396) PKD in the Neighborhood

February 27, 2010
Saturday

Last Wednesday: My friend Kim was listed on the board as "out" for a funeral. Now I have historically been shy of funerals... avoiding them at all costs during the years of living life on the edge. Only went to very close friends' funerals (Willie C. and Mike C.) and then my mom's... but that's about it. Then in my fifties it seemed like I was over that personal quirk and began realizing it was not about me but about MY honoring the departed and I needed to bite the bullet and go and respect the departed.

At any rate, that day Kim was out for a funeral and when I finally touched base with her later in the afternoon, she reported that he up hill neighbor had died after "years of being frail" and going for weekly "treatments" for years. At the funeral she learned from another neighbor that the woman (68) died from complications following years of PKD. Kim wondered why she hadn't gotten a transplant, like I did. I shared that there are a lot of reasons for folks not to be candidates for transplant and it would be impossible to guess what the deal was with her neighbor. Kim was surprised that right there next door was PKD, just like mine.

So, PKD is around every corner it seems, as the most common, life threatening genetic disease impacting more that 600,000 Americans.

395) Do Transplant Hearts carry memories?

February 14, 2010
Saturday

Morning News: Picked up from the internet this morning... and thought provoking... wonder if this goes for kidneys too?

"Is part of an organ donor’s personality also transferred to the recipient in a transplant? Yes, contends Pearsall in his book The Heart’s Code, which provides other remarkable examples of transplanted hearts with memories." No mention of kidneys or any other organs aside from the heart in this article report on a book by Paul Pearsall.

394) Notice from Nephr-online

February 11, 2010
Saturday

News Flash: Urgent need for 4-wheelers and their toys in DC! "The blizzard has finally ended in the D.C. metro region, but the need for drivers has not. The National Kidney Foundation has put out urgent calls to four-wheel drivers that can help the 6,000 stranded dialysis patients who can't get to their weekly appointments. Missing just one of these appointments can be fatal.

If you live in the D.C. metro area, have a four-wheel drive vehicle, and would like to help, send your contact information and availability through Saturday to:"

DaVita Dialysis
brian.nelson@davita.com

Fresenius Medical Care
anita.otto@fmc-na.com