Mark Salvo was born with a cyst on his kidney "the size of a fist," he said. His childhood included multiple surgeries to heal the kidney. His first kidney transplant, from his mother, occurred in 1982, after several months of twice-weekly dialysis.

"I was 18 years old, as big around as your finger, and scared out of my mind," Salvo told more than 270 dialysis patients and their guests at NKF-MD's Beyond Dialysis event last autumn. The group came together to learn about healthy living and meet others dealing with chronic kidney disease.

The highlight of the program was a panel presentation with guest speaker Salvo, a two-time transplant patient and NKF-MD board member, and three other individuals with chronic kidney disease. At the time of his first transplant, Salvo said, if a transplanted kidney functioned for one year, it was considered a success.

His mother's kidney served him well for nine years, but in 1991 he needed a second transplant, which he received from his brother. Today, he is healthy and successful as an executive with a family auto parts business. "You've got to live your life," he told the audience. "Dialysis is not your life. It is a part of your life."

The moderator for the panel was Virna Elly, who had a kidney and pancreas transplant operation in 2005. Lamont Thomas, 37, an NKF-MD board member who has been on dialysis for half his life, also spoke of his experiences. He credited his mother with helping him out of a deep depression following his diagnosis with kidney disease at age 18.

Dialysis patient Jim Stankovic spoke of being diagnosed with end-stage renal disease in 2006 because of excessive use of ibuprofen. He talked about the importance of enjoying one's days off between the grueling dialysis sessions. "The rest of the time should be your time," he said.

Valerie Harris-Fields has been on dialysis since 2002 and is currently using an in-home dialysis machine. The machine is more convenient than going to a dialysis center, she said, but the distributor requires that a friend or relative attend extensive training with the patient before taking the machine home.

Harris-Fields was diagnosed with kidney disease when the youngest of her eight children was four months old. Although she felt overwhelmed by the enormity of her illness, she said, "To look in the face of that baby and say that I was going to give up was not an option."

An important element of the event was encouraging patients to sign up to participate in patient-led small groups that will plan their own activities. NKF-MD will help the groups defray some of the costs of their activities.