Dr. Phil

[goofynina]

I think Cojo did a good job talking about the importance of the disease and meds and all that, and i wanted to literally slap the shit out of that lady so she wake up and realize that what she has is sooo valuable and tell her how blessed she is for having it   And i dont know if anyone seen George Lopez (a rerun) but it was about George giving his dad a kidney, everytime the subject came up, there was a joke to follow, now how are people going to take it seriously if these shows keep throwing in "donating a kidney" as a joke?  I dunno just my   

[MyssAnne]

Nina, that's the problem, they show donating a kidney is nothing, zip, it's in, all better!!!

Doesn't quite work that way.......

[Deanne]

The transcript is here: http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/1015

You need to click on each show segment and then clicdk on the "slide" button at the top of each segment to see the whole thing.

[oswald]

 goofynina, i could be wrong but didn't george lopez have a kidney donated to him by his wife?  i don't think the show was to poke fun at donation but to give awareness to donation.

[paris]

Your right Oswald, he did get a kidney from his wife.  I have seen him interviewed a couple of times post transplant. Any time donation is in the news, for whatever reason, it help a little.

[goofynina]

He sure did Oswald, but what i am saying is because they put it in a sitcom and joke about it, some people may not take it as serious as it actually is.  If they wanted to give awareness to kidney donation i think they can find ways to do it without making it a punchline, just my 

[2_DallasCowboys]

He sure did Oswald, but what i am saying is because they put it in a sitcom and joke about it, some people may not take it as serious as it actually is. If they wanted to give awareness to kidney donation i think they can find ways to do it without making it a punchline, just my
[/quote

Nina, I could not agree more.  I would have
hoped that of all people, George Lopez
(who I really happen to like) would have
handled this a little differently!

Anne

[angela515]

Nina, that's the problem, they show donating a kidney is nothing, zip, it's in, all better!!!

Doesn't quite work that way.......

Worked that way for me the first time, and after waiting on a list the second time it was "zip, its in all better" for me. So yeah, it CAN work that way.. but I get what your saying.

As for the George Lopez episode, that's his show, COMEDY, and he brought it up for awareness, it don't matter if there were punchlines, as he stated for his reason for doing it, was for awareness... and I for one, think he did an excellent job even bringing it up.

As for my view on the show, I thought it was great... any awareness is good awareness.. the lady was stupid, and I hope her transplant team saw her and will note her attitude and so forth. As for th everything is fine after the transplant, that's how it's been for me both times so far (knock on wood) until the rejection.. so they did a great job of telling it to me, and I just think they should of added more about rejection being the outcome further down the road, and note it can have a bad experience afterward... but all in all, GREAT show, because again, we cannot be picky about awareness.. that's just pitiful. 

[KT0930]

Worked that way for me the first time, and after waiting on a list the second time it was "zip, its in all better" for me. So yeah, it CAN work that way.. but I get what your saying.

No, that's not how it worked. You're not cured of ESRD, you have to take anti-rejection meds for the rest of the life of the transplant, you have to be extra-vigilant about infections, cleaning raw foods, cooking ground beef and chicken, and not getting around sick people. Yes, you feel better, but you're not done with dealing with it. With my first transplant, because I was so young when I got it, I didn't realize what I had and I thought it was "you're all better" too. It really wasn't until the second one failed that I realized what an amazingly precious gift I had been given. If we, as patients, think "zip, it's all in, we're better", how are we going to educate the general public about the importance of organ donation, and even keeping themselves from developing ESRD if they have pre-disposing factors for it?

[angela515]

Worked that way for me the first time, and after waiting on a list the second time it was "zip, its in all better" for me. So yeah, it CAN work that way.. but I get what your saying.

No, that's not how it worked. You're not cured of ESRD, you have to take anti-rejection meds for the rest of the life of the transplant, you have to be extra-vigilant about infections, cleaning raw foods, cooking ground beef and chicken, and not getting around sick people. Yes, you feel better, but you're not done with dealing with it. With my first transplant, because I was so young when I got it, I didn't realize what I had and I thought it was "you're all better" too. It really wasn't until the second one failed that I realized what an amazingly precious gift I had been given. If we, as patients, think "zip, it's all in, we're better", how are we going to educate the general public about the importance of organ donation, and even keeping themselves from developing ESRD if they have pre-disposing factors for it?

It is zip, it's all in, I'm better, for ME. Yes I take anti-rejections meds, so what? Thats just part of my everyday life, I'm still better, I KNOW it isn't a CURE, however,for me it's my chance to live a normal life for a certain amount of years, and I will take full advantage of it and see it as yes, I'm better... and yes, I KNOW IT'S NOT A CURE.. I don't need someone to tell me that, as I AM THE PATIENT. I don't need to stay away from sick people, I don't need to do anything you said... as I am not just recently out of a transplant, I am 1 year post, and I can be around anyone I want, however I am not stupid and it's common sense not to hang around someone who has the flu or whatever, but I am saying I don't limit myself one bit from going and doing whatever I want in public... and cooking your chicken/beef until done is just common sense and has nothing to do with ESRD.

Basically what I'm saying, is for ME I like to view my time with a transplant as "normal" living as possible and not focus my life on how I have ESRD. Yes, I have it, and always will, but for awhile, I am normal, and I am living normally with taking a few pills everyday. I like to look at MY life, positively and when I am on dialysis again, then I can be pouty and depressed and looking at the world negatively.. but right now... I have been given a chance to live normal. 

[oswald]

angela and kt, i think you are both right, no need to argue.  now kiss and make out.    uh, i mean kiss and make up.        i'm sorry, i'm a psyco sicko.  kt, you are right, you should stay away from people with colds and such for awhile. the further out you go with the transplant the more lax you can be and live a more normal life.  angela's right also.  her kidney is more adjusted to her body now that it's been over a year.  chances are she's on less immuno meds then you are.  so to her, and to me too, it is like being normal.  we both know that having a transplant is not a cure but a treatment.  just my 

[KT0930]

I know that after a year or more you don't have to be AS careful as I am now, but even at the 15-18 year mark with my first transplant I had to be more careful than a "healthy" person would have been around sick people and with all the other things I mentioned. I agree that having a transplant allows you to feel like you are normal for the time it lasts, and it's a wonderful feeling, but somewhere, in the back of your mind, you still need to keep the transplant in your realm of thoughts and actions. I'm not being pouty or negative, just realistic. Sorry, didn't mean to upset anyone.

[stauffenberg]

Much as I hate to be accused of being an optimist, I am inclined to agree that with a transplant the patient is much closer to being entitled to regard himself as 'healthy' than as 'sick.'  Taking two bunches of pills a day, having blood tests every three months, and visiting the nephrologist once every nine months -- which is my regimen now more than two years post-transplant -- is such a tiny interference with normal living that it hardly counts.  I am not especially careful about avoiding people with colds or the flu, nor do I take any more care about washing vegetables than I did before immunosuppression, yet during the two years after the transplant I have been less bothered by colds and flu than I was before the transplant!

Now of course there is the threat of the graft failing or of complications arising from the anti-rejection medications, yet it is important to note that a major reason for kidney failure, especially with a living donor's kidney, is the death of the patient causing the transplanted kidney to fail, not the other way around.

[oswald]