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AAKP’s National Patient meeting is an annual convention held in a different city each year, with the exception of the virtual conferences in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19.

Ayla Maher was diagnosed with cystinosis when she was just two and a half years old. Ayla is now five years old and loves to play, read, work on puzzles, and especially loves creating art!

AAKP is pleased to announce the second annual National High Potassium Awareness Day taking place on May 1, 2021 (5.1.21). The campaign theme continues to be “Are You O-K+?” and aims to help educate kidney patients about high potassium, also known as hyperkalemia. How much do you know about potassium and the kidney diet?

INTRODUCTION As the COVID-19 pandemic passes its first year of overtaking the planet and wreaking havoc, sickness, and death upon its inhabitants, there is finally some reassurance. The disease that has caused over 100 million cases is, at least for now, in decline.

In honor of National Kidney Month, AAKP is sharing stories from AAKP Ambassadors on their unique outlook on life and kidney disease awareness. You can help spread the word about kidney disease this month by sharing your personal story with friends, family, and the kidney community.

By Bill Ryan, President and CEO, Transplant Life Foundation Steven Baldridge, RN wrote in a recent online article, “In ancient times the kidneys were viewed as the seat of feelings, conscience, and yearnings and the source of morality and ethical activity.

Written by Brian Hess, AAKP Board Member If someone other than myself, Brian, is reading this out loud to others, it means I am finally Home! First off, my hope and my best guess is that this letter won’t be read in front of people for many more years to come. It’s 2014 as I write this now.

By Jennifer Jones, USMC, AAKP Board Member and Ambassador If you are ending this year with a certain degree of stress, it's okay. There is nothing wrong with you. Calling this year overwhelming would be an understatement. Those of us with chronic kidney disease may be accustomed to uncertainty.

My original diagnosis with stage 3 Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) was years ago, in 2009, where I was left with kidney damage from prescribed Ibuprofen use, an adverse event from another prescribed combination of medications, and the onset of multiple kidney stones.