For Patients

If you are a patient with late-stage Chronic Kidney Disease or End Stage Renal Disease, iChoose Kidney could help you and your doctor talk about which treatment options are best for you. End stage organ failure is the last stage of Chronic Kidney Disease, when the kidneys permanently stop working. When kidney diseases result in end organ failure, you will need either dialysis or a kidney transplant in order to live.

Dialysis is a treatment that uses a machine to clean harmful wastes, salt, and extra fluid from your blood. Kidney transplantation is surgery to replace your kidney with a healthy kidney. The healthy kidney may come from a deceased donor (someone who has recently died) or a living donor (someone who is alive, like a family member or friend). A person can live with only one healthy kidney.

Most patients with kidney disease who get a transplant live longer and have a better quality of life than patients on dialysis for a long period of time. A patient with dialysis is estimated to live for 6 years on average, while a patient with a transplant is estimated to live for 17 years.

The iChoose Kidney tool shows your estimated risks of survival and death over one and three years. These estimates are based on characteristics of patients who are similar to you. These are estimates only. The information you enter in the tool is secure, will not be saved, and is automatically cleared after you use the tool.

Ask your doctor if you have any questions or concerns, or if you want to learn more about which treatment options are best for you. We also encourage you to talk to trusted and reliable family members and friends about your treatment options.

If you would like more information about transplant, you can call 404-778-7777 or 1-800-75-EMORY, or you can visit our website.