My Blog

Thought I would share my blog...

Blog time!
We gathered, we laughed, we got new t-shirts, and we walked and walked and walked! 10k later my wonderful team made up of Melissa and Kyle (my kids) Marsha (Kyle’s gf) Courtney ( my cousin) Jolene (my new friend) and last but not least my BFF Lana, crossed the finish line and finished our first but not last Kidney Walk raising as a team total of over $1000. I was deeply touched that my team would give up their Sunday for me. I felt incredibly supported and loved, even though they all wanted to leave me behind because I was walking to slow!

I have decided that they are all my hero’s ( Kyle you finally made it) After the walk Kyle made a huge pot of chili that we all shared. What an amazing bunch of people!!!

On to Kidney disease business… I will be posting some new videos that I have found about daisy chains. A daisy Chain is when someone that has no ties to a dialysis patient offers a kidney, with one rule, that the recipients family member or friend gives a kidney to someone else that is in need. This has ended up with as many as 8 people getting well needed kidney transplants. This is the ultimate “Paying it Forward”

Sometimes these feel good stories warm my heart, but most times I feel like the media stops short of showing the grittiness of the dialysis units. Why are Dialysis Units no a good story for the general public know about? Everyone needs to know how depressing and down hearted a dialysis unit is. They stop short of showing patients that are discolored from years of dialysis with no transplant in sight. They never delve into how depression effects almost 100% of dialysis patients.
They also never talk about patients being exposed to the deaths of fellow patients on a far to regular basis. They don't tell us about the number of patients who decide to give up and end their dialysis treatments. They never talk about how treatment doesn’t mean a cure and how low the quality of life in dialysis patient is.

Most people have no idea of some simple facts about dialysis and kidney like you can’t drink, cus you don’t pee, yep even when you are thirsty or that you can’t go out of town without months and months of notice to another treatment Centre (unless you are Natalie Cole )

Here are a few other facts…
1. No job
2. No liquid
3. No travel
4. Depression
5. A system that doesn't allow Donor Card signers to Donate unless the family authorizes the Donation. In most cases, a Donor Card signers family is not even asked about organ donation even if a card was signed.
6. Donor card signers must stand on a soap box telling everyone in their family they want to Donate and a family members can still decide not to Donate.

Kidney transplants are heartwarming and wonderful, but until everyday people know what a kidney patient goes through, kidney donations will never increase. It is hard for people to want to donate if they don't know what is happening with dialysis patients and why donation is so good.