Send us Fan Mail Denice received her father’s kidney at age 13, decades before modern transplant protocols were common and pediatric dialysis existed. Fifty-eight years later, she is still thriving and using her story to inspire others to be donors. Denice reflects on a childhood shaped by loss, a diagnosis that changed everything, and a mother who refused to accept no as an answer. She shares the extraordinary circumstances that led to her transplant, paints a vivid portrait of her donor fat...
Jun 2
36 min
Send us Fan Mail Being told you need a kidney transplant is overwhelming. Being told you need to go find your own living donor while managing dialysis can feel impossible. For many veterans, that is exactly how the system works today. In this episode, we sit down with Sharyn Kreitzer, a living kidney donor and longtime transplant professional with nearly three decades of experience in end stage organ disease. Sharyn began her career as a dialysis social worker and went on to work across trans...
May 5
31 min
Send us Fan Mail You can’t fully understand organ donation until you see what it makes possible. Parents reaching milestones they once thought they might miss. Grandparents meeting grandchildren. Families holding both grief and pride at the same time. In this episode of Donor Diaries, we take you to the Transplant Games of America, happening June 18 to 23 in Denver. Often described as a “mini Olympics,” the Games bring together transplant recipients, living donors, and donor families fo...
Apr 7
36 min
Send us Fan Mail What if a simple HR policy could help save someone’s life? In this episode, Brooke Iarkowski, Transplant Community Program Manager at the American Society of Transplantation, shares how paid leave transforms the living donor journey from a financial gamble into a supported reality. Brooke brings over ten years of experience in the transplant and donation field and a deeply personal connection to the mission. Witnessing both her mother and brother receive kidney transplants in...
Mar 3
34 min
Send us Fan Mail One kidney can change many lives—if we let it start a chain. We sit down with Dr. John Friedewald, transplant nephrologist at Northwestern Medicine, to unpack a breakthrough: using a deceased donor kidney to initiate a living donor chain that moves multiple recipients off the waitlist and ultimately delivers a living kidney back to a service member at Walter Reed. We break down how kidney paired donation works, why non-directed donors supercharge matching, and what changes w...
Feb 3
33 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Donor Diaries, we sit down with transplant recipient Wilson Du and living kidney donor Amy McCann, two people whose stories intertwine through determination, community, and the belief that choosing life is a daily practice. Wilson spent five and a half years on dialysis before receiving his transplant in 2022. After a doctor told him he needed to lose 100 pounds or forget about a transplant, he confronted the shock, the shame, and the painful first steps to...
Jan 6
34 min
Send us Fan Mail Sue Rees returns to share the revolutionary donor protections offered by the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation (APKD) that are making kidney donation more accessible and equitable for everyone. As Chief Operating Officer with over 25 years of transplant experience, Sue walks us through the comprehensive "Donor Protect" program designed to eliminate financial barriers while safeguarding donors' futures. We explore how the Alliance reimburses lost wages (up to $10,000), cover...
Jul 9, 2025
33 min
Send us Fan Mail What happens when a transplant surgeon, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, and a willingness to trust strangers come together? A revolution in kidney donation that has saved 20,000 lives and counting. Meet Dr. Michael Rees and Sue Rees, the power couple behind the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation. In this captivating first installment of our two-part season finale, we journey back to 2007 when kidney paired exchange was in its infancy and most surgeons believed all transplan...
Jul 8, 2025
33 min
Send us Fan Mail A spiritual calling, a kidney voucher, and two pastors reconnecting after decades apart—this is no ordinary transplant story. When Jim Pearl was diagnosed with Fabry's disease in 2004, he had no idea his journey would lead him back to Jeff Barker, a seminary friend from the '90s. After five years on dialysis, Jim clung to his mantra: "In the waiting, God is working." Meanwhile, Jeff saw Jim's Facebook post and felt a spiritual nudge to step forward, despite knowing little ab...
Jun 3, 2025
30 min
Send us Fan Mail What if a casual Sunday scroll through Facebook could save a life? In this heartfelt episode of Donor Diaries, Rich and Cali share the extraordinary story of how a social media post led to a life-saving kidney transplant and an unexpected lifelong connection. Rich, living with polycystic kidney disease, feared the wait for a deceased donor and the possibility of having to go on dialysis, and took a leap of faith by sharing his story online. Cali, grieving the loss of her brot...
Apr 8, 2025
35 min
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