Kidney Transplant Conversations
Kidney Transplant Conversations features diverse voices and experiences of donating, receiving, and caring for this gift of life. Over the coming months each new episode will feature interviews with patients, caregivers, advocates, donors, healthcare providers, and community leaders. At its highest level, our podcast series focuses on quality healthcare delivery, highlighting the innovative approaches kidney transplant recipients and providers are applying to improve care. Along the way, we’ll explore all the stages of the kidney transplant journey and invite our guests to share their experiences and insights. We’ll also look at things like health disparities in renal transplant, identifying where and why some groups don’t do as well when compared to others, and discuss what we can do to close the gap. This will include explorations of inclusion, diversity, equity and access (also known by the acronym IDEA), which are all subjects central to the purpose of this podcast. We invite you to subscribe and let Kidney Transplant Conversations keep you connected, informed and inspired with a constant flow of new thoughts and ideas. Send suggestions for guests and topics to: rolf.taylor@projectadvocacy.com
Episodes
Mike was just seven years old when he lost his father to kidney disease, and many years later he learned that he was at an advanced stage of the inherited condition called polycystic kidney disease (PKD), and his kidneys were slowly failing. 2019 was a very challenging year and Mike experienced multiple medical issues. He knew he needed a transplant, and that the waitlist was long and with no guarantees.
Mike started researching h...
In the previous episode we heard Darryl’s story, how he needed a kidney transplant because of kidney cancer. This week we meet Jim, who responded to “The Big Ask,” and donated a kidney to his close friend Darryl. Jim shares with us his side of the story, explaining why doing this for his “brother” was so important to him, and he describes his overall experience of making “The Big Give.”
And Dr. Adam Bregman joins us to talk about h...
In our last episode, the first of several episodes celebrating National Donate Life Month, we sat down with Jennifer Martin from the National Kidney Foundation and learned about “The Big Ask, The Big Give”, a program dedicated to helping people with chronic kidney disease find their living kidney donor.
In this episode we meet military veteran Darryl Shaw, a kidney cancer surv...
Every year, April is National Donate Life Month. This is an annual time for increasing awareness of the importance of registering as an organ donor or saving a life by being a living donor. And for kidney transplants, living donation offers the best possible outcomes for recipients.
But asking someone to give a kidney can be daunting, and the process can be a challenge...
Our first guest on this episode is counseling psychologist Dr. Camilla Nonterah, who discusses the importance of understanding and supporting transplant patients from both biological and psychosocial perspectives. She also reflects on the impact COVID is having on the mental health of transplant patients. During this episode we also hear from Barbara, John and Ed from the Florida Organ Transplant Asso...
20 years ago, a young Benji Lafitte had his promising basketball career cut short by kidney failure, and he would go on to depend on dialysis for the next two decades. After almost giving up on the transplant process, an old basketball rival persuaded Benji to engage again with a transplant center.
Benji joins us on this episode of Kidney Transplant Conversations to shar...
We talk with kidney transplant surgeon Dr. Robert Montgomery about his own experience of receiving a heart transplant three years ago. This led him to a new understanding of the challenging “new normal” for patients after a transplant, which involves multiple medications and many new responsibilities. We also discuss the evolving impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on an estimated 10 million peop...
We are joined by history maker Dr. Velma Scantlebury, who became the first Black female transplant surgeon in the US in 1989. In a wide-ranging discussion we ask whether all the current talk about health equity is resulting in real action, and we explore several current examples of intentional change. Firstly, the “Boldly Against Racism” Campaign at the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS); ...
Not everyone lives close to a hospital. In this podcast we discuss two potential challenges in managing chronic kidney disease and kidney transplants: the first is care when you live a long distance from specialist care, and the second is potential financial barriers. Our guest in this episode, Dr. Silas Prescod Norman, tells us about some very real ways that his hospital center has worked proactively...
In this episode we meet Dr. Joyce Trompeta, A Nurse Practitioner (NP) specializing in transplantation, and an Associate Professor in the school of medicine, at the University of California, San Francisco where she conducts outcome research in the department of surgery.
Dr. Trompeta discusses several areas of interest, including her concerns about disparities impacting Asian Am...
How the UNC Chapel Hill Latino Transplant Clinic is increasing access through culturally competent care. UNC Chapel Hill Latino Transplant Clinic, Part 2
Featuring Transplant Social Worker Daniela Matz and clinic founder Dr. Pablo Serrano.
In our last episode we met José and Xiomara Flores and heard about their five-year journey from kidney disease...
In this episode we’ll hear from José a patient, and Xiomara, his wife and donor, as they describe the challenges they experienced in their quest for a kidney transplant, and the joy they have felt since then. We’ll also hear from transplant social worker Daniela Matz, who assisted them.
The Census Bureau estimates that there are over 60 million Hispanics and Latinos liv...
Episode 1: Impact of Pandemic, & Meeting People Where They Are
Welcome to Kidney Transplant Conversations. The COVID-19 pandemic has everyone asking a lot of questions, especially transplant recipients, and those waiting for a transplant. In this episode we discuss the impact of the pandemic, talk about masks and vaccines, and how the pandemic is impacting people wi...
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