Transplant For A Friend

My good friend Jon was transplanted last week and is doing well. It is his second kidney transplant and I have great hope that it will be a success. I haven't posted in long time, as I've been beyond busy working as a hemodialysis nurse full-time, per diem at a hospital on a step-down unit, and school for my Master of Science in Nursing. My kidney is still doing very well...on 07/07/10, it will have been 3 years. WooHoo!!! More to come as I have time.

All Is Well

All is well on the transplant front. My kidney is still working great. I'm on lower doses of tacrolimus, the primary immunosuppressant used, and feeling great. Life as a hemodialysis nurse with DaVita goes on. It's been such a great learning experience that has helped me remember my roots as a patient with End Stage Renal Disease and as a a kidney transplant patient.

An upcoming event...Alliance Donor dash 2009/Click here to register. It's a 5K walk/run at Wash Park to support Donor Alliance. It's a fun and healthy way to Donor support a great cause.

That's all for now. I'll be posting news events of mention as well as news about transplant breakthroughs that come up in the next few months.

Promising Genetic Test

Here's a very interesting new article about the immune systems of kidney transplant patients "learning" to accept the transplanted kidney without the need for immunosuppressant medications, many of which are not good for the body. I hope and pray that something comes out of this new possibility.

Trachea Transplant With Stem Cells

I just saw this today. This was a trachea transplant done in Spain in which the patient's own stem cells were used in order to allow the patient to receive the transplanted organ without the need for immunosuppressant medications. Check it out here.

Homecoming

It's good to finally have time to put into this blog. I've been hard at work since graduating nursing school and then becoming a hemodialysis nurse caring for patients with End Stage Renal Disease who are awaiting kidney transplant. I look forward to contributing new information about transplant medicine as well as new opportunities for advocacy and activism for transplant causes.

Kidney Care Petition

Here's another opportunity for legislative outreach. This is a petition to Congress to support enhanced care for those with ESRD on dialysis and those with Chronic Kidney Disease. Go here  to sign the petition.

Important Vote on Medicare

The fight goes on! The house passed legislation in August 2007 that increased the benefits Medicare pays for the care of dialysis patients with end-stage renal disease. Now it is the Senate's turn. I urge you all to write your senators and strongly urge them to create and support legislation that mirrors that passed by the House of Representatives (the house bill is H.R. 1193, The Kidney Care Quality and Education Acts 0f 2007 and you can read more about it on the House website here). Here is a helpful link  from the National Kidney Foundation that will help you write your senators. As a former dialysis patient, a kidney transplant recipient, and a nursing student soon to be a hemodialysis nurse working in a dialysis clinic, I know the physical and emotional trials that patients with ESRD on dialysis face everyday and the need for adequate Medicare coverage for ESRD is as necessary as it ever was. Please support this campaign.