The Kidneycast

Ari discusses life after the failure of his second kidney transplant and the best of times/worst of times scenario he experienced. He talks about his move to Seattle, changing doctors and medical teams, and going back on hemo dialysis. In response to listener questions, Ari and Larra offer their advice for anyone dealing with a longterm hospital stay.

Ari and Larra report back from the Alport Syndrome Foundation Family Meeting! Ari talks about what it was like to meet people outside his family who share his disease and discusses the information and emotions from the event.

In one of our most challenging episodes to record, we talk about the failure of Ari's second transplant and his struggles with other medical issues and drug side effects that occurred at the same time.

After spending a month in the hospital, Ari takes a term off from school to try and recover. When he returns to Central Washington University, school is going rather well. But some bad weather and the side effects of one of his medications combine to create a scary situation.

After receiving his second transplant from his uncle Michael, Ari is determined to get back to school, earn his degree, and become a music teacher. He talks about what it’s like to get back to school later in life (and with a chronic illness) and some of the health issues that cropped up for him during this time. We also get to hear from Ari’s uncle Michael via email and he recommends some resources for living donors. Including: http://www.livingdonorsonline.org

After Ari's second kidney transplant, he and his medical team took steps to improve the new organ's chances in his body. He talks about those procedures, the future plans he made now that he had a working kidney again, and other medical issues that came up during this time.

In transplant preparation class, Ari learned that he had become a cautionary tale. He talks about that and his second kidney transplant (donated by his uncle Michael). With no listener mail to stop them, Larra and Ari get pretty geeky at the close of the episode.

What happens after your kidney transplant fails? Ari talks about life after his transplant failed and he had to drop out of college, including experiences with in-center dialysis.

Larra and Ari discuss the failure of his first transplant. The conversation and stories in this episode are on the bleak side, so we attempt to provide balance with singing and a brief discussion of an animated children’s film.

Larra talks to Ari about his life right after his first transplant surgery. He discusses how being a transplant recipient (and having a chronic illness) affected his first year of college.