Dialysis: a Memoir

by Lisa Frieden

Overview

"A compelling story about coping with a serious illness, offering lessons in the value of slowing down and appreciating life in the moment." -- Kirkus Reviews

Dialysis: a Memoir portrays how a young woman's life is changed forever when her kidneys fail. From hospitalization through hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis and finally to transplant, the memoir explores how her experience of illness is at odds with the world around her: the buoyant and youthful atmosphere of the San Francisco Bay Area during the dotcom bubble of the 1990's. The memoir describes how she learns to make sense of what happened and how she ultimately overcomes the physical and emotional challenges of kidney failure to thrive in her new life. Dialysis, Second Edition, includes a new Introduction and an updated Afterword, twenty years later.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780996940962
Publisher:	Lisa Frieden
Publication date:	03/31/2020
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.48(d)

About the Author

Lisa Frieden grew up in California, with a side trip around the world as a kid, college in Cambridge, and a few unforgettable years in Santa Barbara. She's read everything from William Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, and Toni Morrison, to Sue Grafton, Elizabeth Lowell, and Jayne Ann Krentz. Her own books reflect this diversity, from Dialysis: a Memoir, to her romantic suspense books: The Offering and Finding Clarity, to her mystery, Love and Money. For updated author info, please visit: www.lisafrieden.com.

Table of Contents

Note to Reader, 1-Before and After; 2-Kidney Failure; 3-Hemodialysis; 4-Work; 5-Meditation; 6-Murphy's Law; 7-PD Life; 8-On the Road; 9-Wait; 10-Transplant; 11-Back to Life; 12-Denouement; Afterword; Acknowledgements

Editorial Reviews

"A hard-charging PR pro battles kidney failure, as chronicled in this heartfelt memoir"--Kirkus Reviews

"Weeks before Christmas 1998, Frieden (The Offering, 2013) received devastating news. Her kidneys had stopped working; by the time she was admitted to the hospital, these essential organs were just 4 percent functional. Frieden, a self-described "blonde Amazon" in her early 30s, was highly educated, professionally successful, and athletic. With no history of prior health problems, she wasn't sure how to cope with the diagnosis of anti-glomerular basement membrane disease, a rare autoimmune disorder. She began dialysis immediately, but the Bay Area resident, who previously had "lived at a frantic pace," had difficulty adjusting to her new reality. "Delays and endless waiting, and then sitting for four long hours on dialysis, all violated what I valued most: the speed and efficiency that drive successful high tech PR," she recalls. Eventually, she switched from traditional dialysis at a clinic to at-home peritoneal dialysis, which gave her more flexibility but presented its own challenges. Struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy, she continued to work full-time (and even took on a high-pressure new job) while waiting for her health to stabilize enough to receive a kidney transplant from her husband, Kurt. Despite the prosaic title and occasionally grim subject matter (kidney disease is often fatal), Frieden's memoir is fresh and engaging. She takes time to discuss the reality of living with kidney disease and how her various surgeries and treatments changed her physical health and relationship with her body, but she gives equal weight to how the disease affected her emotionally. Frieden recounts how she eventually had to accept that "I no longer fit my life story," a realization that led to a shift in perspective and a "simplicity of consciousness that nourished a profound peace." This memoir will naturally be of interest to those with kidney problems and their loved ones, but it will also speak to anyone who's led a life rocked by a personal crisis.

A compelling story about coping with a serious illness, offering lessons in the value of slowing down and appreciating life in the moment."--Kirkus Reviews.

From the Publisher

2015-03-18
A hard-charging PR pro battles kidney failure, as chronicled in this heartfelt memoir.Weeks before Christmas 1998, Frieden (The Offering, 2013) received devastating news. Her kidneys had stopped working; by the time she was admitted to the hospital, these essential organs were just 4 percent functional. Frieden, a self-described "blonde Amazon" in her early 30s, was highly educated, professionally successful, and athletic. With no history of prior health problems, she wasn't sure how to cope with the diagnosis of anti-glomerular basement membrane disease, a rare autoimmune disorder. She began dialysis immediately, but the Bay Area resident, who previously had "lived at a frantic pace," had difficulty adjusting to her new reality. "Delays and endless waiting, and then sitting for four long hours on dialysis, all violated what I valued most: the speed and efficiency that drive successful high tech PR," she recalls. Eventually, she switched from traditional dialysis at a clinic to at-home peritoneal dialysis, which gave her more flexibility but presented its own challenges. Struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy, she continued to work full-time (and even took on a high-pressure new job) while waiting for her health to stabilize enough to receive a kidney transplant from her husband, Kurt. Despite the prosaic title and occasionally grim subject matter (kidney disease is often fatal), Frieden's memoir is fresh and engaging. She takes time to discuss the reality of living with kidney disease and how her various surgeries and treatments changed her physical health and relationship with her body, but she gives equal weight to how the disease affected her emotionally. Frieden recounts how she eventually had to accept that "I no longer fit my life story," a realization that led to a shift in perspective and a "simplicity of consciousness that nourished a profound peace." This memoir will naturally be of interest to those with kidney problems and their loved ones, but it will also speak to anyone who's led a life rocked by a personal crisis.A compelling story about coping with a serious illness, offering lessons in the value of slowing down and appreciating life in the moment.

Kirkus Reviews