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This Thing Called Life is a podcast about acts of giving, kindness, compassion, and humanity. Host Andi Johnson, will introduce you to powerful stories about organ, eye, and tissue donation from individuals, families and front-line health care teams, whose experiences will hopefully inspire you and remind you, that while life is hard and unpredictable, it’s also beautiful. We hope this podcast serves as a catalyst for you to register to become an organ, eye, and tissue donor.
Episodes
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
During this episode of This Thing Called Life podcast, host Andi Johnson speaks with Dr. Madison Cuffy, an Associate Professor of Surgery and the Kidney Director at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Cuffy has built trust-filled relationships with his patients throughout the years and loves nothing more than to see them live their lives to the fullest after getting their transplant. In case you missed it, tune in now!
Episode Highlights:
- Dr. Cuffy started his medical journey back in 2002 during his residency, before doing a transplant fellowship at New York Presbyterian.
- Growing up in Brooklyn, Dr. Cuffy was first introduced to Cincinnati by Talib Kweli and Hi Tek.
- As a 14-year-old, Dr. Cuffy was volunteering in a hospital cleaning instruments.
- Even to this day, no one in Dr. Cuffy’s family has experience in medicine, nor any clue what a transplant surgeon does.
- Dr. Cuffy was born in the Caribbean and grew up with his great aunt in New York.
- One of the most common misconceptions surrounding organ donation is that the medical community will let you die.
- After being in transplant and seeing how one can help create life during a time of despair, Dr. Cuffy became an organ donor.
- The medical community is not out to harm organ donors for their organs, contrary to popular belief.
- COVID has disproportionately impacted the African American community, leading to a rise in a renewed mistrust of the medical community.
- It’s who passes on the information about medical issues like COVID that is important.
- Despite all the concerns and misinformation that has been passed along, Dr. Cuffy highly recommends getting the COVID vaccination.
- According to the statistics, on average, 22 people die every day waiting on an organ transplant.
- While most of his focus is on kidney transplants, Dr. Cuffy does work with all transplant organs.
- There is an access problem for people who need a kidney transplant and are on dialysis.
- Over the span of a year, Dr. Cuffy performs around 70 kidney transplants.
- During the pandemic in 2020, the transplant team was able to get recipients in and out with anyone contracting COVID.
- Dr. Cuffy facilitates living kidney donation as the best option to treat end-stage renal disease.
- Andi has noticed that people of color tend to shy away from sharing their donation needs with other people.
- Socioeconomic issues and disadvantages can make it more difficult for certain patients to share their stories.
- People who don’t want to share their stories need a donor champion to do it for them.
- There are different forms of literacy, so Dr. Cuffy makes sure his patients know that there is no stupid question.
- It’s important for patients to speak up about their questions to their doctor so that they don’t go get misinformation from another source.
- If your physician is too busy to answer your questions now or in the future, you may need to find a different provider.
- Dr. Cuffy feels rewarded by his job when he sees his patients experiencing life after their transplant.
- His grandmother’s advice to be who he is, even when things get tough, gets Dr. Cuffy through his hard days.
- Raised without his parents in Brooklyn, Dr. Cuffy knows first hand that you can do anything you set your mind to.
- Dr. Cuffy has always had an extra gear that has allowed him to outwork everyone around him.
- When he goes back to Brooklyn now, Dr. Cuffy gets a different kind of respect from the people he grew up with.
- Dr. Cuffy thoroughly enjoys going to J. Alexanders in Cincinnati because of the sheer amount of professional African Americans that go there.
3 Key Points:
- While volunteering at a hospital with the hopes of staying off the streets as a 15-year-old boy, Dr. Cuffy had the opportunity to watch a kidney transplant up close, and that’s how he chose the transplant route.
- Unlike in other cities that have multiple transplant programs with different surgeons, Cincinnati has a single transplant program where the doctors act as one unit.
- Living donor kidneys last anywhere from 15 to 20 years, recipients don’t have to wait on a list to get one, and the quality is usually very good.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter (website) (Facebook) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Twitter)
- Andi Johnson (website) (LinkedIn)
- Dr. Madison Cuffy (website)
- University of Cincinnati Kidney Transplant
Tuesday Aug 24, 2021
Tuesday Aug 24, 2021
Lincoln Ware and Andi Johnson discuss Life Centers involvement in the community educating and advocating for those in need of a transplant. This month is National Minority Awareness Month and our mission is to make sure there is accurate information about donation being discussed and the conversation is driven by facts not myths.
Community Heroes is a special extension of This Thing Called Life’s podcast. In this series we talk to community leaders, share important information about organ and tissue donation and honor those who have been instrumental in saving lives through the gift of donation.
Resources:
https://lifepassiton.org/
https://lifepassiton.org/who-we-are/leadership/
https://www.facebook.com/LifeCenterOH
513-558-5555
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Episode 27: Cincinnati Bengal Chris Henry’s Legacy Continues
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
During this episode of This Thing Called Life podcast, host Andi Johnson talks to Carolyn Henry Glaspy- a mother, grandmother, community advocate and wife. She shares her personal story with organ, eye, and tissue donation and how her life was changed forever on December 17th, 2009.
Episode Highlights:
- August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month. It is a month-long observance to highlight organized tissue donation with respect to communities of color. People of color suffer from a higher rate of disease that often leads to them leaving transplants, particularly kidney transplants, so this is an opportunity to educate yourself and learn more about what you can do.
- You can register to be a donor. You can also talk with your physician about what it means to be a donor, but the most important thing is that you get the facts correct. So please visit https://lifepassiton.org/ to get more information.
- In 2005, hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Louisiana, and Carolyn and her family members were trapped in their home for two days. Luckily they made it out safely, but since there was no other place to go, they had to shift to Cincinnati.
- Since 2009, Carolyn has been a great supporter of organ donation; that was the year that her son, Chris suffered a traumatic brain injury post falling from a truck.
- The doctors said that they did absolutely everything to save his life, but he didn't make it.
- Losing Chris was the hardest part of Carolyn’s life; It is a feeling that just doesn't go away.
- Carolyn has been a great ambassador for donations. She has been sharing her story at different events and in the community.
- Doctors work under oath, and their main target is to save lives. So, getting registered for organ donation won’t change a doctor’s oath.
- People’s initial hesitation for registering for organ donation is similar to their reaction to the COVID 19 vaccine, says Andi. She asks Carolyn to tell the listeners more about Chris.
- Chris was totally the opposite of what the world has seen; They have seen the bad Chris Henry, but she sees a loving, kind, and giving young man who had a dream for a long time to do something with his life in the NFL. That dream came true, it is just that it came with a lot of baggage.
- Carolyn and her family have felt the gratitude that many donor families feel. For them, just knowing that their loved one is able to live on and help others, that did bring a sense of peace. Finally, Carolyn was able to make sense of Chris’s passing.
- No other family member would understand losing a child quite like the mother, but the realization that the child’s organ will give someone a second life is a wonderful feeling. You can also be part of that person’s life too if they are willing.
- Carolyn shared her excitement with the listeners when she met the recipients and the family members.
- Before Chris’s tragic death, Carolyn had never heard about organ, eye, or tissue donation. She says, “You don’t see that on TV, you don’t see it on billboards, you don’t have a conversation about it. It almost doesn’t exist until it happens to you.” Carolyn explains why that makes it so important for people to do their part in getting educated and being proactive so that when that situation comes, they know what they want to do, and the family can honor their wishes.
- Andi inquires about Carolyn’s involvement with Life Center’s Donor Family Council, “Does she find it to be helpful to be around other people who have experienced a similar loss?”
- Carolyn shares the fondest memory that she has about Chris.
- Andi is impressed by Carolyn’s positive attitude towards life. She asks how she managed to hold herself up after the hurricane Katrina tragedy and then later after Chris’s death.
- Carolyn wants families to know that being an organ donor or organ tissue donor is not the last; It’s just the beginning of a new life for someone. You may or may not get to meet them, but a great feeling will fill your heart because you still have a part of your son or daughter walking around and living life.
3 Key Points:
- Carolyn clarifies the misconception about folks, especially people of color, who feels that doctors won’t do anything they can to save you if they know you’re a registered owner.
- Chris Henry was an American football wide receiver who played five seasons in the National Football League for the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football at West Virginia and was drafted by the Bengals in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
- Carolyn shares her thoughts about her experience with the donation and with Chris becoming a donor, what she learned about organ, eye, and tissue donation.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter | website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube| Twitter
- Andi Johnson website |LinkedIn
- Organ Donation Website
- Carolyn Henry
Tuesday Aug 03, 2021
Episode 26: Was this Kidney Donation Destined to Happen?
Tuesday Aug 03, 2021
Tuesday Aug 03, 2021
During this episode of This Thing Called Life podcast, host Andi Johnson talks to Robin Tackett and Monica Weakley. They share from raw, personal experiences of how organ donation has touched their lives; this is a beautiful inspirational story that you don’t want to miss!
Episode Highlights:
- In 2006, Monica’s friend Katie got sick from a virus that attacked her kidney. Monica voluntarily decided to support her friend and donate her kidney. It has been 14 years since the donation both Monica and Katie are doing great.
- A couple of years ago, Monica realized that her mother was going through an early stage of kidney failure. She and her mom both have a rare blood group. For a moment, she felt certain that her kidney would have matched for her mother. But she kept her calm, knowing that karma was on her side.
- Monica’s mom is 73 years old, her condition kept deteriorating, and during Covid, she was in the stage of renal failure. Her mom was reading too much information on the internet and getting misinformed.
- One day, Monica put out a video on Facebook to friends and acquaintances asking them if they would get tested for kidney donation. The initial response was great, but as the talk progressed, people started dropping out. When the time for actual testing came, there were only a handful of people left. Finally, Robin, who got tested and was a perfect match.
- It is unlikely to find someone outside the family circle with such a perfect match; Monica and her mom Nancy were overwhelmed with emotion. Andi inquires, “Was there a time when your mom said no to going ahead with the surgery?”
- Andi shares a concern that older people often say no to kidney transplantation.
- Monica shares how Robin and her mom got very close when she was taking care of Robin’s dog. Her mom was relieved when she heard that a known person was donating her the kidney.
- Andi asks, Talk about the days leading up to the transplant and how you were preparing for that. “Was there anyone in your circle or your family that said, ‘Hey, maybe you want to think this through a little bit more?” or anyone trying to dissuade you from making the decision?
- Robin shares her situation during the pandemic, how the hospital was vacant, and the fear of getting infected. For the surgery, she said, “We checked in on Monday night to get a COVID test. Surgery was at 7:00am Tuesday morning, and I was home by 3:00pm Wednesday.”
- Monica talks about her nervousness during the surgery and the emotional ride that her entire family took.
- Nancy is really grateful to Robin; She loves and appreciates her constantly. Robin shares her motivation to educate people about kidney donation.
- Andi asks, “How is Nancy doing these days? Is she feeling good?” She is living the life of a rock star, says Monica. But they are taking precautions because of Covid.
- Robin has no regret post donating her kidney; She feels it is like a badge of honor. She celebrated with them afterward!
- There are thousands and thousands of more stories like Nancy’s, and the reality is that many people will not survive because their story didn’t end with them receiving a transplant.
- In the last few months, Andi has lost two friends who were waiting for kidney transplants that just did not come in time, but the other reality is that we can prevent this and have a wonderful donation experience like Robin or Monica.
- Andi asks the listeners to visit Lifepassion.org and check out the many stories about donation. You can learn more about the people who became donors, read about the recipients who received the miraculous gifts of organ tissue and cornea donation, and how their lives have changed, and you can also read about the individuals who are living donors.
3 Key Points:
- Monica Weakley, a kidney donor, talks about what she experienced when her own mom’s kidney failed and she had to look for donors.
- Robin shares her side of the story and how people discouraged her once she got tested for kidney donation.
- At present, Robin is trying to raise awareness around kidney donation and educating people from her own personal experience.
Resources Mentioned: