I don't usually answer the phone when my caller ID displays a number I don't recognize, but when I do, it is almost always a request for a donation to either a police or a cancer charity. I've never received a phone call asking for a donation to any sort of kidney disease charity.
Today I was downstairs dispensing with bank statements from 2003 with my new shredder that I got for Christmas when the phone rang. Our downstairs phone doesn't have caller ID, so I was in two minds about answering it. I did answer just in case it was one of the few people I like to talk to. Sure enough, it was a request for a donation to a breast cancer charity. The lady I talked to was very nice and very personable, telling me that she was looking forward to spending the weekend with a close friend of hers that she had not seen in quite a few years. So I felt inclined to donate, but this time I decided to do a little advocacy work on the side. I told her that I have CKD and have to spend a goodly amount of money battling the disease, and then I agreed to donate $20 if she would donate $20 to the NKF. For some reason, she began telling me about a friend who has lupus, and I told her that I knew people whose kidneys had failed because of lupus. Anyway, she agreed to donate!
I don't know if she actually WILL, but hey, we have to advocate for ourselves whenever we can, right? So the next time I get a call asking me to donate to the Policemen's Ball or some such thing, I might try the same tactic.
I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Author
