The Kidneycast

Ari is celebrating 10 years with his kidney transplant! He looks back at the decade since his transplant and talks about what it's like to make it to ten years. (And we encourage everyone to BECOME AN ORGAN DONOR)

The Kidneycast is back again to recommend The Big Sick, and talk about how we related to the story and loved how it was told. We also chat a bit about zombies and how Ari's transplant has allowed us to have adventures that wouldn't have been possible on dialysis.

The Kidneycast rides again! We're back to talk about the recent episode of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" with the segment about private dialysis clinics. Ari and Larra talk about his experiences with the companies mentioned in the report, and how it felt to watch the episode. We also check in on how Ari's been feeling since our last regular episode.

Our last regular episode! We wrap things up by talking about Ari's current day-to-day health with his current transplant and offer some closing thoughts about his experiences with his disease and what we've learned from making "The Kidneycast".

Don't worry! We'll be back someday if anything new crops up with Ari's health or any transplant and Alport Syndrome news warrants discussion.

We talk about Ari's most recent hospital stay and his experiences with CMV. We also discuss participating in the #NephJC chat about trying to make sure young transplant patients take their medication, and a new initiative from the National Kidney Foundation.

What does the financial side of chronic illness look like? Ari and Larra talk about insurance, disability and welfare programs and take some time to discuss the Affordable Care Act.

There's been some new transplant news in 2017! We spend this episode discussing France's new opt-out organ donation system (and why we think it's a better idea than an opt-in system). We also discuss a recent transplant op-ed piece we disagreed with and talk about why we think a pay-for-organs policy would be a terrible idea.

How do you cope with a serious chronic illness like Alport Syndrome? This week, Ari shares his coping strategies and challenges, talking about what has worked for him and how other people in his life have helped (and occasionally, hindered).

This week, Ari and Larra talk about their decision not to have children and how Ari's disease factored into their choice. Plus: a related discussion of one of Ari's crazier surgeries.

(This episode contains some discussion related to reproductive health.)

Ari talks about working to finally earn his undergraduate and masters degrees and start teaching music (his dream job!) after his third kidney transplant and feeling like he needed to prove himself after all those years of being unable to attend school or manage a challenging career. He talks about what he was able to achieve.