Acceptance and management of a life-threatening disease are often beyond the common man’s understanding. The Kidney Warriors by Vasundhara Raghavan salutes those who have braved such ailments and gives a detailed insight into how a diseased kidney leaves scars on one's psyche. While the rich can manage dialysis and a transplant, for others the economic burden is often unmanageable.
This book is a compilation of true stories of struggles faced by people with kidney disease. Vasundhara, 64, who is Dubai-based and a donor herself, has been continuously working among kidney patients. In her book, 56 Indians recount how they fought the disease and how it changed their lives.
It is heartbreaking to read the tale of Manish Kumar, one of the contributors, when he says, "I had resigned from my job. Being out of a job meant all my dreams of a solid career were distant." Like Manish’s, every story captures the courage to rise again.
The book is written in two parts—the first has stories of the 56 warriors and the second has senior medical practitioners discussing nephrology and chronic kidney disease (CKD). It is said that 2.5 lakh Indians contract CKD every year, and the number keeps increasing.
At the end, Vasundhara writes about her battle with kidney failure and different aspects of the survival game. Vasundhara's case is not just about kidney failure, dialysis and transplant, but about how she picked up her life piece by piece. As Vasundhara says, "Whose kidney goes and whose stays results from the throw of a dice."
Title: The Kidney Warriors
Author: Vasundhara Raghavan
Publisher: Notion Press
Price: Rs 260
Pages: 219