysis, when I weigh in, I often forget what my weight is before I get

to my chair, and I have to go back and do it again. I've noticed this

happens to many others as well. All it takes is for someone to say hello or

something, and I've forgotten.

Pierre

[Guest guest]

Hi Pierre,

At least I am in good company! I have been having trouble remembering phone

numbers and how to spell things, things I should not be forgetting. For me, I

have really noticed it as I got closer to 20%.

In a message dated 9/22/2004 7:46:56 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

pgl-groups@... writes:

> definitely became more forgetful the closer I got to esrd. There's no

> doubt about it at all. Most esrd patients will say the same, as will the

> health professionals. Because the brain is affected by the toxins in our

> blood, the mind just isn't as sharp. At what percentage of kidney function

> this starts happening is debatable, and I suppose it varies. I would guess

> probably at least down to 30% or so, but more likely in the 10-25% range. I

> think it affects memory, concentration, and just about everything else. One

> thing I found was that I couldn't do simple calculations in my head as

> easily as I used to, and I also started to consistently forget where I put

> things.

>