Thank you to all who participated in the FIVE YEAR IHD ANNIVERSARY CONTEST 2010! Prizes will be sent when mailing info is sent in by the winners. Each winner will receive a blanket from NxStage, a goldtone lapel pin "Donate Life", an audio CD of Lori Hartwells book Chronically Happy from the Renal Support Network, a Transplant Experience Book Bag, a green awareness key chain hand painted by IHD moderator Rerun and a one year upgrade to Premium status plus a Value T-shirt or Tote Bag -- you get to choose the design and size from our IHateDialysis Store on Cafepress. Go to
http://www.cafepress.com/ihatedialysis and pick the design, and let okarol know if you want the Tote Bag or t-shirt (size please.)
Congratulations to the Winners:1.) t-shirt design or slogan:
pinkrose
2.) Recipe
romanyscarlett
3.) Limerick
Henry P Snicklesnorter
4.) Essay
Bassman
5.) Random drawing
Harley08
See below for winning entries:
1.) t-shirt design or slogan:
pinkrose:
Mi riρσn es su riρσn
2.) Recipe
Romanyscarlett
Vanilla Quarter Cake
It's called a "quarter cake" because the 4 main ingredients of the cake all weigh the same and form a quarter of the mixture.
The five ingredients are as follows:
Eggs
Butter (or low fat spread)
Self Raising Flour
Caster Sugar (I think this is called superfine sugar in America)*
Vanilla Extract 10ml (I used 2 to 3 drops)*
How to make the cake:
Take 3 eggs and weigh them (in their shells, XLG eggs are about 2 oz each)*
Note the weight of the eggs (I used our postage scale) and then measure out the exact same weight in sugar, flour and butter.
Also measure out 10ml of vanilla extract.
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl using a wooden spoon. You can use an electric mixer but the cake will be softer and fluffier if done by hand. (I mixed butter and sugar til creamy, then beat the eggs separately, sifted the flour as I folded it in.)
When all the ingredients have been mixed together, pour into a cake tin and bake in the oven at 180 degrees C or 390 degrees F for 25 minutes or until golden brown on the top.
Push a cake tester or sharp knife into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean the cake is ready.
The best thing about quarter cake is that you can easily increase/decrease the ingredients depending on how big you want the cake to be. If it's for a small family weigh out 3 eggs and go from there or if it's for a big party you use 6 eggs. You can also replace vanilla extract with cocoa to make a chocolate cake or add cherries/dried fruit to jazz it up a bit. I've stuck with a simple vanilla recipe because of the 5 ingredient rule but the possibilities are endless really.
The cake can be eaten as a plain sponge or you can make some icing using a little extra butter and caster sugar from the 5 original ingredients. Since buttercream icing should be made with icing sugar (I think you call it confectioners sugar) 100g of caster sugar should be put in a blender so it becomes fine and powdered. Once powdery, mix in a bowl with 50g butter and 5ml of vanilla essence. The end product can either be spread on top of the cake or you could cut it in half and spread it in the middle.
*IHD Kitchen cooks comments:
Castor or superfine sugar is not as fine as confectioners sugar, which has been crushed mechanically (and generally mixed with a little starch to keep it from clumping). If you dont have any castor sugar on hand, you can make your own by grinding granulated sugar for a couple of minutes in a food processor (this also produces sugar dust, so let it settle for a few moments before opening the food processor).
I used one 9 cake round. Two 7 tins would make a nice layer cake.
3.) Limerick
Henry P Snicklesnorter
If kidneys could just grow on trees,
Thered be no need for forums like these,
IHD helps us cope
While we all share a hope:
... A cure for our common disease
4.) Essay
ESSAY: 5 ways IHD has improved my life
By BASSMAN
I was diagnosed with Membranous glomerulohephritis over 20 years ago. This disease progresses slowly. I was able to live in denial up until the last couple of years. My health and kidney function declined to the point that I would soon have to start dialysis or get a transplant. I received a living donor transplant from my wife on 22 July 2010. I Hate Dialysis Forum helped me in many ways along the way.
INFORMATION
First and foremost, IHD provides a wealth of information. This information is all contained in one place. You have members that scour the Internet and post links to the most update studies and news clips regarding dialysis and transplantation. With all of the different member's eyes and ears all over the world, the latest information can be obtained in one location. Rather than having to scour the Internet yourself and miss out on a lot of information, you can find daily updates right on IHD in addition to you own Internet research. Actually the most important to me was the hands on information provided by the member's own experiences with dialysis and transplantation. There is no better source of information on the personal side of kidney failure than what information you can get from someone experiencing the ups and downs of the various diseases that cause kidney failure and is various treatments. The answers lie in the wealth of information located within the site. This information is readily available by using keywords in the excellent search feature of the site.
EMPATHY
Secondly and probably more important to some other than just the information is empathy. No one that I have met with kidney failure wants sympathy but everyone would like some understanding. A kidney patient realizes very early with the onset of symptoms that most healthy people in the world living their daily lives are ignorant about kidney disease, dialysis and transplant. With ESRD you either get dialysis treatments, a transplant (just another treatment) or die. Many do not know this. Even immediate family members can be very ignorant. Often times they don't really empathize with you. It's not their fault. Many of us patients are ignorant until we have the onset of symptoms and receive that fateful diagnosis. It is our duty to educate them. This is where IHD comes in. When we as kidney patients need to vent or speak with someone that has been there and done that, IHD provides us with a place to receive that understanding and support from each other. This is a valuable asset. Nothing can help us prepare better than IHD for what is to come, be it dialysis, transplant or even eventual death from kidney disease and its complications.
ENCOURAGEMENT
As I write this, I realize that each part of IHD is just as important to someone as the other parts. For some, encouragement is the greatest asset. Facing kidney failure is scary and the treatments are scary and confusing. Personally, I thought that I would be able to live my life without reaching ESRD as my kidney function was declining slowly. As the disease progressed my function began to decline more rapidly. I entertained the idea of just going on dialysis, drawing my Social Security Disability that I have paid into for the last 30 years and considering it to be my retirement until I died. Many of the posts of encouragement that I read from one member to another and reading the stories of successful transplants made me realize that 48 years old is too young to resign myself to a slow decline to death. I have spoken through threads, email and telephone to members of the site that encouraged me to go on, be proactive, get listed with UNOS and carry on with life until the opportunity to transplant came along. My opportunity came from my loving, healthy wife that was willing to donate a kidney to me. Transplant is considered by many to be the best treatment, however, many of the members of the site are not able to receive a transplant for various reasons be it a lack of donor, contraindications to transplant or outright fear of the drugs, costs and procedure itself. We all realize how personal a decision it is and offer encouragement no matter what your choice of treatment. What is good for one may not be best for another. They need encouragement to face the rigors of a life on dialysis. Though I never experience dialysis myself as I received a preemptive transplant, I witnessed first hand the site's members encouraging each other that life does not end just because you have to receive dialysis. I see members encouraging each other to not give up when it gets really rough and they experience horrible, painful complications and need someone to encourage them not to stop dialysis, to continue to fight and live not give up and die. Many members may have saved a life and never even realized it.
SOCIALIZATION AND FRIENDSHIP
Since there is no cure for kidney disease, we will have it until it or its complications take us to the grave, a grim reality of a terminal illness. This is where friendship and socialization with others in the same predicament becomes another aspect of the site that is worth more to some than others. Maybe this is the greatest aspect of the site. I know that I will remain an active member here even though I received a transplant. I know that someday my transplant is likely to fail even with diligent adherence to the medical regime. I want to maintain what friendships I have forged and follow others in their journey with kidney disease and make and assist new friends. I believe we do become an Internet family of sorts. We may even be a little dysfunctional at times but most every real life family is dysfunctional at times. With family, you hug them up, forgive them, make amends and carry on. I have witnessed this on the site as well. The opportunity to socialize with people from all over the world and learn about their health care systems, differences and obstacles in treatments is enlightening. The opportunity to learn about their food, culture, and customs and make a friend will present itself to you; all you have to do is seize that opportunity. A unique feature of the site is a place to remember members that have become another casualty of kidney disease. This tribute area is hollowed ground on the site. It puts a face on the reality of kidney disease.
HUMOR AND OFF TOPIC
With all that we as kidney patients have on our plate, we still need to have a laugh. Laughter truly is the best medicine. It may not cure your kidney disease but it will help you forget about it for a while. May be even make you feel better, even if for just a short while. It is indeed therapeutic. Even in the most serious of threads some misplaced humor can be just what the doctor ordered to make someones day or lighten the mood at the right time when things become intense. The off topic area is another place to get to know other members better, make friends and discuss just about anything you want. There is no better way to get to really know somebody than to express your views and then have them reciprocate.
SUMMARY
It is my belief there is no greater resource for the kidney patient on the Internet. IHD changed my perceptions, influenced my decisions and provided me with a wealth of information. I will always be an active member here for as long as the site exists. I feel a since of obligation to stay on and provide what information I can provide, give empathy to whose that need it, offer words of encouragement to those that are scared or confused about their future, to socialize and make friends and maybe in process make somebody laugh or smile.
I thank you all and offer prayers for those that believe in a higher power and best wishes for those that do not. Many of you may never know how much you have helped me. I will not name names in fear of leaving someone out and besides, there are just too many to list.
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