Donor Diaries

LJ Dong, also known as LJ the Medium, embodies resilience and determination in her journey with Nutcracker Syndrome. Despite facing significant health challenges, LJ's refusal to discard her kidney led her on a remarkable path toward organ donation advocacy.

As the American Miss National Mrs. for 2024, LJ leverages her platform to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. Her diverse background as an ordained Inte...

Imagine a world where living kidney donors are compensated for their life-saving gift. A world where a severe shortage of kidneys doesn't result in the preventable deaths of over a million Americans. In this riveting dialogue, we're joined by four non-directed kidney donors - Ned Brooks, Elaine Perlman, Dr. Matt Harmody, and Cody Maynard who are the founding members of the Coalition to Modify NOTA.  This team will help us...

Diane Lee Reporting Live with 1 Less Kidney

Diane Lee is an Emmy nominated anchor and two-time Emmy Award winning reporter with more than 20 years of broadcast news experience.

Diane is currently the 7NEWS Consumer Anchor. Her exclusive reports focus on warning them about scams as well as highlighting money saving tips and investigating consumer issues. Diane’s “Here to Help” focus gives her a platform to assist viewers with any issu...

There’s a wide range of reasons why kidney transplant is available to some, but not all.  Imagine the lives that could be saved worldwide if we organized a globally inclusive kidney exchange.  What could be possible if we could break down borders and share kidneys with other countries?

Meet Dr. Satish Nadig, Chief of Transplant, and the Director of the Comprehensive Transplant Center at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.  H...

Exchanging kidneys is a complicated process that involves multiple collaborations between kidney patients, living donors, transplant centers, insurance companies, airlines and more.  It’s truly remarkable if you stop to think about the number of people and organizations that need to come together to make 1 paired exchange possible.  We only started exchanging kidneys between non-compatible pairs a little over 20 years ago, so it’s ...

Meet Phillip Hanks, a walking miracle!  

Philip had his first liver transplant in 2007 and lived an active life. Then in 2019, extreme pain sent him back to the hospital where he received horrifying news. Not only did he need a new liver, but he needed a new stomach, intestines, pancreas, and kidney.  Two different transplant centers turned him away before Indiana University accepted his case and agreed to try the risky surgery whic...

Do you ever stop to think about the effectiveness of the time and attention you put towards making a difference?   We all have the power to make the world a better place, but what could be possible if we all put more thought into maximizing our personal and financial resources?

Welcome to the world of Effective Altruism (EA) with non-directed kidney donor Dylan Matthews, a senior correspondent from Vox’s section Future Perfect.  Fut...

Have you ever wondered why some people have a powerful drive to donate a kidney or liver to a stranger, while others would never consider such a thing?

Professor Abigail Marsh has spent over a decade answering this question through studies on topics such as altruism, empathy, and the depths of human nature.  She answers complex questions such as:  How do we understand what others think and feel? What drives us to help other people? ...

In 2018 Martha donated a kidney to a woman she read about in the newspaper. She co-authored a book, Kidney to Share, published by Cornell University Press, about that experience and has given presentations at more than 35 transplant clinics, medical schools, and bioethics centers on her experience as a living kidney donor. 

In today’s episode, we discuss donor disincentives- the factors that can make it difficult for somebody to don...

According to United Network of Organ Sharing, only 133 living donors in the entire U.S. have donated both a kidney and a portion of their liver to two different recipients.  A few years back, this was very uncommon, but more recently, we have been seeing it in the news more and more.  Many transplant centers won’t even entertain the idea of letting someone donate twice, however other transplant centers are taking a second look, and...

Welcome to Season 2 of Donor Diaries!

To kick of season 2, we are going to jump into some basics about kidney donation- some helpful Q&A for anyone out there who may identify as donor-curious.  You’ll also get a peak onto Season 2, and hear about some of our upcoming guests!
Kelly Schmitt, Patty Graham and Emily Wise are not only living kidney donors themselves, but they work full time educating potential donors through a pr...

Welcome to Donor Diaries’ Season 1 closer!
 
In Season 1 of Donor Diaries, we covered a range of topics.  We covered how to ask somebody for a kidney, the pains and history of dialysis, how to manifest a kidney, kidney chains, living donor protections, the racial disparity that exists in our current transplant system, the economic value of a kidney, kidney donor athletes who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Insider’s guide to l...

Meet donor extraordinaire Jeramy Davies.  He’s not only a bone marrow expert, but he is a two-time donor, having donated both bone marrow and a kidney to the same person.  This in itself is unique to have donated twice, but so is his story.  Jeramy and his recipient Kelly have not only crushed her Hodgkin's Lymphoma together, but they have created a lifetime bond through the process.

For the thousands of people diagnosed every ...

Meet Bobby McLaughlin, Tracey Hulick, Steve Wilson and Patty Graham from the Kidney Donor Athletes (KDA) who are in Tanzania right now getting ready to climb Mt Kilimanjaro with 18 other living kidney donors.  The coolest part?  They summit on March 10 which is World Kidney Day!

KDA is a community of kidney donors who have a commitment to moving their bodies for overall health and wellness. They cover the entire spectrum of athletes...

It’s illegal to buy or sell a kidney in all countries, except Iran.  But imagine if there was a waitlist of people waiting to donate a kidney, versus a waitlist of people waiting to receive a lifesaving transplant.  Could this be possible if the government financially compensated kidney donors?  What if we not only removed the disincentives to donate, but added an incentive?  What is the financial worth of a kidney, and what would ...

A transplant isn’t an event that happens exclusively to the organ recipient.  It also has a major impact on the family of a recipient or organ donor and often results in complex situations and relationship dynamics.  

Carol Offen and Betsy Crais are co-authors of "The Insider's Guide to Living Kidney Donation: Everything You Need to Know If You Give (or Get) the Greatest Gift.”  “Our book includes much-needed nontechnical ...

Race Matters with Dr. Dinee Simpson

Plainly stated, white people are four times more likely to receive a kidney transplant than an African-American people.  And, Asian-Americans and Native Americans, have more than double the likelihood of receiving a kidney transplant than African-Americans.  This is the case despite African-Americans having higher rates of diabetes and high blood pressure than other racial cohorts.  These are the ...

Episode 6 features Laurie Lee’s family transplant story.  Meet Laurie’s dad, Dan Dickinson, who is not only a liver transplant recipient, but Laurie’s partner in a decade’s worth of transplant initiatives.  This dynamic duo will interview each other to bring you a touching transplant story that started over 20 years ago when Dan passed out on a plane!  Find out how a liver transplant for Dan ultimately lead to a kidney donation for...

Episode 5 comes to you from a giant porch swing on Martha’s Vineyard, where host Laurie Lee is spending the weekend with over a dozen living kidney donors and living kidney donor advocates from the National Kidney Donation Organization.  

Meet Cody Maynard, Steve Wilson, and Terri Thede, all non-directed kidney donors from different parts of the country for a casual conversation under the vineyard stars.  Find out what happens when ...