Weather the Storm

Speaker 1: (00:00) We rely on meteorologists to help us plan for the days and weeks ahead. While one of my guests is used to predicting the weather, he never could have forecast what his own future had in store. Speaker 2: (00:10) When I explained why I was there, they just took me in the emergency room, redid my blood work, all of a sudden, had me in a bed and had emergency dialysis stuff laid out next to me. Speaker 1: (00:26) That's Ed Curran Meteorologist and kidney transplant recipient. Join me for a conversation with Ed and his sister and living donor, Patty Orwin, who helped him weather the storm. I'm Sarah Jane Castro, director of marketing and communications for the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois. And your host on this episode of The Journey Continues. Ed, your kidney journey began with something called an acute kidney injury. What can you tell us about that? Speaker 2: (00:55) Hi, I wish I could tell you more about it actually. Uh, it came out of the blue. Uh, we're not really sure why. You know, I have my theories about what happened, but I was just told that it was, um, a kidney injury that came upon me suddenly, and we ran into problems with my kidney and, uh, my pancreas. Within a few, uh, months, I wound up having my gallbladder out. And so it was a whole myriad of things. But when somebody walked into my, uh, hospital room, uh, after I had suffered some symptoms and wound up in the hospital and I had a nephrologist just say, you should talk to your doctor, you know that you have kidney failure. And then eventually tell me, talk to your doctor about getting on the transplant list. I couldn't believe it. Speaker 1: (01:47) Oh my gosh. That news must've been shocking to go from just, there's a couple of things going on. I needed to get it checked out to hear you might need a transplant and your kidneys are failing. Speaker 2: (01:57) Yeah. Well, there were a number of symptoms, but I mean, it was like I was doing the weather on TV and, uh, during our 11 o'clock show, uh, we would sit at an interview set talking to each other, and I'd stand up and walk across the studio and do the weather, and I'd be out of breath. And I was like, what is going on here? And this worsened and worsened. And I wound up going up to, um, lake Forest Hospital and had to walk across the whole parking lot to go into the hospital. And this was after my doctor saw some bad indications on a blood test. And I walked into the hospital, into the emergency room side to get a follow-up blood test. And the woman said to me, so you here on a for a blood test? I said, yeah, my doctor said, come right here. Speaker 2: (02:47) And she said, well, the blood labs at the other end of the hall way down there. Are you sure you're gonna make it? So that's how bad I was. And when I explained why I was there, they just took me in the emergency room, redid my blood work, all of a sudden, had me in a bed and had emergency dialysis stuff laid out next to me. And I couldn't believe it was going on. And that's when the doctor came in said, this was an injury. Let's not do dialysis. Let's wait and see where it goes. And we did wait for a while. Uh, and, um, you know, it just worsened from there. Speaker 1: (03:24) What did your doctors tell you about your prognosis at that point? Speaker 2: (03:28) Well, eventually it was, you know, you gonna need a kidney, you're gonna have to go on dialysis. And all of this stuff is like, what are you talking about? You know, it's something I never thought about. And, uh, you're gonna have to go on dialysis, talk to your doctor about getting on the kidney transplant list. And so that's what we did. And, um, eventually one thing led to another. There were a couple of hospital stays and there were problems and adjustments. And then finally in December of 2019, I did go on dialysis and I was on dialysis for two years. Speaker 1: (04:10) Wow. How unusual is that for a kidney injury to turn into needing a kidney transplant? Speaker 2: (04:17) It's funny because he waited for the kidney to recover, hoping that maybe, you know, whatever had affected it had, uh, you know, that I would heal from it. And so we watched the numbers and the numbers improved slightly, and then they didn't get any better after that. So then it, it, you know, took its course and I wound up going on dialysis and that was, uh, eight hours and 45 minutes every night. And, uh, that was at home peritoneal dialysis. Eventually, you know, after going through a whole lot of testing, I'll let her tell a story. My lovely sister here came forward and, uh, said, uh, she, she called me and I didn't return her call right away. And then she, she contacted me again and she's like, you know, I wanna talk to you. I thought about, um, the kidney donation and, uh, I think I wanna do this. It's like, oh, I should have called you back Speaker 3: (05:16) Earlier. . Speaker 2: (05:19) Well if that's why you're calling Sure. Speaker 3: (05:21) . Speaker 2: (05:22) So anyway, but, uh, I look at it as it, it, uh, you know, it saved my life, I mean, and changed my life entirely from being on this machine every night and not knowing what was ahead of me and having things show up online. Like, what's wrong with Ed Curran? Why is Ed Cur lost so much weight? Uh, does Ed cur you Google Ed Keran? And up came a question, does Ed Keran have cancer? You know, so, and I didn't come out publicly because then it shades how people look at you when you're on the air. And comedian, norm McDonald, who passed away with cancer, he never came out and said anything about, because that's what he said, how can I get up on stage and be funny if everybody looks at me and like, he's sick? You know? So I kept it quiet at that, at that point. Speaker 1: (06:13) Okay. Yeah. Well, I was gonna ask how your kidney issues affected your work as a meteorologist and a public figure. And it sounds like people noticed, so, so you were experiencing some visible symptoms, I guess. Speaker 2: (06:27) Oh, absolutely. Yeah. It's, um, I, I went through a lot of different things and still do, as a matter of fact, the follow up drugs that I'm taking, cause some shaking in my hands. And, uh, I held up a piece of paper, which amplifies, of course. I said, oh my gosh, if I have a tornado warning and I hold up this paper and I'm shaking like this, people are gonna be scared to death . So it's, it's like there was always another challenge ahead and there's fine tuning, uh, of, uh, medications and stuff like that. And the transplant team at Northwestern has been just great and staying on top of everything, tweaking things. And I joked with my primary care physician, I thought, Hey, it's, um, you know, you get a new kidney and that's it, you're fixed. And he's like, oh no, that's just the beginning, you know, of the journey. There's a lot more, you know, that keeps going on. And, uh, it's, it's been quite an experience. Speaker 1: (07:26) Yeah, it sounds like it. What were you going through emotionally as all this was unfolding? I'm sure that was something you hadn't experienced before. Speaker 2: (07:35) You know, everything's going along fine. You're doing your job, you're enjoying your job, you're enjoying your life. As I got sick, my first granddaughter came along and she wound up being in the NICU for over 50 days. And that was a very, very, uh, trying time. And at the same time starting to go through all this. It's very troubling. And sometimes it still is too, because you think about missed opportunities and things that might have been there if you weren't off the air so much. And then this all came along during Covid. I have next to me here in my rec room. I have a green screen set up and a professional camera in the equipment to broadcast from here. And I did my broadcast for over two years. I, when I was able to come back, uh, did it from my house because of my illness and because I wanted to protect myself from Covid because I knew that I was more susceptible to things. Speaker 2: (08:38) Boy, it had a big effect. Fortunately, everything worked out. But anyway, back to your question, the thing is you feel like you've lost so much that it is very tough on you. And I really encourage people who, who go through this, though I haven't to get some kind of counseling, uh, because I understand that it's tough on people both when you're going through with it and afterwards mm-hmm. . Um, but you feel, you feel cheated in. Uh, I've always looked at it as you, you asked me about, about the acute injury and stuff like that. I've always tried to look at it as not always easy to do, but look at it as, okay, you're hurt. Let somebody fix you and move along and look forward. Keep looking forward and keep that goal of attaining what you wanna attain. Even though you're going through this, you're not sick and there are things you can't do. It's a different life now. And, uh, you know, I'll tell you, my wife has been everything in this since before the fact and after the fact, she's a nurse and, uh, she has kept an eye out on many different things and on my meds and stuff like that. Speaker 1: (09:54) Well, that's a great advice to, to think of it as not, not as you're sick and this is over, but like, this is your new life. This is how it is now. I, I like that approach. I like that, that outlook. Patty, what was it like for you to see your little brother go through all of this? Speaker 4: (10:11) I did not see Ed a whole lot because I live in central Wisconsin and he's in Chicago. But I did notice we started coming to Chicago because Ed didn't mention this, but at the same time, all of these things were going on. Our mother had a traumatic brain injury with a fall, so she was also going through many medical issues. So we saw Ed Moore and I was concerned, but he didn't share with us being a private person. He didn't share what was going on until, I think, and he can correct me on this, I think it was not until he had to go on the peritoneal dialysis and then he notified family members and said, if any of you think you might be a match, would you consider the kidney donation process and this is where to go to and this is what to look at. So I really didn't think too much about it being so far away and being a number of years older, but it was hard to see Ed and not really know what was going on for a while. Mm-hmm. Speaker 1: (11:26) . Yeah. Well when did you, so once you found out he was ill, when did you consider becoming his donor? What made you look into that? Speaker 4: (11:36) That's interesting because at the time I didn't think of it right away. I always thought, well, somebody's gonna step up or Ed's gonna find somebody, he's on the donor list. And I never really understood until I read into it how many people are on the donor list and how long it can take. And so I kind of didn't think of it, but I would hear bits and pieces back and forth about, oh, Ed's still on dialysis. And once in a while we'd talk and I'd say, how you doing? And Ed would always say, oh, it's okay. So I didn't think of it too much. But then I understood his explanation of the peritoneal dialysis. And then one day there were a combination of factors that led me to the donation. One of them was, I was kind of thinking about it and I had two very close friends that were going through cancer treatment. And I just started to think, wow, you know, I'm 72 years old and I'm doing okay, well except for maybe a few bad joints, but Speaker 2: (12:47) And you're brand new knee, you'd just got Speaker 4: (12:49) . Right? But I didn't ha you know, I didn't have those going on. I just had the kind of arthritis things and thinking, well, I'm really an active person, but, you know, 72. And then I was watching, interestingly enough, ed, it was a c b S local station and they talked about someone who was looking for a donor and he put his request in the local, like shopper paper because he didn't have any internet access and he didn't know how else to do it. And so they covered the story and here was a video with him and a little interview and he's sitting in a recliner and he has boxes all over of his solution and they're running the solution and he's doing the peritoneal dialysis at home. And when I saw that, I was just shocked cuz I thought, oh, that's what Ed's doing. Speaker 4: (13:51) But I had no idea until I saw the actual physical interview and the whole scene of what that means. And probably within a few weeks I started looking up the information on donation and you know, it said 60 years old, but it depends. So I called Northwestern and I talked to one of the donor advocates and I said, wow, there's a lot of, uh, medical information to fill out. Should I do all this or is somebody gonna tell me off the bat? Oh, you're too old. And she said, oh no, fill it out. It all depends on your health. So that's what I did. I filled it out and that was, I think Ed, right? February of 21. And at first they got back to me and said, well, there may be somebody else. We only consider one donor at a time. And within a couple weeks they got back to me again and said, okay, we're on. And if you, you know, your medical history looks good, if you can pass the tests, if every link looks okay for you and for Ed and you all match up, then it's a go. And there was something in me that just knew that I would be the match. And I was, Speaker 1: (15:22) Wow. I love that. Speaker 4: (15:25) And they always tell, and I can't explain it. I mean, I, you know, since the kidney donation, I will tell you I had a reverse total shoulder replacement and I'm just getting finished with a total knee replacement just starting my rehab. And those I was concerned about, I was never, I was never hesitant. They kept telling me, you can back out at any time now if you're not sure, if you think you need counseling. And I thought, what are you talking about ? It just, I never had that feeling. And so it was great. Speaker 1: (16:03) That's amazing. Speaker 4: (16:05) But because maybe part of my age and extra testing and some testing was here and some things were in Illinois, it just took a while. And we did not actually get to go in, we actually went in for the donation on ed. Was it the 30th or the, the 31st of December? Speaker 2: (16:26) 30th. 30th, yeah. Speaker 4: (16:28) December 30th, 2021. Speaker 1: (16:31) That's a great way to ring in the new year. Ed . . Speaker 2: (16:36) Yeah. It was funny. It was like, uh, the second week of December, and I said to doctor, I'd like to do this by the end of the year. And they came around, they're like, okay, how about about three weeks? , you know, and it all worked out. And Patty didn't tell me that she had applied until a few months after she did because she didn't really know where it was going. And then when she found out more, that's when she made the phone call. I didn't return. It's just an amazing process. The other thing is, Patty, people might wonder what it's like to give up a kidney. Is there any difference in the way you feel, the way you operate, uh, your blood numbers, anything like that? Speaker 4: (17:16) No. And and I will tell you that they, I'm sure if people look into it, they would know that there is a follow up for the donor and there was a follow up at one week afterwards and six months at a year. And then there will be a follow up when it's two years, November or December of this year, there are lab tests to see how my one kidney is doing, and I don't even know it's not there. Speaker 2: (17:46) Yeah. And the other thing is where Patty lives, I mean, for her and her husband Wayne, to come down to Chicago and do all these tests and everything, what is about four hours each way. Speaker 4: (17:56) It is Speaker 2: (17:58) So, so four hours each way to come to Chicago and do this. And that's the other amazing thing when you're at Northwestern, you know, I'll be in the, the lab and they'll be, uh, taking my blood or just taking my vitals and somebody will come in and maybe they're another kidney transplant, uh, patient or, um, or they're a kidney patient who needs a transplant. They're there. Uh, you have people from all over who come to Northwestern, you know, uh, from, you know, a guy. Yeah. Well, I came in, I'm staying at this, that hotel. I'm from Ohio and everything. And I'm like, boy, uh, you know, we're so lucky to have these great institutions in the Chicago area, like Loyola, like rush, like Northwestern, uh, to do these types of things. You know, you're, you're in good hands and people come from all over to do this. But, uh, you know, I just understand the sacrifice that Patty and Wayne made coming all the way to Chicago for all these tests and everything. You know, uh, she just had her knee replaced. Now she did ask me if I'd donate my knee and Speaker 1: (19:02) I said, Speaker 2: (19:04) I don't think that's the same thing. Speaker 1: (19:06) One for one exchange Speaker 2: (19:08) Went to the artificial one instead. Thanks. Okay, Speaker 1: (19:11) . So Patty, how'd the rest of the family and your friends react when you shared the news with them that you were giving ed your kidney? Speaker 4: (19:20) I told only a few people just because of Ed's own privacy. Mm-hmm. . But I did read in a lot of the literature from the Kidney Foundation that it's good to tell people because you wanna have support. And so we told some of our closest friends, and they were of course very supportive. We have two children. And one of 'em was like, uh, he said, oh, that's cool. And our daughter was the one who was a little more concerned, asked a lot of questions, wanted to make sure that I was gonna be okay. But everybody was very supportive. And Ed and I, I, I don't know if Ed wants to tell the story or I'll tell the story. We didn't tell our mother. Speaker 1: (20:06) Oh my goodness. Speaker 4: (20:08) She worries about, well, what's the food gonna be like tomorrow? It might be bad . So, so she is a worrier and she always, and you know, I sometimes I feel like it's genetic. But anyway, Speaker 2: (20:21) , Speaker 4: (20:21) He, um, I said, no, ed, we can't tell her. And he said, oh, we gotta tell. I said, no, she won't sleep. Speaker 1: (20:28) Two of her children in surgery at once. Yeah, that's right. Speaker 4: (20:31) So we decided, I will never forget, it was Sunday. Our surgery was scheduled for the following Thursday. This was what, a couple days after Christmas, ed got her on a three-way call and he told her that he had a kidney donor and she was so happy. And then he said, would you like to talk to her? And my mother said, well, what do I say? I don't know. I mean, I guess I'll say thank you. And I said, hi, mom, it's me , Speaker 1: (21:05) It's Speaker 4: (21:05) Patty. And she was still so excited. And it turned out, and I had forgotten this, and I'm sure Ed knew the story, but at one point in our mother's, mother's life, in my grandmother, she had a kidney removed. Oh. And I totally forgot that. And, you know, it was some, it was such a long time ago, like they were in there doing something else and they said, oh, I don't know, maybe we should remove this kidney. So my mother's attitude was, well, your grandmother lived a long, long time with one kidney, so, okay. Wow. We were both shocked. She was not , she was not so anxious and concerned. So she was very happy. Very happy. Speaker 1: (21:53) That's wonderful. I'm glad she, you didn't have to worry about her being stressed while you were going through major surgery yourselves. So, on surgery day, what were y'all feeling going in? Were you excited? Nervous? Speaker 2: (22:07) Yeah, I was really nervous. I felt that I was in good hands. I just wanna make sure, uh, you know, hey, any, any surgery you know, is important because you're going under and everything. And, but I really wasn't nervous. Perhaps the surprising thing, uh, was that I figured that she's in the next room and I figured that they'd remove her kidney and run over and stick it in me. And that's how it works, you know? Well, I didn't realize they'd take out the kidney. They'd do all these kinds of testings and then they bring it over and, uh, eventually it gets put in you, you know. So the surgeon came over and he said, hi, how you doing? I said, I'm, I'm ready to go in Doc. And he said, uh, oh, great. Your, your sister did really well. And I said, W what? He says, oh yeah, we, we got the kidney. Kidney looks good and we're testing it right now and everything. I said, oh, that's amazing. That's, that's wonderful. He says, yeah, you wanna see a picture of it? Speaker 1: (23:06) Oh my gosh. Speaker 2: (23:07) I said, sure. And he folds out his phone and he goes, there you go, . It shows me a picture and it talked about how part of me is now part of you. And it had, uh, a little caption in there and it's just, just wonderful. Showed up somebody, uh, the other, the other day who was asking about the surgery. Um, so so it, that connected me with it right away. That was a wonderful thing that he did for us. Speaker 1: (23:38) Yeah. , that's funny. I don't know if I'd wanna see an organ, but Speaker 2: (23:47) The person who saw it said says, it's a little like a chicken breast . Speaker 3: (23:52) Oh gosh. Speaker 2: (23:53) Yeah, kind. I I said about four or five ounces. Yeah. , Speaker 3: (23:56) You know, Speaker 2: (23:58) So, but it was really great. And you know, the, the other thing is just, um, I had the surgery, I was off the air for a while when I came back on the air, uh, I went on and I put on social media that I had a kidney transplant and that the donor was my sister and this is a wonderful thing and so on and so forth. And then a couple months later, uh, I go to transplant for a checkup and they said, you know, we did a workup on a woman the other day and she's been on dialysis for a while. And she said that, um, she never thought that a transplant could happen for her until she heard about the story of you and your sister. And now she's, she came forward, she talked about it cuz I said to people, unlike me being quiet about it, you gotta yack about it cuz nobody's gonna donate a kidney unless they know you need one. Speaker 2: (24:52) So here's this woman who came out about it and wound up having a bunch of possible donors that came outta nowhere. Then I got a, uh, an email from somebody just about six weeks ago who told me that she was on the transplant list and she was standing behind me. So when I hear some stories like that come back at me, it's just wonderful that we were able to tell our story like we are here and tell people how important it is. And I'll tell you one other thing is that the other side of it too is, um, I went to, uh, the hospital to get a test. And this was literally two days ago. And the woman behind the desk who checked me in was wearing a Gift of Hope bracelet. Mm-hmm. . And I said to her, you know, thinking I'd strike up some kind of bond there, I said to her, uh, I see you have a Gift of Hope bracelet on. I said, why is that? And I figured I'd hear a kidney story. And she said to me, and this is two days ago, she said, my husband died last week. Speaker 1: (26:00) Oh my goodness. Speaker 2: (26:01) And he donated all his organs. Speaker 1: (26:03) Oh, wow. Speaker 2: (26:05) And so we had a little talk about that. My dry cleaner told me about his daughter who passed away and they donated her kidneys. And what an important part of this whole story, that kind of tragedy that turns into a new life for somebody is it really is wonderful. So you hear these, these heartbreaking stories that have this wonderful positive side, like her story and like my friend that's dry cleaners. Speaker 1: (26:36) Yeah. That makes it, that's gonna reinforce your decision that it was important for you to go public. It was important for you to share your story because you've encouraged this person to get worked up for transplant for the first time. You hear all these wonderful stories that these people have made this beautiful decision to donate their loved one's organs. That's gonna make you feel good about sharing. What about this transplant has, has changed your lives? Like has it changed your relationship? Has it changed things for you other than obviously ed your health? Speaker 2: (27:13) I returned my sister's calls . Uh, Speaker 2: (27:18) So that's been a big change. Um, but, um, no, I think, uh, yeah, of course it can't, it can't help but have it not change. I mean, beyond the health side of things, uh, something you're grateful, it's weird. It's something you're grateful for. Uh, something you're a little, um, I don't wanna say embarrassed of, but you know, are you worthy, you know, of somebody doing this for you? Uh, and going through that for you. And when I say going through that, I don't mean like, this is some horrible experience for either of us. Uh, not at all, but just somebody making, uh, that kind of decision, you know, to, uh, to donate. And that's a very special thing. And I think the more people know about it, the more people who would come forward and help somebody out. Hmm. Speaker 1: (28:12) Yeah. Absolutely. I love that. What's been the most surprising part of this journey for both of you? Speaker 2: (28:20) I don't know, Patty, what's been surprising for you? Speaker 4: (28:23) Um, not surprising. I think we, we now communicate a little more often than like once a year . Yeah. It's, Speaker 2: (28:31) It's gotta be, it's probably three times a year now. Yeah. , Speaker 4: (28:34) But yeah. Yeah. And I guess, you know, just going back a little bit to your question about being nervous, I was not nervous at all going in for the surgery. And I think Ed said it when he said, you know, just the comfort with the surgeon, with the team, with what was happening. And we actually met in the waiting room the day of surgery. And at that time, um, COVID had Resurged in Chicago. Mm-hmm. . So everyone was wearing masks and I'm sure people just thought it was really weird that we gave each other a big hug. before, um, before I was called in, before he was, and then we went our separate ways. But I'm sure they thought, what are these people doing? They're hugging each other , but we figured, you know, he's getting my kidneys so it must be okay. Right. Speaker 1: (29:31) Speaker 4: (29:32) And, and the surgeon did share the photo with my husband who maybe didn't quite appreciate it as much . Speaker 4: (29:41) Cause you know, he, yeah. He doesn't like that medical stuff. But as a retired physical therapist and knowing more about healthcare, I was, I just said, wow, that is really cool. That's my kidney. Look at that . So it was a really good experience. I think it's certainly has brought us closer together, even though we're still four hours away and our lives are so different. Our children and grandchildren are so different in ages that, you know, we never had that connection for a long time. Especially because we, we moved away and you're working and you're busy and you know, there's life. Speaker 1: (30:23) Mm-hmm. . Speaker 4: (30:25) So this has been a really positive experience in a lot of other ways besides the most obvious. Speaker 1: (30:33) Yeah. . That's wonderful. Well, Patty, what advice do you have for people who are considering living donation? It sounds like you maybe counted yourself out originally. So what advice do you have for somebody who maybe is, has some of those same feelings? Speaker 4: (30:50) I would say just read through the literature because the literature about being a donor is very thorough. They leave nothing out. There are great suggestions. There's support from the team. There's always someone to talk to. They're very reassuring. And they do tell you that, you know, you don't, had I not told Ed that I was his donor, they wouldn't have told him. Even though I'm his sister. Speaker 1: (31:23) Wow. Speaker 4: (31:23) It's, it's a privacy thing. Mm-hmm. . And I told him because I wanted him to know that there was at least hope that he would be able to get the kidney from me. So I'd say yeah, don't, don't count yourself out for a donor. I really think anybody can do it. You just have to want to do it. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Speaker 2: (31:47) And Patty said they told her initially, well, we think we have somebody else. I don't know who that is. Oh, I mean, I don't, I mean, I, I have, I have an idea of, uh, of who they might have been talking about, but I'm not quite sure cuz there are a number of different people who asked for the link to go to the form to contact the people and everything. But I'm not quite sure. And you know, even when they talked to me about Patty or they talked to me about the upcoming thing, they, uh, didn't say, well, you know, we talked to your sister and, but no, it was all, they just keep it totally separate between you and the donor and they just figure, you know, if you're close enough, you'll know about it, you know. Um, but I think that that's a, that's a very, uh, good thing and that's the way it should be. Mm-hmm. Speaker 1: (32:35) . Yeah. Give some room to maybe change your mind if you absolutely need to without that feeling of letting somebody down. Yes. Speaker 2: (32:45) Yeah. But you sure learned through this whole process that, you know, the, the adage of when you have your health, you have everything, uh, really is true because, uh, if you don't have your health, uh, you can lose so many other parts of you that you enjoy. So anyway, it's a, it's a godsend. I mean, when it seemed certain I was getting a kidney when it finally came through like that, I cried. I mean, it's like, you know, you've gone through this for several years for that point. I've been two years of dialysis and I don't know, a couple of years before that, since, uh, uh, 2018, you know, this disease had taken me from, at that point, like 62, 63 years old to 83 years old. Mm-hmm. , you know, that's really the way I feel. And to, to, uh, to have a way out of it like that and not be on a machine every night and, uh, you know, it's just a, a godsend. Speaker 1: (33:39) That's wonderful. Well, ed, do you have any final thoughts for anyone out there who was maybe in a similar position, maybe they're a little hesitant to share their story? Speaker 2: (33:49) You know, there was a woman online I saw is I got near the end of this and I dunno who she is. I looked at so many different things, but, uh, if you probably Googled like kidney and get loud or something, it was a young black woman who needed a kidney or something. But her whole thing was get loud. And if there's something I think I would've done is, uh, the heck with the public image or people knowing you're sick or something is get loud. Uh, talk about what you're going through and let people know what you need. Because the only way that you're gonna find that donor is by, uh, talking loud, by being the person with the, the poster board at the baseball game, or being the person who puts the ad up on the billboard. Uh, there are many different ways to get loud about it. Speaker 2: (34:42) And, uh, I thought that she had a, a wonderful approach. I really think that's true. You just gotta, you, you can't just silently have your eight hours and 45 minutes at night and keep it under your hat. You gotta get out there, you gotta talk about it, you gotta talk about it early and maybe you get a donor before you ever go on dialysis, which would be the best thing. Dialysis is tough on you and has its risks too. And, uh, so anyway, that's one thing I took away from all this. So whoever she is, I think she had a great idea, which is just get loud. And that woman who said she heard me talk on TV and then she brought it up to friends and got this whole list of donors that here, which she was being worked up at, uh, transplanted Northwestern. That's what she did. Right. She just got loud about it, she talked about it. And um, they always say that, uh, it's tough for you to say, I need a kidney, but you can have a kidney champion, right? Who represents you, who goes out there and it's kind of your salesperson cuz it's tough for you to ask for such a caring, big donation and you almost feel selfish and your kidney champion can be your, your salesperson out there spreading the word. Speaker 1: (36:02) I love that. That's, that's great advice. Thank you. Well, I wanna thank my guests, ed Curran and Patty Orwin for sharing their inspiring story with us. While close blood relatives can make excellent living donor candidates, you don't have to limit your donor pool to just relatives. To learn more about organ donation transplantation or finding a living donor, visit our website@nkfi.org. I'm Sarah Jane Castro and this is The Journey Continues. Prevention is a huge part of our mission in kafi. Here's Dr. Melissa Pres with a health and nutrition tip. Speaker 5: (36:40) Here's today's nutrition tip about vitamin D. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, meaning it's stored in fat from the body. You may have heard vitamin D called the sunshine vitamin because we can get it from exposure to the sun, but we can also get vitamin D from the foods that we eat. The best sources of vitamin D are fatty fish like salmon and tuna, and foods fortified with vitamin D like milk. Vitamin D is also present in small amounts and beef, liver, cheese, egg yolks, and mushrooms. Vitamin D plays many roles in the body, including promoting calcium absorption in the gut and maintaining enough blood, calcium, and phosphate concentrations to allow for normal Speaker 1: (37:20) Bone Speaker 5: (37:21) Development. Without enough vitamin D bones may become thin, brittle, and misshaped. Calcium plus vitamin D helps to protect older adults from osteoporosis, which is a disease that causes bones to become weak and brittle, making them easy to break. Many people are at risk for vitamin D deficiency, including people living with chronic kidney disease. This is because your kidneys play an important role in how your body activates vitamin D from sun exposure and the foods we eat. If your kidneys are not healthy, then you may have low levels of vitamin D in your blood. It's important to have your vitamin D levels checked by your healthcare provider and be treated if they are low. With today's nutrition tip and Melissa press, a registered dietician nutritionist and the foundation dietician for the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois. Speaker 1: (38:14) The journey continues is brought to you by the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois and sponsored by Donate Life Illinois. To learn more about kidney disease and living donation, visit www.nkfi.org. To register to become an eye tissue and organ donor visit, life goes on.com. If you enjoyed what you heard today, please subscribe to and leave a review for The Journey continues in Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen. This podcast is produced by Rivet. To hear more great podcasts, visit Rivet three sixty.com.