"Super Foods" on the cheap

Lacy, blogger of Laughing Lemon Pie, shares some great superfoods that are also relatively inexpensive. Typically, foods are are okay for transplant patients - unless phosphorous levels are high or blood pressure levels or something. And dialysis patients have to watch for potassium levels and other things.

So before you jump all over these so-called 'superfoods' in an effort to boost your health, ensure that these foods are not going to make your blood levels go crazy.

Cheers!

http://laughinglemonpie.com/six-superfoods-to-buy-on-a-budget/

BUDGET SUPERFOODS

Check out this great blog for some terrifically healthy foods that you can buy even on a tight budget. As I've mentioned, for us it can be difficult to work in organic foods on our budget. Not to mention working in healthy foods in general in place of what I am accustomed to eating. By, by Kraft macaroni and dinners, even for my darling Edan (that has some terrible stuff in it!!!) but hello (for us, for now) Annie's macaroni dinners, at least!

But I digress... check out this handy dandy image with some great foods on it!

Laughing Lemon Pie

http://laughinglemonpie.com/six-superfoods-to-buy-on-a-budget/

Encouraging news!

http://youtu.be/3TrW5bRlX9s

The National Kidney Foundation has encouraging news for people awaiting transplantation as well as for those currently on life-saving immuno-suppressant drugs. Check it out! 

The best part is that it's from '09, so while they say it's a 10-year plan, this means we/they should already be taking steps toward it!

 

Parsley Juice for Kidney Cleansing

I haven't tried this yet, but I plan to today or tomorrow. So far I have about 1/2 of the ingredients, and plan to pick up the rest today. It doesn't look too bad - in fact, it looks like it might be kind of good... the smoothie, anyway. :) If I can just get my blender to get that parsley nice and finely hidden in there...

http://superfoodprofiles.com/parsley-juice-kidney-cleansing-liver-detoxification

Just updated link - hopefully it will work now. If not, just google superfoodprofiles and search for the Parsley Juice Kidney Cleansing Liver Detox! :) This is where it takes me: You are here: Home > Vegetables & Greens > Parsley > Parsley Juice for Kidney Cleansing and Liver Detoxification

Naturally, none of this is FDA approved. And you may want to check with your doc. I figure since I am not ingesting anything outright forbidden or known to harm myself, my kidney or interact with my meds (I've been doing this 20 years), I can go ahead and do it. If worse comes to worse, I see my nephrologist in a couple of weeks and she will know in a heartbeat by my labs.

I will let you know if I'm affected.

By the way. I also just began taking CoQ10. So.... who knows what great things might happen? :)

Let me know if you try it, and what you think! If you make any adustments to make it taste better, tell me that, too! I am big on texture...

Cheers!

Hospital celebrates 1,000th kidney transplant

"National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) celebrated Friday its 1,000th kidney transplant since it began doing the procedure in 1988, with a survival rate of 95.2 percent."

Hospital celebrates 1,000th kidney transplant | Latest | FOCUS TAIWAN - CNA ENGLISH NEWS

Inspiring Blogger Award - Thank you, Leah Oviedo!

Today I was honored to receive the "Very Inspiring Blogger Award" from someone who inspires me more than she realizes, apart from her ImpowerYou blog (that can make you say "ouch!" when you realize you may not be living up to your potential) and the books of hers that I have read (such as the one I purchased for my niece, I Am More Than Just A Girl and the one I read more recently, How Will You Create Positive Change?). Leah Oviedo, presenter of this award, has been in my life more years than I can say, and her words truly mean something, for I have seen her evolve from a cocoon into a butterfly, and know that she is truly the deserving one.


ImpowerYou.org is about empowering women of any age - but it seems to me especially the pre-teens and up, when they are most impressionable - to recognize themselves, ourselves, as more than society might have us believe. Women are different in every fathomable way, and that's okay. In fact, it should be celebrated! Beauty and goodness come from within. Empowerment comes from within. None of these things is something anyone - man or woman - can give us. It is something we bestow upon ourselves. At least, this is the message I get from Leah's blog. Please, read it for yourself, and correct me if I am wrong!

Leah asserts that she nominated me for this award "Because of your commitment to health and a better organ transplant system." I hope to live up that, and keep working toward my commitment, with the help of my readers, my friends, my family. People like Leah, and people like you. So thank you, each and every one! You have helped to make this blog and my commitment stronger and more real each time I see the number count of readers go up on this blog. Truly.

Like most blog awards this one requires each participant to follow a few rules which are posted below. Enjoy! The rules: 1-Display the Award logo on your blog. 2-Link back to the person who nominated you. 3-State 7 things about yourself. 4-Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link back to them. 5-Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award requirements.

Seven things I am:

1. Empathetic
2. Thoughtful
3. Funny
4. Kind
5. Creative
6. Accepting
7. Interested

Unfortunately, I don't know of fifteen inspiring blogs (although I'm sure they are out there), but here are some that I have found) in no particular order as they are all great blogs to follow:

1. The Collection Cup - - Articles having to do with the mind, body, and soul; connection
2. The Better Man Projects - - My vision is that “The world needs better men.
3. ImpowerYou - - empowers individuals with real life tools
4. Happsters - - Happsters are all about happiness
5. Advocacy in Action|NKF - - National Kidney Foundation
6. Happy Wives Club -- On a journey to prove love and marriage still go hand-in-hand
7. Time to Start Loving Yourself - - Images and words to inspire
8. Lori Hartwell - - After... 4 kidney transplants... being taller than I look is a state of mind
9. My Chronic Kidney Disease - - A personal blog chronicling the experiences and learnings of a person diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) 
10. Food Babe - - achieving health, happiness and ultimate wellness  

Follow Up on Child Needing Lung Transplant

The 11-year-old Murnaghan child who only had a few weeks to live unless she received a lung transplant made news across the media. Her story pulled at our heartstrings. Even I shared it on Facebook, as what I read made it sound like it was only her age that was keeping her from getting a transplant, despite her condition being dire enough for her to be at the top of the transplant list otherwise.

We forget, when emotions come into play, just how many factors are involved. Even multiple transplant recipient patients like myself. Until, perhaps, reading some of the comments and follow-ups to the story.

The good news for the little girl is that she received the much-needed lungs. The controversy seems to have arisen for a number of reasons: 1) people think she was bumped to the top of the list because of her parents' intervention alone - when it seems that in reality when her age was reconsidered that is what removed the barrier from having kept her from being at the top of the list where she would have been anyway, and 2) people are convinced the next-in-line automatically perished, when they may not have, and 3) that people that do not understand the ins and outs of organ procurement and transplantation - i.e.; society in general and government, be it legislative, judicial or, executive - should not be making decisions on these types thing, and the list goes on.

My personal opinion is to 'fix' the issue at its root is to adopt what many other countries have done to increase organ donation: have an 'opt-out' policy rather than an 'opt in' policy. It is my observation that the majority of people don't care one way or another about where there organs go and don't care to discuss it. It's a non-interest topic.

The ones who do care to donate are, sadly, not enough. (Roughly 18 people die every die awaiting an organ transplant. That's babies, toddlers, school children, young adults, college students, new parents, the middle-aged, grandparents, great-grandparents...

The ones who are against organ donation will be able to opt out of this program.

Comments? Thoughts?

Here is more on the Murnaghan story.

Must herbs and medication be in opposition to one another?

Must herbs and medication be in opposition to one another? Must medication always have the last say in Western society? As in many scenarios, the answer is, "it depends."

Much of it depends on the patient. Much depends on the doctor. And from there, it completely depends on the doctor-patient relationship.

Throughout my 20 years dealing with CKD, or chronic kidney disease, none of the many doctors I have seen have agreed to alternative medicine. And by that I mean herbs, whether in pill form or tea form. Some things I have approached them with have been kindly researched by the hospital pharmacist, while other suggestions of mine have been (just as kindly) laughed out of the room. (Let's just say the doctor who did that is very lucky I like her so much and that we have such a great rapport!) A few vitamins have been approved here and there over the years. My doctors and pharmacist (the entire support team) are concerned about drug/herb/etc interactions because there has not been 'enough' research.

I have met a few people who indicated that their doctors do not forbid anything. It is because of these people that I post the following information on Brahmi, or more commonly known (in my circles, anyway) as Gotu Kola. I had no idea that it has so many wonderful healing aspects, even according to WHO - the World Health Organization.

Rather than reiterate the whole thing here, I will give credit where credit is due and enable you to click on this link for The Collector's Cup, which is an excellent site.

Remember to check with your doctor first if this is something that you are interested in, even though you can get it in tea form.

May good health come to us all and remain so, for with that we can do so much!

Kidney Failure & Acupuncture

How does natural Chinese medicine work in relation to serious health conditions like stage 3 renal failure?

According to kidneyfailureweb.com, acupuncture can actually improve renal function, even once it gets to stage 3. The author of the article does include the caveat that this should not be considered the only treatment, however. Still, this is good news, if accurate!

I am not certain of the credentials of this site, and am currently on a 'live chat' with them, trying to find out. The person is too busy trying to find out about me to bother answering my question about the site's validity, which is quite bothersome. The "About Us" page simply explains how helpful the site is to users. It is only as useful as it is credible. Still waiting. When I switched pages I lost the first person. Starting over with a new automatic chat.

They are in the US and Australia. There is an option to speak to an 'expert.' I have yet to reach anyone, 10 minutes later. But then again, it is just after 6 a.m. It is an automated pop-up block asking how they can help you. Although I did have a live person, once, asking for my information, before I accidentally lost them by switching pages within their site.

At any rate, the information sounds promising, and the website does look legitimate. I had hoped to find out more information before passing it on to my readers. But you can check it out and discern for yourselves.

In the end, it is really all about how our individual bodies respond to things, anyway, I've realized.

Enjoy this day - rain or shine, windy or still - it is another day to breathe in deeply the wonders of the earth and exhale the worries of yesterday.

IS IT SUICIDE TO STOP OR REFUSE DIALYSIS TREATMENT?

Someone recently posed this question, "Is is suicide to stop dialysis?" and most people I saw that responded did not end up answering the question. As a matter of fact, at last check, only one person had directly answered.

It is a difficult question to read, even for me; I do not know this person, and I have been in his/her shoes, nearly refusing it myself. I cannot imagine being the family member who has not been in our shoes having this discussion with a loved one.

The end-of-life decision is one many people must face, at one time or another, not transplant patients alone. Some people attempt to make future decisions, such as DNRs, or Do Not Resuscitates, in the event that a medical team would deem it necessary otherwise. It's opting out of treatment. Just like choosing not to dialyze, or have a transplant, or have chemotherapy treatments, is opting out.

It is our right to choose. Our right to choose to cease suffering. When the treatments has ceased to work for us. When the treatment becomes more unbearable than letting go of life. I appreciate our right to choose this path. Just like I appreciated Dr. Kevorkian helping people that wanted to move on out of this life, to move on. (I only heard tidbits about him, and this is what I understand - I don't mean to start controversy!)

I heard about a man who lost both of his legs and one of his arms due to his long duration of dialysis treatments while awaiting a kidney transplant. He finally decided to discontinue diaylsis, knowing full well the outcome. It had become unbearable, despite having his grown son and grandchild to live for. He was only 40 when he passed away.

Next time you hear someone posing this question (that is in the U.S.).... if it comes down to a time that s/he makes a decision not to have treatment... the silver lining, or tension reliever, for this person or the family is that, apparently, Medicare covers home care for this. I, for one, am very much relieved. Finances are just one thing my husband has to handle completely because it is just one more stressful thing on my plate that causes me to have a meltdown.

I just hope that it helps someone out there, should it come down to this.

http://kidneyfoundation.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/are-there-home-care-or-palliative-care-options-for-someone-with-esrd-who-wont-consent-to-dialysis/

Congressman Marino re fight with kidney cancer, future of xplt

Congressman Tom Marino (PA-10) talks about his fight with kidney cancer and his hopes for the future of transplantation in America.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/CQjpqjZAIhI?hd=1&autoplay=1

If the link above does not take you directly to the video, please click here to visit the website and view the video.

ORGANS ON THE BLACK MARKET

Organs on the black market, or selling and buying organs - is illegal. It's a topic we hear about but don't want to talk about. Surely it doesn't happen here. Not in our country. At least not to or by people that we know, or know of... It's mostly the unknowns that participate in this kind of thing, like when people talk about the Mafia, it's almost... fiction, if you can wrap yourself up in a nice little pollyanna-ish bubble.

The sad truth is, because there are not enough organs available compared to the number of people in need of them, people right here in our own back yards are becoming desperate. Yes, desperate enough to go into the black market in search of a potentially life-saving organ.

CTV has the story.

1 in 9 Americans are living with kidney disease and most don't know it. NKF

Near Death Experience Fuels Quest for Immortality: An Artist's Story

To live or to die, that is the question.

In 1979 at age 19, while living and working as a freelance artist in Toronto my health was dramatically imperiled by End-Stage Renal Failure. If the term 'End-Stage' sounds ominous, it's because it was! 

Without emergency medical intervention I would've been a dead man. The toxins had accumulated to such  lethal levels that the team of ER doctors  were shocked that I had even managed to make it into Sunnybrooke Hospital on my own two feet. 

Depiction in pencil of the 'Shribner Shunt' to initiate emergency dialysis. (10:48 am, April 4th, 1979) 

After my timely diagnosis I was outfitted with a 'Shribner Shunt' that allowed emergency dialysis therapy the very next morning. Once I had received the dialysis therapy for about five months I started to feel more human and less like a walking toxic waste dump. Kidney failure is an extremely precarious state of being!

My neighbor on the dialysis ward with my machine in the foreground, April 1979.

Making the best of a crappy situation.

A wonderful resource person at the hospital arranged for me to take over an empty room in the hospital as a make-shift studio and even supplied me with a budget in order to outfit myself with paints and canvas to enable me to start painting again as a way of getting back on my feet to regain a sense of normalcy in my shattered life. 

I decided to create a mural that I called 'Recovery I' as a salutation to what I hoped would be an eventual return to health. You might say that this mural was an 'invocation' for my own recovery from what was a shockingly horrific disease.  As a small token of appreciation for the excellent medical care and life-saving intervention I received at Sunnybrooke, I decided to donate this mural to the institution.  It hangs in the main lobby there to this day.

"Recovery I" was designed and painted as an invocation for my own eventual recovery from the ravages of End-Stage Renal Failure.

Extreme adversity leads to a life-long commitment...


Although the onslaught and aftermath of this disease was a huge setback that caused a lot of negative impacts in my life, I can now in retrospect say that the net benefits of the whole experience far outweigh the deleterious. Although I certainly would not recommend this trial by fire to anyone, for me the experience set me on a path to self-discovery though my path as a life-long artist that I would never regret. 

Sure, there have been times when I almost wished I had settled for a more financially secure career but all in all, it has been a great ride and just keeps getting better!

Inspiration or Delusion? Let History Decide.

Very soon after my eventual kidney transplant...which freed me from the exhausting routine of thrice-weekly dialysis treatments...I was a recipient of another kind: a powerful vision came to me in a vivid 'waking dream' of three triangles hovering in space. They contorted and rotated to join together to form a single design of three triangles 'within' a single triangle. Lest I sound like a total nut-job in describing this as a 'mystical experience' I will share with you the exciting development of the following days.

With the confidence of one 'inspired', I took my crude pencil sketch of my three triangles to the Archbishop of Halifax at the time, professing to him that I believed it to be a 'mystical vision' that encapsulated the mystery of the 'Trinity', which in Roman Catholic terms is the 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit'.

Much to my delight and amazement (but really, not a huge shock or surprise; I was THAT confident) the Archbishop made an executive decision on the spot and assigned the parish priest to oversee the execution of a mural in St. Mary's Basilica which I proceeded to work on with vigor!

Applying the first few strokes on 'Trinity AD 1981' at St. Mary's Basilica in Halifax.

After about three months I had completed the mural which I called "Trinity AD 1981" in the modest setting of the Parish Hall of the Basilica. My dream at the time was to someday be commissioned to design and paint a much larger and grander mural in the Sanctuary of a sacred space. Alas, this was not to be...until exactly 30 years later!

The finished mural 'Trinity AD 1981' in its humble setting at the parish hall of St. Mary's Basilica.

Although the mural was a fairly modest size and scope, it generated a lot of notoriety in the local media. I think the main reason for this was the audacity of an 'outsider' taking his unlovely pencil sketch into the hallowed offices of the Archbishop with the confidence that it would be honored by a designate wall on which to flesh it out to a full-blown mural. Take that!

My mother Shirley Gaudet stands with the Archbishop James Hayes and myself on the occasion of the unveiling.

Success ALWAYS leads to more success!

In my experience, one success ALWAYS leads to more success and this was a good test for that theory. Soon after the completion and unveiling of this early mural, I was recruited as a 'liturgical design apprentice' to the eminent Interior Decorator and Architect the (late) Reverend Father Toby McIvern with the Montreal design firm Desmarais and Robitaille Inc. where I worked for two very formative years. 

Indeed, Fr. Toby's glowing letter of endorsement was key to my much later commission of 2011/12  to design and paint a huge, ambitious mural in the coveted 'sanctuary' of Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic Church in Saskatoon. 

(The late) Reverend Father Toby McIvern posed for a quick pencil sketch on 11/05/85. The decorative 'doodles' in the background were rescued out of the wastepaper basket as Toby tossed them out after a chat on the phone.

I have chosen these particular artworks to drive home the point that artistic vision and 'inspiration' remain potent and powerful forces even in today's world; they are not outmoded artifacts of a bye-gone era. 

Working high up on the scaffold on the upper right-hand side of 'March of Trinity' aka 'Trinity 2011'.

Imagine my state of mind working on the ambitious mural that covered the entire sanctuary wall of Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic Church fully 30 years after the humble 'Trinity AD 1981'. Words like 'ecstasy' and 'euphoria' come to mind...if only things were that simple.




If you want to take a closer look at the work-in-progress of this 2011 mural, check this video which pans across the entire surface and proffers some intimate views obtainable only by high-definition zoom lens, as the artwork soars to a height of almost fifty feet at the apex.

30 years after the creation of 'Trinity AD 1981' in Halifax I was honored to stand with His Excellency Roman Catholic Bishop of Saskatoon Donald Bolan and Father Sabah, parish priest of Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic Church in Saskatoon, SK. on  03/03/2012, the day of  the official unveiling ceremony of 'March of Trinity' aka 'Trinity 2011'.

Not wanting to be typecast in any way shape or form as a 'religious' artist, I have created a prodigious number of murals across Canada over the past 30 years in the secular realm. Here is a selected mural portfolio with The Urban Wall in Saskatoon to give you an idea.


In case you were wondering, I remain to this day a successful kidney transplant thanks to the 'Gift of Life' from my loving brother Steven. He is doing well after 33 years too! One of my long-term goals is to be recognized as the World's Longest Surviving Kidney Transplant Recipient and at over 33 years I am definitely in the running. Just sayin'.

Michael Gaudet is a professional artist, mural-painter, gallery owner and art instructor. Of the more than 60 large murals he has designed and painted across Canada over the past 30 years, the most prestigious is ‘March of Trinity’ at Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic Church in Saskatoon, SK. This mural soars to almost fifty feet in height at the apex and covers the entire sanctuary wall of the church.  His current mural project ‘forever YOUNG’ (20′ x 80′) will be permanently erected in its own dedicated park in the summer of 2013.

Nigeria and Organ Transplants

A young man requested information on how he can donate a kidney in forum called Kidney Transplant Donors and Recipients on Facebook. Without looking into his background, I automatically provided a public link to the National Kidney Foundation's website.

Can the un-insured get kidney transplants? YES!

Refute to article

English: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – Medicare & You 2010, official government handbook. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While the Ethics of Organ Transplants article on About.com may be interesting, it does have one (at least) glaringly false statement! I’ve never been a big fan of the site anyway. And, really? I have to register with it to comment on Austin Cline’s article? C’mon. And I’m not giving out my email address just to correct some guy whose focus is on atheism and agnosticism anyway (ie; he doesn’t really care about organ donation).
Since I cannot comment (the easy way!), I will address it here. After all, some of you might have the same argument, or might have heard the same issue, and I want you to know that Cline’s argument is JUST NOT TRUE. He claims that, Overall, transplants are a procedure for people with lots of money or lots of insurance.
Listen to me carefully, especially if you or someone you know is need of a transplant: these procedures are NOT just for people with lots of money or lots of insurance. Not at all. My first transplant was covered by my dad’s insurance, yes.  I don’t know if he had good insurance. I know they made us jump through hoops to get it and to do the follow-up visits and I will never personally carry that particular one.
My 2nd one was covered by a combination of my husband’s insurance, Medicare, and the hospital’s kidney foundation/thing-a-ma-jigger/deal. No, I am not of retirement age and that was not a typo – Medicare actually has special clauses for various extenuating circumstances. ERSD is one of them. My 3rd transplant was covered by Medicare, the hospital’s kidney foundation thingy and outside funding/granting agencies due to extenuating circumstances.
Poor people CAN and DO have transplants, all the time. Ask a social worker or a member of your transplant team or your doctor for guidance. They are your first resource and can help!

Related articles

• Save Lives Now – Extend Kidney Anti-Rejection Drug Coverage (bobsnewheart.wordpress.com)
• Darmstadt woman finally cleared for kidney transplant (courierpress.com)
• Altruism Isn’t Working – Should We Be Able to Buy Organs? (bobsnewheart.wordpress.com)
• Financial Help for RA Treatment (everydayhealth.com)
• HCI’s bone marrow transplant unit is newest in Utah (fox13now.com)

RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN & ADULTS REGARDING TRANSPLANTATION

The following is a (by far incomplete!) list of some of the vast amount of materials available for both children and adults who may be facing transplantation of various organs.

There are childrens' books written by the children who have experienced transplantation, or witnessed a loved one going through it. Juvenile. Comics. Humor. There are resource manuals for adults. Numerous website. Fiction and non-fiction.

I have categorized it in an attempt to simplify your search.

Best wishes.

HELPFUL BOOKS, JOURNALS, WEBSITES

BOOKS

Children’s

• Pennies, Nickels and Dimes, Elizabeth Murphy-Melas, Anthony Pouncey

• Precious Gifts: Katie Coolican’s Story, Barklay and Eve Explain Organ Donation, Karen L. Carney

• Now Caitlin Can: A donated organ helps a child get well, Ramona Wood

• Dorien’s New Liver, Beatrix Kinderkliniek

• Lizzie Gets a New Liver, Lizzy Ribal, Beth Basham, Patricia Ritter McCracken

English: The restored scene from Dr Barnard’s first human heart transplantation – world’s most famous heart of young donor Denise Duval just died…. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Juvenile

• There’s a Little Bit of Me in Jamey, Diana M. Amadeo

Young Adult

• Pig-Heart Boy, Malorie Blackman (shortlisted for Carnegie Medal)

• Stealing Kevin’s Heart, M. Scott Carter

• The Bower Bird, Ann Kelley

• She Died Too Young (One Last Wish), Lurlene McDaniel

• Heart Transplant, Andrew Vachss (Bullies) (featured in PW)

• Organ Transplants: A Survival Guide for the Entire Family, Tina P Schwartz

Autobiographies/Biographies/Memoirs

• Gary Coleman, Medical Miracle, Bill Davidson

• Baby James: A Legacy of Love and Family Courage, Thos Kent Miller

• To the Edge and Back: My Story from Organ Transplant Survivor to Olympic Snowboarder, Chris Klug, Steven J. Jackson

• A Transplant for Katy, Luis Fabregas

• Christiaan Barnard: One Life, Christiaan Barnard, Curtis Bill Pepper

• Or You Can Let Him Go by Kathryn Seidick (featured in NYTimes, endorsed by Nora Roberts)

• Chronically Happy: Joyful Living in Spite of Chronic Illness by Lori Hartwell

• Larry’s Kidney: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant–and Save His Life , Daniel Asa Rose

• Face to Face: My Quest to Perform the First Full Face Transplant by Maria Z. Siemionow

• Every Second Counts: The Race to Transplant the First Human Heart
  by Donald McRae

• Heart of Iron: My Journey from Transplant Patient to Ironman Triathlete
  by Kyle Garlett

Other NF

• Transplant: From Myth to Reality, Nicholas L. Tilney

• A History of Organ Transplantation: Ancient Legends to Modern Practice, David Hamilton

• Artificial Organs (New Techniques in Surgery Series) by Nadey S. Hakim NF

• On the List: Fixing America’s Failing Organ Transplant System, Steve Farber, Harlan Abrahams

• Last Best Gifts: Altruism and the Market for Human Blood and Organs, Kieran Healy

• Coping with an Organ Transplant: A Practical Guide, Elizabeth Parr, Janet Mize

• Raising the Dead: Organ Transplants, Ethics, and Society by Ronald Munson NF

• Matching Organs with Donors: Legality and Kinship in Transplants, Marie-Andree Jacob

• Kidney for Sale by Owner: Human Organs, Transplantation, and the Market, Mark Cherry

• Pediatric Solid Organ Transplantation, Derdre Kelly, Kim Olthoff, Steven Webber

Journals

• Heart transplantation / International Society for Heart Transplantation

• The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation

 

Websites

http://organdonor.gov/materialsresources/materialsntlevents.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23274332

http://livingdonorsarepeopletoo.com/

http://organdonor.gov/about/data.html

http://donatelife.net/understanding-donation/

http://www.rsnhope.org/

http://www.classkids.org/just-for-kids.html

Is Avoiding Kidney Transplantation Possible?

Yes, even chronic kidney disease (CKD) can go into remission, or be reversed, according to some personal stories I have come across here and there, if caught early enough. Based on those stories (and I cannot back them up or verify them), I want to share something with you, my faithful readers.

According to the article below, you should get your kidney health checked every YEAR. And by ‘you’ I mean the average Joe, not people like me, with CKD, or chronic kidney disease.

Kidney disease creeps up on you like a spider quietly coming down its web from above. This disease is scarier, though, because it attacks from the inside where you can’t see it coming. So you must do your part to try to look for the tiny hints that might appear – if you are lucky enough to have any hints – and to do your part to try to stay healthy despite the environmental, biological, physical, psychological and emotional hazards we face daily.

Read on to discover what types of supplements can help, and if I remember correctly, what may hinder (keeping the article to refer back to for future reference!). I have some excerpts below, for you, but for detailed information, please take some time to peruse the entire article. It mentions CoQ10 and others you may have heard of before.

*Keep in mind that if you already have CKD check with your doctor before even considering taking any of these supplements!!*

Thank you to Carl Bullen from the Kidney Transplant Donors and Recipients Facebook page for sharing this with us!

Copyright Notice

© Christina D. George and The Treasure Trove, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Christina D. George and The Treasure Trove with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Innovative Strategies to Combat Kidney Disease

Key points in the article:

What You Need to Know: Strategies to Combat Kidney Disease

• It is imperative that aging individuals receive regular blood tests to monitor kidney health. In addition to standard creatinine, albumin, and BUN/creatinine ratio testing, cystatin-C levels should also be measured, as this constitutes a far more accurate biomarker of renal function.
• The high-pressure and toxin-rich environment involved in renal function renders these delicate, highly complex organs especially vulnerable to damage, dysfunction, and disease.
• High blood pressure, elevated blood sugar¸ NSAIDs, certain medications, and high-protein diets are the most common threats to kidney health.
• Nutrients such as pyridoxal-5-phosphate (P5P) fight AGEs and ALEs.
• CoQ10, silymarin, resveratrol, and lipoic acid are also clinically supported, potent interventions.
• Omega-3 fatty acids help quell inflammation, contributing to enhanced kidney health.
• A host of additional nutrients complement these actions, including folic acid (folate) and vitamins C and E.

Understanding Kidney Disease
The kidney ranks among the most complex and delicately evolved of all the major organs, making it particularly vulnerable to damage and dysfunction. As the body’s primary filtration system, it must “process” roughly 200 quarts of blood per day, rendering about 2 quarts of waste products and water.29

The fundamental structural unit of the kidney is the nephron. These high-pressure filtering mechanisms govern the removal of waste products and toxins, control blood pressure and volume, and regulate levels of electrolytes and metabolites in the blood. A healthy kidney contains approximately 800,000 to 1 million nephrons.

Housed within each nephron is a front-line filtration element called the glomerulus, a miniscule capillary coil. (The two together resemble an incandescent light bulb containing a convoluted filament.) The endothelial cells of the glomerulic capillaries act as the direct physical exchange between the kidney and the bloodstream. Waste products and water are combined to form urine, while blood cells and protein remain in the circulatory system.

The kidney’s tight control of water and mineral flow, and its role in maintaining healthy blood pressure and mineral balance, rely on the optimal functioning of nephrons and glomeruli. For this reason, one of the primary markers of kidney function is the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), a measure of the volume of fluid the kidney is able to process at any given time.

The glomerular filtration rate; plasma concentrations of the waste substances creatinine, urea, and nitrogen (blood urea nitrogen or BUN); and levels of protein in the blood and urine are the most commonly used measures to determine the presence of CKD. Rapidly rising creatinine usually signals imminent kidney failure. There should be no protein in the urine if your kidneys are functioning optimally.

It should be noted that BUN and creatinine may not increase above the normal range until 60% of total kidney function is lost. This is why certain aging individuals should ask their doctors to test for cystatin-C in the blood. Cystatin-C is a protein produced by virtually all cells and tissues in the body. Because it is formed freely and at a near-constant rate—as opposed to albumin, which may fluctuate with dietary protein intake—plasma cystatin-C serves as a more accurate biomarker of renal function.30

CKD may be categorized in one of 5 stages. Stage 1, the mildest, is defined only by the persistent presence of protein in urine (GFR may be normal); in each successively higher stage, GFR declines, until Stage 5 is reached, defining end-stage renal disease (ESRD), or kidney failure.31 ESRD is irreversible and results in death without dialysis or kidney transplant.32

Risks to Kidney Health

Given the toxic, high-pressure conditions involved in renal function and the delicacy of the kidney’s structural components, it comes as no surprise that an array of near-constant internal and external insults may take a severe toll on the glomeruli and other parts of the kidney. Their incremental damage and destruction leads to the progressive decline in renal function seen in aging humans.

These internal and external insults include:

• Hypertension. Over time, chronic high blood pressure inflicts damage to the endothelial cells lining the kidney’s blood vessels, including those within the glomeruli. The result is a familiar cascade of events that leads to the thickening of blood vessel walls and reduction in blood flow seen in atherosclerosis. Reduced blood flow is in turn directly translated into lower GFR. Pressure damage to the glomeruli also diminishes their filtration capacity, permitting large protein molecules such as albumin to pass into urine instead of remaining in circulation. (This is why urine albumin levels are used to detect kidney disease.)
• Elevated serum glucose. Diabetes is now the leading cause of CKD.61 Experts predict even greater increases in CKD if rates of diabetes incidence continue to rise steeply.62 It should be noted, however, that high blood sugar poses a threat to kidney health even in non-diabetic individuals. Chronic exposure to glucose degrades and destroys kidney cells through the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs)—molecules generated through the pathologic binding of glucose to proteins in the body. AGEs cause primary structural proteins in the cells to cross-link and become non-functional, increasing oxidative stress, inflammation, and directly damaging kidney tissue.63-66 It has been established that even early-stage insulin resistance is associated with CKD.67
• Excess fatty tissue. Body fat contributes to the development of CKD through production of inflammatory cytokines specific to adipose (fatty) tissue called adipokines. Along with AGEs and oxidative stress, adipokines exacerbate the inflammation commonly found in people with CKD.67 For this reason, metabolic syndrome—co-occurring insulin resistance, hypertension, and abdominal obesity—represents a perfect storm for the development of CKD. A 2007 study found that metabolic syndrome occurs in 30.5% of individuals with stage 4 or stage 5 chronic kidney disease.68 Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of chronic kidney disease, even before diabetes manifests.69
• Protein over-consumption. Ingesting an excessive amount of protein, particularly meat, may tax the kidneys to the point of distress. The extraordinary increase in individuals adhering misguidedly to high-protein diets in order to lose weight has had the unintended consequence of boosting rates of kidney damage and disease. Meat consumption also results in high AGE production and the consequent inflammatory injury to kidney tissue.69 A prudent approach to dietary protein is thus encouraged by most experts, particularly in people who already have some degree of CKD.
• Drugs. The nephrotoxic side effects of many commonly used medications comprise another significant causative factor in CKD. Chief among the mechanisms by which drugs cause kidney damage are oxidative stress and adverse alterations in cellular energy management. So-called “analgesic nephropathy” involves destruction of the active regions of the kidney by overuse of pain relievers, usually used in combinations of two or more, including the common over-the-counter medication acetaminophen (Tylenol®) as well as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) including high-dose aspirin, and ibuprofen (Advil®, Motrin®).70-73 Chemotherapy agents have also been shown to significantly impair renal function.74,75 Please note that acetaminophen inflicts kidney damage via a different mechanism than pain relieving drugs like ibuprofen.

from http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2010/may2010_Innovative-Strategies-to-Combat-Kidney-Disease_03.htm By Julius Goepp, MD

Just a heads-up: This is a paste from my You are a Treasure because it technically belongs over here and I wrote it in the wrong place. So if you happen to follow both blogs, well, lucky you! You get the info twice! ;)

When Sci-Fi Becomes Reality

English: Still from Sci-Fi short film “The Scanner”. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Science fiction. What is it, really? One person’s wild imagination? A couple of authors bent on imposing their wild viewpoints on aliens and monsters and end-of-earth stories?

Ray Bradbury was a leading Sci-Fi author. Personally, I enjoyed Fahrenheit 451, about book banning (which leads to another post entirely!). But what about Star Trek‘s communicator that Captain Kirk always used? Would you see it like today’s cell phones? Listosaur.com does. Check out their neat list (and yes, they mention Ray Bradbury)! I remember when there were no computers. I remember hearing about the very first computer, and how it was so large it took up an entire (large) room. It seems that technology plays a very large part in sci-fi venues – or at least if not official sci-fi venues, then what some naysayers might consider that – and it seems that some of that has actually come to pass.

For example, do you remember anyone that was skeptical about the idea of the human race shooting up to the moon, much less walking on it? The moon was made of cheese, right? And, uhm, wasn’t the earth flat, at some point, too? Sci-fi. Too hard to believe. Ridiculous.

And who takes an organ out of a human body and puts into another human body, for goodness’ sake? And on top of that, expects that person to live?? Or, even more fantastically, expects BOTH of them to live??? Well, that’s exactly what science is doing today, thanks to the “Father of Transplantation,” Dr. Thomas Starzl. How do I know this? My father donated his kidney to me in 1993. He is still alive and well. Also, I have talked to Dr. Starzl via email. My nephrologist used to work with him.

Kidney (Photo credit: Joshua Schwimmer)

The following article is dear to me because since that transplant I have needed 2 more, and they have had to come from cadaver donors. I count myself among the extra fortunate to have been able to acquire these in lieu of dying while on dialysis, as so many have, and continue to do. I have read other articles about science experimenting with creating kidneys from cell tissue, which I think is also amazing.
Science can sound far-fetched, and even like science fiction. I experienced it first-hand with each of my transplants. But since I was ‘out’ during the surgeries, of course, it didn’t have as much of an impact as it could have! What really impacted me as a Sci-Fi moment was feeling my baby grow within, and then watching him ‘pop’ out. Totally freaky. And I can hardly wrap my head around how that type of thing is not
science fiction!! lol

Thanks for reading. Thank you for considering, again, being an organ donor. And for discussing it with your friends and family. I don’t mean to harp. But it truly could be you or yours one day. No one knew I was on the road to the grave until I had one week “till death do us part.”

Doctors can’t always catch things like this without you doing your part and telling him/her any unusual symptoms like fatigue, swelling, unusual weight gain/loss that you can’t explain… taking your blood pressure only on doctor’s visits is not an accurate representation of what is going on with your body. When you go to the pharmacy, use their blood pressure machine there (typically there is one nearby, where you pick up) and keep track of it. Eat healthy and try to splurge only 1-2x/week. Be a good role model for your kids. Drink lots of water. Don’t worry, I’m preaching to myself as I write – it’s not like I do all these things regularly. Well, I do take my vitals twice a day everyday.

Rat Kidneys Made in Lab Seen as Step to Human Transplants – NYTimes.com.

Related articles

• Searching for a sci-fi short story I saw here once (ask.metafilter.com)
• Authors Read from Phantom Sense and Analog (marcellathegroom.wordpress.com)
• Dystopia vs. Sci Fi (yadystopiafiction.wordpress.com)
• Take Your Seashells Out of Your Ears! (nomediakings.org)
• Technobabble (kenlizzi.wordpress.com)

HONORING, REMEMBERING, ENCOURGING

April 19 is National Blue & Green Day. What does this mean, you ask? It's your opportunity to "give HOPE to the more than 117,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list; HONOR organ, eye and tissue donors;
REMEMBER those that died waiting for their second chance at life; and CELEBRATE the
patients who received the gift of life through transplantation."

You might not realize it at first thought, but chance are good that you know someone first or second or third hand that has had a transplant or is need of one. And there may come a day that you - yes, you - may be in need of one yourself. 

According to the Donate Life America site:

Statistics

Currently, nearly 120,000 men, women and children are awaiting organ transplants in the United States. For specific numbers visit unos.org
65,991 Multicultural Patients*
1,760 Pediatric Patients*
28,052 Organ Transplants Performed in 2011
14,013 Organ Donors in 2012
More than 46,000 corneas were transplanted in 2012
More than 1 million tissue transplants are done each year and the surgical need for tissue has been steadily rising
*as of March 2013

 Even if you keep your body healthy and keep the toxins out, life has a way of changing your circumstances.

Please think about those wonderful, selfless people who have donated in either life or death as well as those people who have so gratefully received those needed transplants to save or greatly improve their lives and have fun on April 19th: Have a blue & green party! Make a blue & green cake! Wear blue & green!

Thank you, organ donors and families who have made it possible for myself and others like me to live our lives fully.

Blood Mary's + Healthy Kidneys??

How about a healthy recipe for Bloody Mary's to celebrate National Kidney Month? The Washingtonian provides it for you, along with some helpful tips.

What You Should Know About Kidney Health | Healthy Recipes | Washingtonian

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© Christina D. George and In the beginning, 2011-2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Christina D. George and In the beginning with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Paris, France and Organ Donors: Who in the world do they have in common?

I received a call from Paris this week. As in Paris, France. Not Paris, Texas, or Paris, Tennessee, or some other Paris in some U.S. location. Nope, I mean the real deal. The City of Lights. La Ville-Lumière.
The place many daydream of visiting. The place many dreamers go, in life and in slumber. The place of artists and cafes, wines and cheese, history and architecture, love and romance and… of all things, Shelly Brady.

Shelly Brady is the founder of the Global Organization for Organ Donation, or GOOD, for short. She has a compelling story that you can read here that led her to the amazing work of honoring organ donors. That’s right. This woman, this American in Paris, is not out to get anything from anyone. She is out to honor those (and the families of those) who have so selflessly and wholly given to others.

If there is anything she asks, it is for Oklahoma and Parisian newspapers to input a special symbol  in the donor’s obituary, indicating s/he was an organ donor and saved others’ lives. What a woman. What a cause. What a way to honor the donors and their families.
I have asked her how I can help spread the word in my state. Perhaps you want to spread the word to newspapers in your state or region as well?

Related articles

• Living Organ Donors Honored At Ceremony In King Of Prussia (philadelphia.cbslocal.com)
• Rally champ signs up as organ donor (itv.com)

Project MUSE - Living Organ Donation

Project MUSE - Living Organ Donation

This site offers viewpoints from living organ donors. I have only read one so far (and excuse me if I've posted this before) but I've found it quite interesting, even with my background. Hopefully you will, as well.

Meeting Givers

I am so thankful that I know one of my donors. The one closest to me.

It would also be nice to be able to thank the anonymous donor families. Perhaps one day they will reach out in memory of their loved one, as in the following case.

Parents Mark Anniversary of Son’s Death by Meeting His Organ Recipients. I think that if I were in their shoes I might want to do the same.

I Am So Impressed

I am so impressed with the new and improved looks of my blog, I could hardly wait to share it with you! My darling Edan is sleeping, Randy is off working, I am nursing a subsiding migraine and should be resting and yet... My enthusiasm cannot be contained. Seriously, if you could compare the old site to this one! (If your memory is like mine, however, I am grateful that you do not remember the lowliness from which my blog design/layout hath come!)

My new friend, author and gardener extraordinaire Becke Martin, inadvertently introduced me to this fantastic way to enhance my Blogger account. So, thanks to her and shabbyblogs.com it looks like a brand spankin' new website! And along the way, it helped that I learned a few things about how to use this site.

I just realized how bragadocious this may have seemed! It was a time-consuming and rather enjoyable effort, yes, but... that is not to say this is a top-notch blog, now, or anything. This is just to say... Hey, friends, family, maybe since you love me you will appreciate my efforts and maybe this format will be easier to read, and more enjoyable, and while you're at it, maybe more of you will actually FOLLOW ME (cuz, you know, more than 4 followers would be really, really sweet right now). And. Hmmmm.... I guess I am just writing this to brag on myself! <grin>

Seriously. This format should be easier to read and easier to comment on. AND I think this particular blog is going to focus on transplantation and organ donation awareness issues. Perhaps occasional other general things added in.

My other blog, The Treasure Trove has nearly 60 followers, I believe, over 350 hits, many more posts (because a lot of them I just repost from other interesting blogs), and a much wider range of topics. So if you're bored sometime and want to pick my brain but don't want to actually talk to me (or it's a bad time to do so) just check out The Treasure Trove. And PLEASE - leave me a comment there so I know you were thinking of me!

One main purpose of my blogs starting up again is an effort on my part to CONNECT with others. Here is my hand reaching out. Will you reach back?

MARCH: National Kidney Month

Here it is, the third day of March, and I only just realized that it is National Kidney Month. So says the National Kidney Foundation. And they would know!

For anyone that is concerned about the possibility of kidney disease, they are offering free screenings. How do you know if you should be concerned? High blood pressure is one factor to consider.

If science telling you this just isn't enough, consider reading the story I just did about a woman whose husband is awaiting a kidney transplant because he didn't realize he had high blood pressure and it all crept up on him and before he knew it he had kidney disease so severe that he is awaiting a kidney transplant. I think I have the facts straight. Check out her blog: Twenty-five Seasons.

Take care of those kidneys. While it's true that you only need one (yes, this woman's husband can get a live donor!), you CANNOT live without ANY. Give your kidney(s) plenty of fluid. Be careful with that salt shaker. Eat 'live' foods - i.e.; produce. This won't just do your kidneys good, but your whole body.

Now raise your glass (of water!) up and say cheers to your kidney(s)! Love 'em and care for them because they are just one more organ or pair of organs that are working hard to keep you alive and well.

Truly Priceless Gifts

This brief essay is an attempt to sum up the great need and appreciation for organs. I leave out many, many details to respect people's privacy (like my father's, for example), but omitting certain details makes the stories behind the people no less important.

I write this to honor all those people who have been organ donors (Dad), as well as to those who have gone through the process of trying to donate (Traci Smith, Jackson Maddox, Gerry Sloan). These are just the ones I know. My readers may know more. And I honor those donors and potential donors, as well.

For those of you planning on becoming organ donors, who have talked to your families, marked your drivers license, etc., I and the transplant community thank you, too.



By the time I was a pre-teen, I could scarcely look at myself in the mirror, the circles under my eyes were so dark. Yet routine doctor visits had revealed nothing other than "allergies." At 16, I could not remember from one day to the next how to get to the high school, but was embarrassed to say anything. Entering my senior year of high school, the gym instructor told me I would fail (and thus not graduate) if I did not participate. But I literally could not, there was so much acid buildup in my knees. Then I came down with the "flu" and severe back pain.

My mama flew into high gear, insisting the doctors do more than a routine checkup, realizing by this time that something was seriously wrong. They reluctantly did lab tests, and I had barely left the clinic, it seemed, before they frantically called for me to head right back. They said I would have been dead within the week.

As terrible as the news was, I actually felt relief that something was wrong with me - that I wasn't a hypochondriac; that there was a reason for my being puny and ugly and forgetful and weak. Aside from just being me.

My father stepped right up, insisting on giving me his kidney, and it kept me going for 14 years. The next two kidneys came from unrelated deceased donors. I have had 3 offers from unrelated living donors who ended up not being able to after going through the extensive testing. All of these people and their families are/were/have been amazingly generous, wonderful and thoughtful. What would I be without them? Indeed, what would any of us be without the self-sacrifice and true gifts of donors?

What makes a man

You can't help but like this site. I can't help but keep posting articles from this site. Instead of my own, no less! A shame...

What Makes A Man... A Man? Is the name of the article, and I found it a good read.

Since I already posted 2 other articles on my other blog, I figured I should give it a rest and move on over here. Except, uhm, I also posted one from them here, too. So 2 from them on both blogs, in one evening. Ah what can I say, they're great.

Just follow them yourself. AND me, of course!

Bonsoir.

Depression

Many people have suffered depression, whether mildly or severely. Sometimes it is short-lived, or circumstantial. Other times, it is more severe, and there nothing on which you can put your finger on to say "this is the reason for it."

I have suffered with depression. I think mine was circumstantial. I couldn't control my thoughts, my moods, anything. Before I knew it I was over the edge. My family member's depression did not help.

But mine may not have been circumstantial, because that was a few years ago and over the past year I have been complaining to my doctor about moody-ness again. I explained that I am/was not depressed, just _itchy. She said to go ahead and start with such and such a pill anyway.

And that always makes me think that (as great as my doctor is) we as a society are just too "pill-happy." But, because I have other health issues and cannot take herbal remedies and whatnot, I took her advice anyway. I was talking things out on my (then) one-year-old so what choice did I have? I am now weaning myself back off of it again.

As someone who has been there, I can say that the author of this article has it right. As much as people want to help - and people like me, who are DO-ERS really find the advice in this article difficult - it is just what the 'doctor' ordered.

If you know someone who is suffering from depression, take a moment to read the article below. Or share it with someone who does. It will help both the person suffering from depression AND the ones suffering through it with him/her.

How to Love Someone with Depression

© Christina D. George and In the beginning, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Christina D. George and In the beginning with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.