A new year is a new opportunity. It always feels so refreshing to start the New Year. AAKP is helping you to feel great in ’08 with many new programs and ways to become the leader of your healthcare! Having the knowledge about your kidney disease can provide you with choices about your care. I encourage you to take advantage of our new programs and gain as much as you can so that you can feel great.

My favorite new program is AAKP Healthline. It is a free one-hour conference call to provide you with information on various kidney related topics. Each call is live and has healthcare professionals leading the discussion. The part of this program I like the best, is that you can ask questions of the speakers at the end of the presentation. For those of you who can’t listen in live, the phone calls are archived on our Web site. I find this handy for going back and reviewing material I might have missed the first time I heard it. The February 7 topic is on diet with Marianne Hutton, RD, CDE. On March 20, esteemed nephrologist Eli Friedman, MD, will be joining us to talk about diabetes and hypertension. When you register for a conference call, you will receive a packet of information on the topic from AAKP. This material will compliment the discussion. Please join me during the next call!

Also new this month is a live video about hyperphosphothemia and diet. This video was shot at the AAKP Annual Convention in Orlando and includes medical information, diet and recipes. It’s a wonderful way to learn more about the impact of your diet on your healthcare.

I’m also excited to announce our two new magazines. aakpDelicious! and At Home with AAKP. Each of these magazines are delivered to your door twice per year. aakpDelicious! not only has great recipes but also creative ways to incorporate your dietary needs into the family meal. I’m really thrilled about our new magazine At Home with AAKP. Home dialysis, both peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis, are not always outlined as choices to the patient. This magazine is filled with information on how to take dialysis home and be in charge of your dialysis.

This is just a sample of some of our new programs. I encourage you to take some time exploring the AAKP Web site to learn more about the many FREE programs we offer. You can never have too much knowledge about your kidney disease. AAKP can help you get the information you need!

Happy New Year!

Kris Robinson
Executive Director/CEO