Coping with Kidney Disease: A 12-Step Treatment Program to Help You Avoid Dialysis

Mackenzie Walser wrote this book twenty years ago to raise awareness about chronic kidney disease and since I suffer from this I'm grateful for all the books that help me figure out what to do to stay alive longer. So far my GFR has gone from 42 to 68 and now I'm at 61 so back in stage 2 after being in stage 3 for many years. I've defeated the odds and continue to learn from doctors and patients who care about this life threatening disease. This book is like an inside look into how to at least stall having to undergo dialysis on a regular basis. It promotes a low-protein diet like most do these days so compare notes with more current books about diet as the ones I'm reading now promote much more fruits and vegetables. This one has a handy chart of the phosphorus content of common foods and has a recipe for low-protein bread. Other highlights of this book include a chapter on salt and water problems, blood pressure regulation and how to treat acidosis. Some chapters have information on patients who have followed certain diets to avoid dialysis. Some of the more current books I can also recommend include: Reverse Chronic Kidney Disease by Dr. Yaw Ababio Boateng All of Lee Hull's books especially the Stopping Kidney Disease Food Guide Save Your Kidneys by Dr. Edgar Lerma The Complete Guide to Supplements for Kidney Health by Robert Galarowicz Staying Healthy with Stage 3 Chronic Kidney Disease by Dori Schatell Consult with your doctor before taking kidney supplements. I am taking Snap Kidney Health Support although it does seem to have a little diuretic result so I don't take it if I have to leave the house the next day. With kidney disease knowledge is power and I've read as much as I can over the years to improve my GFR and get better instead of worse. I should technically be dead by now since years ago my GFR was at 42 and I was headed towards dialysis. By eating more fruits and vegetables and eating a fairly low protein diet I'm surviving. I cook the pumpkin chili from Lee Hull's food guide cookbook quite often and am trying other recipes specifically for kidney patients. Please consult with your nephrologist or doctor before taking advice in any of these books or recommendations. There are so many variables and things to consider. What works for one person might not work for another. I find the more I read, the longer I'm able to survive with chronic kidney disease. All these books I read give hope and help me understand my doctor's recommendations as well. ~The Rebecca Review

This book, in my opinion, is a must for kidney patients. Well written and easy to understand, it gave me a much better understanding of CKD and what I need to do to live a longer and healthier life. Dialysis is not something I want to experience. After being diagnosed with CKD 18 months ago (stage 3)I did a lot of research on diet, etc. and happened upon Dr. Walser's book. With the approval of my nephrologist, I started using the amino acid suppliments in place of most of my dietary protein. My GFR went from 45 to 75 in three months. Very heartening! Most of the recipe books for CKD patients, in my opinion, offer a nutritionally deficient regimen and many seemed more like recipe books for developing diabetes. Being a person who likes whole foods, I decided to create my own diet regimen. I bought a copy of DietPro (a diet program that tracks food nutrition by weight) for my computer, a digital food scale, some Calwood Nutritionals amino acid powders and some of the other nutritional suppliments Dr Walser recommended. Since I'm still in the earlier stages of CKD, some days I still eat a small amount of animal protein with my evening meal, but limit it to under 4 ounces raw. I keep my potassium at 2000-3000 mg, phosphorus at 1500-1000 and sodium to under 1500 daily. It wasn't easy at first, but I'm used to it now. It takes a bit of time to set up the menu plan initially, but after that I spend about 15 minutes a day on DietPro working out my daily menu. My nephrologist says I'm doing very well and says he wishes more of his patients took a more active interest in managing their CKD. My bun creatine levels have improved and my blood potassium levels have dropped to the normal range. The swelling in my ankles and hands is pretty much gone too. Thank you Dr. Walser!!!!

I'm glad I bought this book because it was very easy to read and gave me plenty of useful talking points to discuss with my doctors. I read this book after consulting with a nephrologist regarding my recent diagnosis for CKD. It was refreshing to learn that both the author, Dr. Walser, and my doctors agree on following a course of treatment that will help defer dialysis for as long as possible. This includes the low protein diet advocated in this book. I'm planning on meeting with a registered dietician to help me plan meals that will fit my specific needs. The best parts of this book come from the author's discussion of the 12 treatment factors to pay close attention to. It's a good checklist to run by your doctors, especially if you don't have the resources to self test. Like other reviewers mentioned, I agree that the list of low protein foods and recipes could use some help. But I did find it a useful place to start. I also found the discussion of drug benefits and risks quite useful. The book was written several years ago and it might be worth following up on the studies mentioned inside. Overall, though, I would recommend it for newly diagnosed kidney patients and their families.

This was a very informational book with a lot of good advice. However, I was more looking for a book with actual recipes for a low-potassium, low-sodium, low-phosphorus, renal-friendly diet. There are a few recipes in this book, but nowhere near as many as I was expecting. It's good for someone who has just found out about their kidney disease, as well as for family/friends/support people who need to be more educated, but for those of us who have a plethora of information and now need skills to actually execute LIVING the diet and lifestyle, this book didn't really help me in that way.

... just because info was published a few years back doesnt mean it isnt incredibly useful! Not only does this give very detailed explanations of the kidneys and causes of diseases/ injury.. but it gives useful things you can do to help ... things your doctors dont bother with like simple baking soda ( which we had read about and suggested..even providing links to info on it... to which the doctors said Absolutely NO!!..then proceded to put it in iv the very next day!!??! ) Later after finding who ordered it..we found it was the hospitalist who then wrote the rx for it ( but u can buy pills on Amazon).. You really have to fight to get some docs to listen! Anyway even though the diet plans and some of the foods might not work for you.. they are exampled.. my suggestion is to make up your own.. in a nutshell Less protein ( especially animal)..even if you dont count every gram at first you could at least leave half in your plate..only have it certain days or meals etc...and take complete essential aminos in pill form ( now foods on amazon are reasonably priced).. We bought this for a family member who was guaged at 12% .. he did have a huge prostate that they just did surgery on. .which no doubt exacerbated his kidneys which were damage from side effect of med years ago.. He also has found that the d3 his docs pushed was too much ( @first we werent sure of this effect but googled it and did find d3 increases creatinine..also in this book it says " too much and your kidneys will suffer the consequence s) So needles to say they wanted dialysis ( as they did last year during pneumonia) He doesn't want it possibly ever but hed like to wait at very least a year to get this d out of him ( he fully understands what waiting could mean).. Being that the pressure of the prostate and loss of blood from it as well the d and being acidic had to make things worse.. we are hopeful that having the surgery..adding baking soda and following tips in this book as well as other natural things ( like celery seed for b.p...blackstrap molasses for iron/ calcium..has potassium but since natural and balanced superfood body should handle it well... ylang ylang e.oil etc) could all help bring him back to a better level where he could stay as long as possible! SO IF YOUR ON THE FENCE..SERIOUSLY ITS 12 BUX! I EVEN BOUGHT TWO USED COPIES FOR A DOLLAR PLUS 3.95 SHIPP SO HE COULD HAVE ONE AND WE COULD TOO MONEY WELL SPENT FOR MORE INFO THAN ANY DOC HAS GIVEN US !!! GOOD LUCK TO ALL AND THANKYOU TO LAST REVIEWER WHO WAS A PATIENT! I BET IT WAS REALLY SOMETHIN TO HAVE A DOC LIKE THAT !! :-)

VERY EASY READ: METHODICALLY WELL LAID OUT. I'm biased against Doctors because for all their "Medical School" Regiments & required courses?? They do not have to take nary a class in Dietetics...no, not one semester. Which I find amusing since there are actually 2 laws of Hippocrates: 1 we all know too well: #1). "Do no harm". The 2nd. rarely receives it's just due: #2). "Let FOOD Be your medicine". This book, albeit written by a PHD Doctor (Whom I moniker as White Coated Witch Doctors), takes into very careful consideration the IMPORTANCE of a Diet & what one eats along with nutrients & their action upon the over-all health aspects of the entire being, not just some compartmentalised aspect. Just the right amount of medical termanese mixed in with followed-up layman's explanations. Being a Dietitian by degree I understood the Medical terms AND I appreciated the carefully outlined plain-speak explanations also. I also learned some NEW things that I only had previous vague suspicions of thinking they were true.... A MUST Read for anyone who is contemplating Dialysis or has a family member contemplating it. Hell, a Must Read for anyone actually to learn how your body operates so as to COOPERATE respectfully with the laws of ones own health & body mechanism that are invariably if not vulgarly inviolate. Educate yourself & do not simply take a White-Coated Witch-Doctor's assessment of things as "The Answer". The seller was overly careful with describing the condition of the book & I found it as NEW & imperceptibly as having been read previously (Which is sad. Took me a couple of hours to comprehensively read & make notes and reconsider/review the ear-mark pages.

I read this book then went to see the book reviews again, I agree with all positive comments and disagree with some negative ones. I found the tables of food protein content not very handy. Although tables classified food from low to high protein content and what is safe to eat and what is not, the amount of protein was given per 100 calories of that food not per a measured quantity, cup, table spoon..etc. which does not serve the ordinary reader much. Otherwise, I found the book extremely helpful and a must-read for every kidney patient. It explains in easy-to-understand language ALL the topics that can in a way or another affect your kidney. After reading the tons of tips, you'll end up with SOLID education about kidney function and disease. Remember, in a 10 minute visit, your doctor will not educate you about your kidney, he barely has time to give you few important tips, and here is where this book comes into play. EDUCATION IN MY OPENION IS AS IMPORTANT AS MEDICATIONS. I looked at the publications available in the market that deal with kidney disease and found this book a unique source of hundreds of tips to help you push dialysis or kidney transplant as far as possible. Thankfully, not only a doctor or a professor at a top university for decades, Dr. Walser has solid background in kidney disease, and for a $12 price, this book is Walser's contribution to kidney patients compared to other publications written by, what I like to call, human word-processors with no medical background selling for 6 times as much.

I suffer from chronic high-blood pressure. The disease, despite my low-sodium diet and five medications, progressed to the point where my kidney began to fail. When I finally saw a kidney specialist, he told me to lose weight. The next one told me to control my blood-pressure. Well, it's tough to follow a low-sodium diet, and it progressed to Stage 3. Finally, reading this book, and following the program, I was actually able to bring my creatine levels back to normal. It's difficult to follow, but if you go off track, you get really sick. It's also expensive because you must buy amino acids (I used amino bites, which cost $140 a month) and/or Cambrooke "low protein" foods (if you need a break from fruits and vegetables). I now follow a low-sodium and low-protein diet, and I'm okay. But if I go astray, even a little bit, I get really sick. This book is invaluable because, even as austere as the diet is to follow, it's preferable to going on dialysis. I just wish HMO's and insurance companies would promote this alternative to dialysis. In this age of rising healthcare costs, you'd think they'd see the benefits of promoting this approach. In practice, my nephrologist, at a vegetarian university based program, was skeptical, and surprised when my test scores came in with improvement. You'd think these guys would be up on this research, as it's decades old.

It is really a good book for Kidney Patients.

A well written book which apart from giving details about the low protein diet explains the causes, symptoms and conventional treatments of Kidney disease. It would seem the experience of pre dialysis US Kidney patients with doctors is much the same in the UK where we have nothing more than monitoring as we gradually decline in kidney function and head towards dialysis. This book argues convincingly that doctors should recommend a low protein diet before patients go on dialysis which may delay the need to go onto this treatment by a period of time. For people with a relatively high level of kidney function then the authors experience is that this can be maintained at a stable level. He makes no claims for being able to reverse kidney disease but does expect to arrest its progression and assist with some of the symptoms.

Excellent, highly recommend this for anyone going through kidney disease.

The book clearly explains, also for 'normal' readers, the todoes in case of kidney problems and the ways to recognize them also in a very early stage. It includes various diet plans.

Very happy with the book