West Michigan Kidney Donors!

[breannwins]

Hi everyone. I haven't been active on this board in quite some time, but I am a kidney donor from 2008. My donation completely changed the track of my life, and I've spent the last year or so attending Grand Valley State University to obtain my Liberal Studies degree with a focus on Non-Profit and Human Development. The reason I chose this particular program is because of a deep passion I developed to continue being involved in the organ transplantation/donation community - with a particular focus on advocacy for other Living Donors. My course work at GVSU has heavily focused on proposals and ideas on how to best improve the current state of Living Donor support. This semester I am interning at Saint Mary's Kidney Transplant Center (the center I donated at!), where I was excited to find out that they were already in the process of planning a new support group!!

So, our first meeting of Donors Supporting Donors is going to be held on Wednesday February 20, 2013 at Saint Marys Hospital, in the Wege conference center. The address is 300 Lafayette SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. We will be on the 1st floor in Wege rooms 7 & 9.

The meeting starts at 7pm, and any living donors in the area are invited to join us! Even if you didn't donate through Saint Marys!

Please come! I believe this is a great opportunity and holds tons of potential. Please message me here, email me at dobbenb@mail.gvsu.edu or call Missi (the donor coordinator at Saint Marys) at (616) 685-6068 with questions or to RSVP! You can also look up the Saint Marys Kidney Transplant Center on Facebook.

[sherri]

Hi Breann,

Good to see your name on the board again. I remember when you donated.

I too am interested in Living Donor Advocacy both for those considering donation, those who have already donated and in particular those who have donated but have had a less than positive experience or some negative effect from the donation process. I would be interested to know how your meetings go, what you discuss, any guidelines you follow. If there is any material online or other printed material, I would love to get a hold of it. Would love to be able to do something in the Baltimore/Washington area.

Good luck with your new project.

Sherri

[Fr Pat]

Dear "breanwins",
     I have had the oppotunity a few times over the years to be at gatherings of other living donors, especially at the "Transplant Games", and I have always found it to be a great experience. Many living donors have never personally met another living donor. And the medical professionals present at the meetings seems to have often found them enlightening, helpful and challenging, as many had never previously gotten that much feed-back from living donors afterwards. So, good luck with your initiative. Please do let us know how it works out.
      best wishes,
         Fr. Pat