What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease explains to the newly diagnosed CKD patient and others the medical terms and information, and the overwhelming task of trying to understand all this at once. It covers the initial suspicion of the disease and the necessary tests to verify that suspicion. The book also tells about doctors' visits, what to expect, how to deal with them and what to do when you're missing half the information you're being given. Renal nutrition, the need for exercise, and what friends and family need to know are also included. In addition, there is an overview of publications available to the CKD patient and lists of available sources of information. Both other patients' initial reactions to their diagnosis and a glossary are provided. While this is my story, it could be any newly diagnosed Chronic Kidney Disease patient's.
Gail Rae has been a non-fiction writer for over twenty years. After earning both her B.A. and M.A. from Hunter College of The City University of New York, she began writing how to books, study guides, literary guides, and public and private newspaper articles, as well as occasionally ghosting articles. In November of 2010, Ms. Rae's essay was featured on the front page of both KidneyTimes.com and RSNHope.org. Her blog, "What Is It and How Did I Get It?" (based on this book) is carried on both The American Society of Nephrologists' and The Chronic Kidney Disease Support Forum's Facebook pages. Gail also is the kidney educator for Facebook's The Transplant Community Outreach. While Ms. Rae teaches writing and literature on the college level and acts in plays and movies, as well as writing, she strongly feels her best work has been, and always will be, her two grown daughters.