Overcoming the Guilt of a Medical Diagnosis

Sharron Rouse, founder of Kindness for Kidneys International, shares her journey of being diagnosed with kidney failure at age 31, initially attributed to lupus or pregnancy complications. After years of disease management, dialysis, and eventually receiving a kidney transplant from her sister, she discovered through genetic testing that her condition was caused by APOL1-mediated kidney disease (AMKD), a genetic variant primarily affecting people of West and Central African descent. This discovery provided her with answers and relief from uncertainty about the cause of her illness.