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Community DC Michele Anthony National Kidney Foundation · Community D.C.

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community DC.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: I'm your host Dennis Glasgow. This morning, we welcome back
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: to the program Michelle Anthony, who's been the executive director
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: for the National Kidney Foundation National Capital Area since twenty fourteen.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: For those new to learning about kidney disease, we'll have
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: all the facts, info and data, and we'll also talk
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: about new things, including upcoming events, research donations, and much
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: more over the next thirty minutes. Here's my conversation with Michelle.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Michelle.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: How are you Dennis? Thanks so much for having me on.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: I'm well and thank you and welcome back. It's great
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: to always talk to you every six months or so
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: when we chat with you about the National Kidney Foundation
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: for Capital Area.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: So what I'd like to do.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: I know you've been a regular guest and a lot
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: of our listeners know about you and the National Kidney Foundation,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: but there are a lot of new listeners that probably
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: have heard of you but don't know exactly what you do.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: So can you give an overview for everybody?
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: Sure, we are the National Kidney Foundation serving the National
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Capital Area and Virginia. We consolidated with that office in
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: the past year. So our service areas DC and Southern
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: Maryland and all of Virginia.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: DC is an area that is hard hit.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: It's got one of the highest rates of kidney disease
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: in the nation, unfortunately. So we provide programs and services
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: for patients, for professionals, renal professionals, primary care physicians, the
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: general public, people at risk for kidney disease. We also
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: do a variety of fundraising to support the programs, both
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: locally and at the national level. We're headquartered in New
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: York City and we have sixteen offices across the country
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: plus some affiliates, so we are in every community across
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: the United States.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: So in my open I didn't do a justice and
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: we will talk a lot about this, but it's the
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: seventy fifth anniversary and I know that's a real big deal,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: so we'll chat about that, events, programs, and I also
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: want to talk to you by data. And I realized
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: that data, especially in your AINA, is very fluid. But
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: as we talk about the DMV and just the regions
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: that you tackle, and then maybe you can share some
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: national numbers with us. When it comes to kidney disease.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: What are we looking at today in twenty twenty five
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: or the latest data that you have.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: Yes, as I mentioned, we have among the highest rates
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: of kidney disease in the nation. We have seven hundred
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: thousand patients in the DMV and I've actually got to
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: pull some numbers for the state of Virginia as well.
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: But unfortunately, one in seven people, one in seven adults
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: has chronic kidney disease. That's fifteen percent of the adults
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: in the nation, which is an astounding number. And one
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: in three people is at risk for kidney disease due
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: to diabetes and hypertension, which are the leading causes of
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: kidney failure of kidney disease. So the numbers are staggering,
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: and unfortunately the diagnosis rates are very low. There's not
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: enough testing for people who are at risk for kidney disease.
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: The testing rates are only about twenty percent in our
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: local area. So people should be tested if they do
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: have diabetes or hypertension. Simple tests urine a blood test
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: that you can get from your primary care doctor. Early
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: diagnosis means that we can make interventions so that you
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: don't have to progress to kidney failure. In many cases,
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: diet and lifestyle changes can prevent kidney disease from progressing. So,
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: you know, prevention is a really big part of what
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: we do. And of course we you know, we have
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: a lot of programs and focus on treatment when people
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: unfortunately when their kidneys fail, there's dialysis and transplantation. We
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: have a big focus on home hemo dialysis. A lot
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: of people think about diet aalysis says sitting in a center,
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: sitting in one of those chairs for.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Four hours, three times a week.
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: That hemo dialysis option is now available in homes. You
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: get you get training, you have to have a care partner,
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: but it really improves the lives of people who are
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: on dialysis if they don't have to travel. Think about
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: you know, rural patients and what a wonderful thing it
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: is for them to be able to dialize at home.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: So it's really important.
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: It's one of our you know, we're pushing some national legislation,
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: you know, on the federal level so that people do
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: get more education about home dialysis and you know where
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: we do some other some other things as well that
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: are really important, Like in addition to prevention and home dialysis,
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: you know transplants, really ensuring equity in transplantation, making sure
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: that transplant options are available discussed with patients not always
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: the case, So making sure that people know about all
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: their various options. So we do local programs, national programs
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: that focus on educating patients and potential living donors.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Another really important one.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: Some people don't know still that they can donate a
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: kidney and be perfectly fine and live a perfectly normal life.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: So we do like to educate people about that opportunity.
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  Speaker 3: There are people, there are wonderful people who are out
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: there who want to do it, who want it even
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: to a stranger, donate a kidney to make someone's life
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: better or to save a life. So those are some
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: of our big advocacy priorities right now.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Michelle, you talked a little bit about some of the
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: ailments that people have when it comes to kidney disease,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: and I'm curious, and I know you and I have
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: talked to this before. Well once again, as we educate
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: our listener when it comes to a certain sex or
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: a gender, or a race or any type of person,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: whether it's young, middle age, or old, when it comes
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: to kidney disease, does it discriminate or can it attack everybody?
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Can you kind of share a little bit more about
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: your knowledge on that.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it actually can.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: Kidney disease can attack anybody at any time. There are
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: children who sometimes you know, there are genetic causes so
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: that children might have kidney disease, might go on dialysis.
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: I mean as heartbreaking as that as that is, seniors
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: are at greater risk because your kidney function declines over time.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: There are certain groups that are at higher risk.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: African Americans are four times as likely as whites to
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: develop kidney disease, Hispanics Latinos one and a half times
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: more so than whites. But really it's a non discriminating
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: disease in general, So that's why it's so important to know,
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: you know risk factors. And it's a very silent disease
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: as well. So you can be progressing along the scale
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: of you know, one to five towards kidney failure and
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: not really and feel perfectly normal until the end, and
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: then there's a lot of you know youurination problems, swelling, soreness, ache,
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: things like that start to happen when you are near
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: kidney failure. But getting those tests if you're at risk,
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: you know, is vitally important.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Well, if you could kind of share about testing because
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: a lot of people say, okay, you've scared me, Michelle,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: and rightly so too, because it can happen to anybody.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: With that said, when it comes to testing whether you're
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: predisposed or not, and somebody's talking with her GP, how
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: does the testing work in what does it consist of.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: It's very simple.
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: You can go to your doctor and you can ask
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: for the kidney profile. It's a urine test called UACR
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: and a blood test called EGFR, two simple tests. You
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: can find out more on our website at kidney dot org.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: A lot we are really working with health systems across
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: the country so that they do work this into their
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: protocols so that if people present with diabetes or hypertension,
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: that they check a box and they order the kidney profile.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: Very simple, and that those two tests will give a
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: very clear picture of your kidney function.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: So I want to talk about something that maybe is
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: a little bit more positive, and it's all positive of course,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: when we get educated and we have knowledge about what
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: you do, Michelle, when it comes to research and what
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: you've seen lately and what might be coming down the pipeline.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Is there anything that excites you or ascribing your attention
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: as far as research treatments. You talked about homecare, which
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: I think is just a gigantic game changer, and you've
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: talked about that. Is there anything else that kind of
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: gets you a little excited at least on the horizon,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: it could be pretty cool.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: While we have in the past couple of years kicked
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: off an initiative called the Innovation Fund, so we're doing
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: fundraising around that nationally. It's sort of the brainchild of
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: our CEO, Kevin Longino, and the idea there is to
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: invest in startup companies and investing companies that are doing
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: innovative things really to give them seed funding to help
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: them with their really exciting and innovative projects. And I've
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: recently seen that there are great strides in zeno transplantation,
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: so that is so exciting. I know that we've had
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: one or two. That's when you take an organ from
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: from an animal and transplant it into a human.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: Think about that? Yea, that wild? I mean that?
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: And and the first the first person who U survived
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: for a few months ended up passing away a few
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: months later. But was sort of a really you know,
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: people are at the point where they want to try
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: something new and the science is improving every day, and
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: we are headed down a road that.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: You know, FDA is looking at zeno transplantation.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: We we co sponsored a meeting with them, an externally
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: led meeting where they got patient input about zeno transplantation.
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: So that one's got me really excited, and I think
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: in the next you know, five or ten years, we're
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: really going to see great strides in that area.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: I'm standing and you mentioned it a little bit, but
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: I'd like you to expound more on it. About funding,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: everybody wants to know how you're funded and also how
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: they can donate to be a part of the National
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: Kidney Foundation. So can you go over everything for us?
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Yes? Absolutely.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: We We have many generous donors and many generous sponsors.
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: We do we get some grant funding as well, so uh,
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: we are not funded you know through through Some states
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: have departments of health that provide some funding to us,
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: but that's on a state by state basis, so heavily
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: heavily from sponsors and donors. And we we also take
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: car donations.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: We have a kidney cars program.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: We love for people to get involved as volunteers. That's
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: another way that you can you can really help. And
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: you can go to Kidney dot org to find out
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: different ways. We have a big the seventy fifth anniversary campaign.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: We're doing a lot of fundraising about that, you know,
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: around that to really keep going for the next seventy
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: five years and to keep serving you know, Kate kidney
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: patients and our local communities. And our local website is
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: Kidney w DC dot org. That's for the National Capital
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: Area in Virginia where you can learn more about our
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: local programs for patients.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: And for professionals.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: And are our different fun events that we have going
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: on throughout the year.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: And we'll talk about those and the seventy fifth anniversary
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: and all the other things. And I should encourage people
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: and we always get people that are listing to own
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: a small, medium or large business, Michelle, and we want
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: to encourage them that if we're getting their attention about
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: your cause, they can reach out to you directly too
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: and be partners right absolutely.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: My email is Michelle one L dot Anthony at Kidney
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: dot org. You can find us on social media and Facebook, Slash,
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: n KF NCA, Instagram, Slash and KF NCA, and I
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: really welcome those those conversations. We have some wonderful companies
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: that we work with that are you know, very engaged
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: in social responsibility, wanting to give back to the community,
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: wanted strengthen the communities where they are. So, you know,
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: it's a it's a great way to do it. And
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: kidney disease affects so many people. I think that a
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: lot of the companies that we work with, when they
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: hear the numbers, they realize, you know, if they have
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: a workforce of ten twenty thirty thousand employees and you
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: take those statistics and extrapolate that fifteen percent of your
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: you know, workforce is affected by kidney disease and may
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: not be diagnosed. I mean, it's a great cause to
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: get involved with. We have we do some corporate wellness
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: programs as well, so that people will think about the
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: you know, the leading causes of kidney disease and am
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: I risk?
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Should I get tested?
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: And you know, with ninety percent of the people undiagnosed,
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: think about the savings for the employer, you know, for
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: their health care and their benefits, absenteeism and really just
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: you know the well being of their workforce. I mean
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: they want the healthiest, you know, workforce possible and they
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: care about their people. So it's a great investment get
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: involved with the National Kidney Foundation.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that is well said. And I do want to
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: talk more about the seventy fifth anniversary. And it always
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: impresses me because I talked to so many cool nonprofits,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: including yours, where I can't believe it's been around for
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: seventy five years. I mean, it's extraordinary to keep a
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: nonprofit and you know, the mantra of the mission, the
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: vision might have been different when it started out to
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: where it is today because of technology and research and
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: how far we've come in all those different areas. But
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: that is a long time. So could you do me
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: a favorite. I don't know how much you know about it,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: but how did the National Kidney Foundation start seventy five
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: years ago?
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: Oh?
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great story. It's a great story.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: There was a woman named Ada de Bold in Tuckahoe,
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: New York who had a son who was diagnosed with
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: nephrodic syndrome, and very little was known about it at
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: the time. I mean a toddler, a little little boy
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: named Bobby. So she gathered doctors, and she went to
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: hospitals and she found patients and parents of patients. Held
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: meetings in her living room in Tuckaho, New York about
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: what can we do about this? So she decided that
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: the best thing was to fundraise, so she her and
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: her husband and Bobby's older brother Peter, did a letter
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: writing campaign. They didn't, i mean, think about nineteen fifty,
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: you know, there was not social media. She did not
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: have a large social network, but she was determined to
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: save her son. So the idea was to raise money
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: for research to really study this nephrotic syndrome. So that
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: formed the National Nephrosis Foundation, which later became the National
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: Kidney Foundation just more general. And they raised money and
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: they raised awareness, and her determination led to an experimental
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: drug and Bobby was part of the trial. And unfortunately,
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: little Bobby passed away at four years old, which is
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: just you know, devastating. But what she started, you know,
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: really started a movement of the National Kidney Foundation.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: So we owe a lot to our founder, aided to
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: bold sure do.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: It's an extraordinary story and it always, you know, usually
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: is a personal thing and a very small thing like
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: this when you think of what it's become now, it's
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: truly extraordinary how big it is now. By the way,
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: when it comes to representation, whether it's peers like you,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: how many different offices do you have around the country?
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: You mentioned the New York has head office, but when
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: it comes to either satellite offices or different cities that
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: are representative, how many are represented in the US.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: We have sixteen offices that are part of the national
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: organization in New York, and then we have I think
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: six or seven affiliate offices function a little differently but
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: are still under the umbrella. But we represent the entire country,
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: Continental and Alaska and Hawaii, you know, the entire United States.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Actually, Okay, I want to talk to you about events
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: and walks that are coming up, including also Tower Club.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: I know that's a real big deal. But let's get
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: back to the seventy fifth anniversary. It's extraordinary. It's really cool.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: As far as plans on what you do to celebrate
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: that throughout the year, what's it going to look like.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: The actual anniversary is on December first, So we have
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: been rolling out at our events throughout the year, at
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: our at our gala earlier in the year, we really
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: put the focus on the seventy fifth anniversary. We had
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: Doug camer and Jimmie Olebandji from NBC for narrowing narrating
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: videos for us and just really raising awareness about the
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: seventy fifth We have a fundraising campaign around it. We
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: have the seventy five heroes that so we focus on
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: patient stories.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: I love I love that you're doing that.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, And one of you know, one of them,
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: I do.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: Stacy Wore, who was on the show with us earlier
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: this year. She is one of the heroes, and really
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: her story is just such a cautionary tale.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: She had high blood pressure.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: She was diagnosed with high blood pressure in college, and
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: she had various trips to the hospital and she was
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: sick off and on and for years. Her kidney disease
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: diagnosis just went without happening.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: It's really shocking, isn't it.
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, So, I mean it kind of shows that,
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: you know, the primary care physicians are overwhelmed with everything
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: that they need to do, and so that's why you
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: know the importance of the kidney profile and trying to
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: work it into you know, their pro calls that if
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: people have diabetes, hypertension, they need to be tested for
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: kidney disease.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: So unfortunately, Stacy went on the waiting list. She managed to.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: Avoid dialysis, you know, through medication and dietary but she
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: was at end stage kidney disease for a long time.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: And I am so excited to announce that just this
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: week she got a call that a kidney from a
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: deceased owner was available to her.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: That's huge and this came available. I mean, my goodness,
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: that's another miracle, right, you.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: Know, for all the work we do, it is a
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: week like this when something like this happens that really
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: makes you. I'm so amazed at the pay so thankful
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: in the payoff exactly. So, she's been our spokesman for
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: a couple of years. She is so passionate about raising
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: awareness so others don't have to go through what she did.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: Well, please give her our best. That's that's great news.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: I didn't know that was happening. You spring that, and
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: I think that's wonderful for our listener to hear something
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: like that. And as you say, you really do see
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: a lot of hardship in your job. And once again,
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: I revisit this a long time because a lot of
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: the nonprofits we talk to deal with some very heavy
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: subjects and a lot of bad news out there. So
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: when you get good news like this, it's pretty exciting.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I mean it's life and death.
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: This is life, right, Yeah, when we see the new life.
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: And I was just talking to a volunteer the other
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: day and just hearing about post transplant and people didn't
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: realize how bad they felt until the transplant happens, and
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: they just are a.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: New person, right, Yeah.
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: Because kidney disease, they get worse and worse and it's
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: kind of gradual and whatnot, and it's a brand new
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: lease on life when they get a transplant.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Well, just extraordinary news. I'm so happy. It's just wonderful.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: I'm curious about that because it just piqued my interest
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: when it comes to transplants, you know, I know that
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: there's a waiting list out there, and I'm sure it's lengthy,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: and people you've mentioned to me on the show before.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: I waited sometimes for years, which is a little shocking,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: but it's kind of the way it is right now.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: But when it comes to qualifying and then getting it done,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: we don't have This is probably its own program, Michelle,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: but you know, what's the process about somebody getting on
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: the list, waiting and if they find how's it work?
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: And then the longevity I imagine maybe it might be
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: case by case, but how long does somebody expect to
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: live after they get a kidney transplant?
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. The really great news is with the.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: New medications that are available, kidneys are lasting longer and longer.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: We know so many people who have had their kidney
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: for twenty thirty years, which is amazing. Sometimes you might
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: have to get a couple of transplants throughout a life
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: because they used to last ten years.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Now they're lasting twenty years.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: But you know, with the new medications, I mean, you know,
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: suppressant medications that are getting better and better, the graphs
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: themselves are lasting.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: And what you're talking about too, is that we've heard
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: in I'm only a layman, so you can expound on
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: this with your knowledge and intelligence about exactly this. But
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: it's always about the rejection when you're bringing somebody else's
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: body part into your body, about it accepting it. Correct.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: That's where the medication comes.
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: In exactly, so that your body will accept the foreign
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: organ that's coming into your body. But the process is
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: that patients work. They're nephrologists. Their kidney doctor will refer
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: them to a transplant center, so they will work with
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: the transplant center to get worked up and they will
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: get put on the waiting list for a kidney, and
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: all of the transplant centers from day one really stress
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: we need to find you a living donor. What can
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: we do to help find you a living donor because
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: waiting lists vary from region to region, and ours is
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: really long. Ours is like five to seven years in
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: the DC area, and you're getting sicker and sicker as
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: time goes by. So the best option is to look
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: for a living donor. It's the outcomes are better. It's
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: the best possible match, and having the living organ just
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: makes you healthier and it lasts longer. You can schedule it.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: You don't have to wait on a waiting list for years.
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: So that's why we're really stressing the importance of living
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: donation and educating people, patients, family members, caregivers, the general
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: republic about the possibility of living donation.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: Allian Michelle, you've got a kidney walk coming up in
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: late October. Let's inform everybody about what it is and
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: how they can be a part of it.
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: The Kidney Walk is a signature fundraising event for the
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: National Kidney Foundation. We have kidney walks in seventy communities
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: across the United States, and really what it does is
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: unites and empowers people affected by kidney disease. They're loved ones,
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: living donors. The medical community is very, very supportive. We
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: have we have a lot of healthcare professionals involved, and
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: it really just amplifies awareness about kidney disease and gives
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: It's a great opportunity for fellowship, for patients to come
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: and meet one another, to see that they're not going
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: through this alone. So it's our kidney walks are on
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: October twenty fifth this year. We have one in DC
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: at Freedom Plaza and then we have one in Richmond
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: actually at Bird Park, So they're going to be going
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: on the same day in the morning. When you check in,
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: there's so many wonderful things to do. You know, there's
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: a there's a kid's corner. Uh, there's a DJ, there's
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: you know, line dancing and all kinds of fun activities.
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: We have many sponsors so that patients can learn a
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: lot about the transplant centers and the different services that
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: are available to them. Uh, we have a program, a
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: very inspirational program, and then we go out on the
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: course in d C. We have a four mile and
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: a two mile loop that starts at Freedom Plaza and
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: goes you know, it's gorgeous. It goes right in front
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: of the Washington Monument and you know, around the monuments
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: and the National Mall. I think we have one of
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: the best, you know, courses in the country and it's
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: a beautiful thing to do on a on a fall morning.
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: So I wanted to give a shout out.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: There's a there's a really interesting We're always looking for volunteers,
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: so you can contact us if you're interested in volunteering.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: I got it.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: I was in touch with a gentleman who had a
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: kidney transplant a couple of years ago. He works at
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: Carmas and they have a program called CarMax Cares, which.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: Just they want to get into the community.
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: They want to they want to serve, they want to
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: get to know community members, they want to do what
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: they can to improve the health of the community. So
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: Luis vinda Al his name is Louise and many of
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: his co workers are going to be coming down to
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: volunteer that day, and they're going to be the cheer squad,
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: you know, so that when people return from the walk,
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: they're going to have you know, pomp pomps and signs
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: and cheering people on.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: So I think it's just such a wonderful program.
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: And I just wanted to give a, you know, a
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: shout out to CarMax.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm glad you did. I love that when everybody
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: gets involved in community when it comes to that. So
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: if somebody wants to participate in that walk, specifically the
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: DC one, as far as how to register, how much
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: it cost, and anything else that they can do at
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: the event to make sure that they're a part of it.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: How does that all work out?
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: You can go to our website, but just kidneywalk dot
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: org and there you can find kidney walks across the country.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: If you go to kidneywalk dot org slash n c
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: A for National Capital Area, you'll find our local walk
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: or kidneywalk dot org slash Virginia for the Richmond Walk,
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: and there you can register.
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: Registration is free.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: You are encouraged to fundraise for the walk, and everybody
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: who raises one hundred dollars gets a Kidney Walk T
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: shirt and there are they're there.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: You know, if you raise a.
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: Thousand, you get a super duper T shirt with long sleeves.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: So yeah, we really really encourage people to visit Kidneywalk
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: dot org and learn more about that. Great.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: We only have a couple of minutes left, but I
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: want to make sure that we get in to talk
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: about Tower Club. Can you tell everybody about that?
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we're so so excited and honored. The Tower Club
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: is going to have a grand reopening celebration. They've they've
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: done a wonderful job of, you know, refurbishing the club.
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: It's going to be an elegant black tie evening on
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: October twenty third. It's called the Tower Club Charity Classic,
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: and we have been selected as the charitable foundation this year.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: So we are so honored.
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: It's gonna support our chapter, our local chapter, and bring
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: you know, the community together. They're gonna have live entertainment,
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: We're going to have silent auction the newly reimagined Club atmosphere.
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: So we are just really engaging our supporters and they're
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: engaging their supporters, and we're hoping to introduce many many
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: folks in the business community who may not be engaged
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: with the Tower Club to do so. It's it's an amazing,
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: amazing it's that building on on the Beltway that has the.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: Big loop on the top.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: I know they've seen it.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: It's way up there. That's the Tower Club.
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: So I hope, I hope that you'll you'll join us, Dennis,
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: and you know, we'll send you more information about that.
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: We are we're kind of tying it to our gala
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: which is called the Kidney Ball in the Spring, which
• 29:09
  Speaker 3: is on March twenty eighth at the Hilton McLean So
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: if you become, you know, a sponsor of the Tower
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: Club event, you get a couple of tickets to the
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: Kidney Balls time. And we're hoping to really recruit some
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: members of the business community to sponsor the Kidney Ball
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: and to serve on our committee. So please go to
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: our website to learn more, which is Kidney w DC
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: dot org.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: I'm standing Michelle. It's great to see you and great
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: to talk to you again. Thank you all so much
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: for your valuable time and your hard work, and thank
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: you again for joining us on Community DC.
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: We are so appreciative. Thank you, Dennis, Thank you so Cleave.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: The oceans and make the world the better.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: Please learn more at She Can stemps. A message brought
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: to you by the AD Council