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This Thing Called Life is a podcast dedicated to acts of giving, kindness, compassion, and humanity. Host Andi Johnson introduces you to powerful organ, tissue, and eye donation stories from individuals, families, and front-line healthcare teams. These stories are meant to inspire and remind you that while life can be challenging and unpredictable, it’s also incredibly beautiful. We hope this podcast inspires you to connect with our life-saving and life-healing mission.
Episodes
Tuesday May 03, 2022
Tuesday May 03, 2022
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://www.facebook.com/LifeCenterOH
Life Center Phone # 513-558-5555
Tuesday Apr 26, 2022
Tuesday Apr 26, 2022
On this episode of This Thing Called Life, Andi will speak with Mr. Tony Burdette, who will discuss his involvement with organ donation. Tony's life was saved in August 2019 via a liver transplant. His father passed down a genetic disease called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency to him. He was diagnosed in the early 1990s, with symptoms including exhaustion and low platelet counts. Tune in for his great story.
Episode Highlights:
- Tony had never given much thought to organ donation, but sometimes it takes a crisis to bring it to the forefront of your mind.
- Tony's father underwent a liver transplant in 1997, but it was a painful experience since, after 14 hours, the surgeons came out and told them that he probably wouldn't survive. But, happily, doctors were able to get it to work sufficiently, and he received a second transplant two days later.
- The hereditary condition does not impact everyone. They can live perfectly well without it. However, something triggered Tony's liver in early 2019, and his liver began to fail rapidly.
- Tony had all the excess fluid in his body, common for people with liver failure. So, he had to have the procedure called a thoracentesis, and over seven months, he had to have that procedure done 52 times.
- Tony couldn’t keep having these procedures every other day. So at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for evaluation at the Transplant clinic, he was put on the list rather quickly around the beginning of May and received his liver on August 3rd, 2019.
- It was a quick illness for Tony and a painful one, but thankfully his transplant and the surgery were very successful. He was discharged from the hospital just five days later without any complications.
- Tony has a brother. He obviously has the deficiency, but he hasn’t had any symptoms so far. He is under the care of a GI, and they are keeping close tabs on him.
- Both of Tony’s children have a deficiency as well, and they are under the care of the liver transplant team at children just out of precaution. The doctors check them every year and have liver scans done to keep a check on them and make sure everything is ok.
- About three weeks after Tony’s transplant, he received two letters in the mail from elementary-age girls who wrote him a letter and said that they just wanted to let him know that he had received their mother’s liver.
- Tony has studied music at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory, one of the greatest in the world, and it is such an honor to be accepted there.
- Tony is the artistic director of an organization called Aviva Voices Choral Organization. It’s an organization that he founded, and it provides high-quality community choirs for children, youth, and adults.
- The program’s cornerstone is the brand new work for a course and orchestra called the breath of life, and it was written actually before the pandemic.
- Often, being open with what you are going through can impact other people. When Tony was going through all this, we posted periodically about this on social media as encouragement for people.
- Tony encourages people to not be afraid no matter what you are going through in life. Be open, share, and find people that you can talk to and know that your story can impact people.
3 Key Points:
- Alpha-1 antitrypsin is an enzyme and it is created in the liver. The deficiency is that the enzyme gets trapped in the liver and creates a deficiency in the lungs. But when that enzyme gets trapped in the liver, it can cause liver damage.
- Tony has spent his whole career serving as a professional musician, singing professionally with opera and orchestras around the country, and doing a lot of conducting with choirs and teaching singing.
- Tony’s concert’s date is Saturday, April 30th, the last day of the month and the last day of donating life month. The concert is taking place at Christ Church Cathedral, which is a huge, beautiful venue.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter | Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube| Twitter
- Andi Johnson website |LinkedIn
- Organ Donation Website
- https://www.vivavoices.net/about/
- https://www.facebook.com/tony.burdette.5
Tuesday Apr 19, 2022
Tuesday Apr 19, 2022
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://www.facebook.com/LifeCenterOH
Life Center Phone # 513-558-5555
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
On this episode of This Thing Called Life Podcast, host Andi Johnson is going to talk to Shelly Sherman and Stephanie Jackson. They are discussing kidney health and an exciting new project that is being launched to shed light on kidney disease as well as prevention. No doctor or medical expert will kill you for your organs; In fact, no medical professional is aware of your donor status until your death is declared. Tune in for more information!
Episode Highlights:
- Host Andi Johnson has a few big asks. Will you join us and be a part of this interconnected life sustaining community by registering to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor? Will you make the commitment to become more educated about living donation and championing the donation cause?
- Shelly is associated with the Cincinnati, Ohito chapter of The Links, Incorporated and she served as the Health and Human Services Facet Committee chair.
- The Ohio central chapter was granted an award by Baxter International for increasing the awareness of kidney health in the communities in which Shelly lives and primarily in the African American community.
- What is GFR? Shelly has been working hard in the community to make sure people know where they are regarding their GFR, which lets them know how well their kidneys are functioning and what they can do to maintain kidney health.
- The Links organization was founded in 1946 on the premise of friendship, and Shelly wants to uplift and elevate people by providing health information.
- Stephanie and Shelly first met through collaboration with The Center For Closing the Health Gap.
- Shelly had goals in mind based on the grant they received regarding the number of people that they needed to touch and the number of community partnerships that they needed to do.
- Shelly and Stephaine share the experiences they have had with training sessions and connecting in the community. They hope people will continue to listen to the podcast and continue doing some things and spreading the word in their communities.
- When people are ill, you can see it on their skin and eyes. You can notice the effects of kidney and liver illness on the skin and other body systems.
- Garlic is great for decreasing inflammation; It has Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, and Manganese, a great alternative for your seasoning. If you want to decrease your psyllium, you can add more garlic, which is great for your heart and your kidney.
- The one thing is to avoid canned and packaged chicken breast because those can contain sodium and other preservatives.
- Raising awareness and making small changes goes such a long way in promoting healthier lifestyles. There is a great ripple effect too when you share information like this with those in your family and circles.
3 Key Points:
- Blueberries are an important food for kidney patients. They serve as antioxidants and are very good for healing. In addition, they help your body to increase urination.
- People talk about dialysis and transplant, and these are things that you want to avoid. By opting for a healthier lifestyle and changes in the food you eat, you can do that.
- There are so many ways you can just move your body, and Stephanie always tells people 15 to 20 minutes is sufficient. Make sure that your body is doing something that it doesn’t do every day.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter | Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube| Twitter
- Andi Johnson website |LinkedIn
- Organ Donation Website
- https://www.cincinnatilinks.org/black-kare-initiative
- https://www.facebook.com/CincinnatiLinks
- https://www.instagram.com/cincinnatilinks/
- https://www.yoursweetestlife.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/yoursweetestlifewithstephaniej
- https://www.instagram.com/yoursweetestlifewithstephaniej/
Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
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:
513-558-5555
Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
On this episode of This Thing Called Life Podcast, host Andi is going to talk to Mr. Idris Gray, who will share his experience about kidney donation. Mr. Idris is extremely resilient, and he had some health challenges throughout his life, but he always maintained, “I can do it, don’t quit, push forward attitude.” Tune in now for his story.
Episode Highlights:
- Idris used to play football but didn’t maintain his lifestyle. Due to poor eating habits, family history, and sedentary lifestyle at the age of 16 he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
- At the age of 27, something wasn’t right about Idris’s body. One day at home, coming back from the office, he collapsed on the couch. The doctor at the hospital told him that he needed to control his diabetes and get more rest because he had acute kidney failure.
- The doctor told Idris that if he didn’t receive a kidney in two years, he would start dialysis, and he was right. Idris experienced other health conditions like diabetic retinopathy, which rendered him blind for three months. He was blessed to have surgery on his left eye, but his right eye is still gone.
- Idris also has a diabetic condition called diabetic circles, which is a deterioration of the midfoot joining the right foot.
- In July 2013, Idris received a phone call from the kidney and pancreas transplant department at UC, and they asked if he was ready for kidney transplant.
- This donation and transplantation journey isn’t like a linear path. Idris explains.
- Many times, the more we ignore the symptoms, the diseases grow into a bigger monster than they could have been before.
- Idris’s keypoint to share is prevention over intervention because you are going to have to deal with it, but you have a chance to stop it from forming complications.
- It took about a month and a half for Idris to recover from immune suppression and anti-rejection medications because those medications are extremely strong.
- We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and people should not have to choose what they can pay for when it comes to medications that will keep them healthy.
- Creatinine is crucial in your body, created by the kidneys, and the higher the creatinine levels, the more prone that your kidney is to go through failure. Creatinine level 1,1.2, or 1.3 is a good range for kidney patients, but Idris’ level was about 3.4.
- In November 2019, Idris again started experiencing the major symptoms like itching of the skin, fatigue, swelling, and he started outpatient dialysis in March 2020, in the middle of the pandemic.
- There are certain blood tests you have to do, and you have to go through orientation, and there is a whole different process that you have to do just to become a candidate for another transplant.
- As humans, we tend to try to put our best foot forward for people to see, and when we are candid about certain things, it gives other people strength to be candid as well.
- Idris had parathyroid surgery, and many people don’t understand what parathyroids do, but it controls certain hormones in your body, including your calcium.
- Idris follows the law of divine oneness too. Everything is connected to everything elsewhere, and the same feeling and belief have a corresponding effect on others and the universe around us.
- Your health is wealth. If you are not feeling well or ever exhibiting any of the symptoms, please go and get tested.
3 Key Points:
- People tend to ignore symptoms that they are experiencing. In Idris’s situation, he ignored it out of fear and thinking that he didn’t have time for his health.
- Idris explains the process that one has to go through for a second kidney transplant.
- Your health is wealth. Idris often looks at other people’s situations and says, you know what, mine is not that bad. He knows he has to move on, and be an advocate for other people.
Resources Mentioned:
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
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:
513-558-5555
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
On this episode of This Thing Called Life, Andi is going to talk to Marty and Bonnie Garneret. Bonnie is not only Marty’s wife but his kidney champion also. Marty and his wife have been married for 41 years this month, and he says that has married an angel without wings. He shares his special journey; You don’t want to miss it!
Episode Highlights:
- There are two types of diabetes, type one, which you are born with, and in that, your body does not produce any insulin, so you are on insulin shots from the time you are born. The second type comes from heredity, bad eating, lack of exercise, or all the bad stuff you do - lifestyle factors.
- If the doctor says you are prediabetic, that means your sugar is running high regularly, and it is destroying your body. So, you need to get to a specialist or endocrinologist.
- It is not a disease to be taken lightly because it leads to chronic kidney disease, which Marty has. If you don’t pay enough attention to it, then you are graded on a scale of stage one to stage five transplant material, and that is where Marty is at 70 years of age.
- When you first start out with kidney disease, you are one of about 100 to 150,000 people on a list of possible recipients. Marty is lucky enough to meet a gal named Darcy Gibson, who has a foundation, a charitable organization, called Off The List, inc.
- To go through initial testing is a rigorous process. There are three different people you meet with. One is a social worker to check your mental capacity, the second is a nutritionist to manage your diet, and the third is a team of doctors and nurses that help you through tests.
- To get off the list, you have to receive a donor’s kidney, and Bonnie has done this through Facebook, through yard signs, emails, and extensive, unbelievable work this woman has done on Marty’s behalf.
- The list that Marty is talking about is a list to receive a deceased donor kidney. To get a living donor kidney, you must find someone willing to donate, a friend, a relative, or just a generous donor, and it is tough.
- It is a completely anonymous process, as someone is tested on your behalf. You would never know that because hospitals take that very seriously, and they want to ensure that the person who is doing this wants to do it for the right reasons and that there is no sense of pressure.
- Bonnie decided that UPPO would be perfect because people would have to ask a question and start the conversation. What is UPPO, or who is UPPO? Life for UPPO is a Facebook page, and we are working with Christ Hospital, and Trisha is the donor coordinator.
- The typical diabetic signs that Marty paid no attention to was he slept 12 hours and felt like he didn’t sleep 5 minutes. He drank unbelievable amounts of liquid, whether it be coffee, pop, water, and he lost a lot of weight.
- The diet you have to be on when looking for a kidney is extremely difficult. There are many things to avoid and take care of.
- There are two categories of people when it comes to the conversation about being a living donor. We need to do a better job of filling the gap of information and helping people understand this is something they can do.
- Children’s hospitals prefer to give it to children, and they should. But if something happened and there aren’t any children who would need it, then the adult on that list would receive a kidney.
- One of Marty’s dreams has always been that he would like to start in Maine and eat lobster all the way down the East Coast until they have to get an oversized bus to take him home.
- Marty looks good on the outside, but he’s not good on the inside, and that's what a lot of people don’t understand because he looks great. But they don’t understand that the kidney function is still going down, and you can’t see that.
- If people understood how grateful recipients were, it would cause a lot more people to donate because they are heroes and become angels without wings.
- Bonnie has read a lot on the national kidney Instagram page and other places that donors live longer than people who have not donated.
3 Key Points:
- Marty and Bonnie tell the listeners about the Facebook page they set up for people. The Facebook page is called life for UPPO. UPPO is Marty just because their oldest grandson when he was very young, can’t say Grandpa, and he came out with UPPO.
- Marty doesn’t think people understand how serious this disease is, and it will kill you. Many thousands of people die every day from kidney failure, and several things work against you.
- Marty and Bonnie talk about the misconception surrounding kidney donation.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter | Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube| Twitter
- Andi Johnson website |LinkedIn
- Organ Donation Website
- https://www.facebook.com/life4uppo
- Tricia Monson Christ Hospital Donor Coordinator 513-585-1440
- Marty and Bonnie Garneret
- Off the list inc, Darci Gibson
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
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://www.facebook.com/LifeCenterOH
Life Center Phone # 513-558-5555
For more information visit: http://nkf.org/
Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
On this episode of This Thing Called Life, host Andi Johnson is talking with Sandra Wright. Sandra is a transplant survivor and the founder of The Greater Cincinnati African American Heart Association. She is back on the podcast today to discuss the importance of understanding organ donation because it extends life. Don’t miss it!
Episode Highlights:
- Andi encourages the listeners to be educated about what organ donation is and how it impacts all of us.
- March is National Kidney Month. Andi shares a few helpful ways to keep your kidneys healthy like staying healthy and fit, monitoring your blood sugar, monitoring your blood pressure, monitoring your weight, and more.
- Delaying and denying when something is off with your body does you no good. Everyone should be as proactive with their health as possible.
- Did you know that African Americans make up the majority of people on the National waiting list for kidney transplants. Research shows that african americans may carry a gene that creates a higher salt sensitivity which increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
- Last time on the podcast, Sandra shared her story of being a heart transplant survivor. If you missed it, go back and listen! (Episode 40)
- Andi asks Sandra, “Why do you think so many African Americans remain opposed to organ donation?
- Sandra shares when she had heart failure what changed for her in her thinking on the path she was on.
- Andi asks Sandra, “Was registering to be a donor ever talked about around the time you were getting your license?”
- In the times we live in, we are now inundated with information. Andi and Sandra share how everyone should take an active role in their health. We have to embrace how precious our lives are and do everything we can to be present.
- How do we begin the conversation about generational health?
- Andi discusses the criteria for being able to go with organ donation from a donor.
- Sandra encourages listeners to take this podcast seriously and if you want to, go do some of your own research.
- Have you thought about the ability to help others even after you yourself transition?
- Andi asks Sandra to talk about her organization, The Greater Cincinnati African American Heart Association. She feels an obligation and is so honored to share information from traveling the journey herself in a real way. She spreads awareness with authentic truth.
- Today, over 106,380 people are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant and more than 3,000 are in need of heart transplants.
3 Key Points:
- March is National Kidney Month. It is important to know how to keep your kidneys healthy and the warning signs that they are not.
- Sandra Wright is a heart transplant survivor who shares her story to educate and give hope to others. She shares about barriers, lack of access, and the importance of understanding your heritage and family history.
- There are so many lies mixed in with a little truth that circulates in the community about organ donation and creates mistrust and opposition. Knowledge is key. Get educated about the topic and take a proactive role in your health.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter | Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube| Twitter
- Andi Johnson website |LinkedIn
- Organ Donation Website
- Sandra Wright |swright.gcaaha@gmail.com |513-484-4772
- The Greater Cincinnati African American Heart Association