Kidney Disease Does Not Discriminate

WISTV | Meagan Norman

Photo: Twenty-three-year-old Shanel Dove has been fighting kidney disease for several years.

Most 23-year-olds are just finishing college, planning their professional careers, and thinking about their future. Shanel Dove is no different. Except she's on dialysis.

"Every night I get my supplies and take them to my room," Dove said.

A spare bedroom in her Gadsden home holds boxes of tubing, gauze, soap, and sanitizer -- just some of the supplies she orders every month to help treat her kidney disease.

"My process is about 8 1/2 hours. So it does it while I'm asleep. I hook up to the machine, and it does everything on its own," Dove said.

Dove has been waiting for a kidney for 3 years. In the meantime, the machine does what her kidneys cannot.

"I really didn't know what was involved like, I wasn't really educated about it. I just knew about the disease," Dove said.

Kidney disease is most prevalent in the African-American community. Some risk factors include diabetes and hypertension, but doctors say most African-Americans develop the disease because of genetics.

"I got it from my father," Dove said. "He has the same disease and my brothers also."
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