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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
Wednesday Feb 23, 2022
Wednesday Feb 23, 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 Feb 15, 2022
Tuesday Feb 15, 2022
On this episode of This Thing Called Life, host Andi Johnson is talking with Sandra Wright. She has a special testimony to share. The goal of this podcast is to help listeners understand what organ donation is and isn’t and how it truly impacts others. February is Black History Month and American Heart Month. Sandra is a transplant survivor and the founder of The Greater Cincinnati African American Heart Association. Tune in now for her special story!
Episode Highlights:
- Sandra is a heart transplant recipient. In 2014, she contracted a virus that was never named but lingered and left her with a side effect of shortness of breath. Later that year, she was on vacation when it all kind of climaxed.
- She shares her story of going to the hospital and the dire state she was in. She was told she had Heart Failure but she went into immediate denial. She cautions the listeners against denial because then you don’t do what you need to do.
- There will be a book coming out to tell Sandra’s full story in the future to help many.
- Christ Hospital in Cincinnati set her on the path of her life being saved.
- Prior to Sandra’s visit at Christ Hospital, every two months she would go for maintenance care to control the edema but other than that she wouldn’t take the medicine or change her lifestyle until 2017 when her heart would no longer serve her.
- Sandra shares how her faith got her through the scary time of being in need of a heart.
- The Greater Cincinnati African American Heart Association was created by Sandra to help provide others support, to create a community where they feel respected, heard, and understood. She shares about the services and her vision for down the road.
- For those who hear they have CFH, Congestive Heart Failure, that is all they are going to think about and can come unexpectedly and at vulnerable times.
- Andi shares how the healthcare system is not accessible for all and how detrimental it is for many, especially people of color.
- Sandra shares a sad story of talking with her granddaughter who said she ‘hated being black’ and how that ideology fuels her heart and mission to create an environment of support for the African American Community.
- Andi asks Sandra to share any encouraging thing she is experiencing or new strength she sees in the community.
- Andi reminds listeners that today, 106,494 people are waiting for life saving organ transplants and more than 3,400 need heart transplants. Can you think about your decision to be a donor and save a life?
3 Key Points:
- Sandra shares a shocking story of her journey with heart failure and the danger of being in denial of the diagnosis.
- The African American community is at the highest risk and has the greatest fatality which led Sandra to create The Greater Cincinnati African American Heart Association as a community of support.
- Sandra shares that living 65 years in this world, we are beginning to understand the necessity of working together and supporting each other. That is encouraging and exciting.
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
Tuesday Feb 08, 2022
Tuesday Feb 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. In this episode we talk about the importance of heart health.
Resources:
https://www.facebook.com/LifeCenterOH
Life Center Phone # 513-558-5555
Tuesday Feb 01, 2022
Tuesday Feb 01, 2022
On this episode of This Thing Called Life, host Andi Johnson is talking with E. Denise Peoples. She is a comedian, actress, singer, writer, producer, radio host, and motivational speaker. She is a double lung transplant recipient, and most importantly, she is a Christian. African Americans are at a higher risk of heart disease. Research suggests that African Americans may carry a gene that makes them more salt sensitive, which increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. Tune in for her story and great knowledge.
Episode Highlights:
- In December 2000, while coming from the second floor of the house, Denise was short of breath, which lasted until February. She went to her primary doctor, and she was treated for pneumonia but nothing got better.
- Denise got diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which at that time was an older white male smoker’s disease. The only alternative is a lung transplant or double lung transplant as this disease progresses.
- After being selected for a play audition and receiving health-related confirmation from a pulmonologist, Denise learned a lot about her body and herself while in Paris.
- When they came home at the end of 2003, things just started going down, and the disease was progressing so fast. Denise ended up on oxygen 24 hours a day.
- One night around 10 o’clock Denise told her manager that she was so tired of living like this. Soon she had a call from the hospital and they said, “Miss Peoples, we’ve got lungs, we need you to get to the hospital.”
- The next day after surgery, Denise woke up and felt her face, but the nurse asked, “Are you looking for the cannula? She said it’s there, but you are breathing on your own.” These are the absolute best words she had heard in years.
- Andi asks Denise, “You are with New Jersey Sharing Network, which procures organs and tissue for transplant, and they have 57 OPO’s throughout the country. How did you end up there?
- Andi asks, “What do you believe is the reason why African Americans don’t register or think about being a living kidney donor?
- For COVID vaccination, many of us refuse to be vaccinated because of distrust. We want to roll the dice and do something different, and we are just seeing that’s not working, says Denise.
- When Denise got to the emergency room for the Covid swab test, sitting there and waiting for hours was the worst experience because she wondered, “Why do you have a lung transplant patient sitting with everybody else?”
- Once Denise returned home after 21 days in the hospital, she was doing good, was never on oxygen, and was always at room temperature. Her oxygen levels never went under 90. But her body was stiff, and she focused on getting her strength back.
- Andi asks, “
- As we believe in organ and tissue donation, how can we change the narrative around African Americans for kidney donation and this skepticism?
- We need to give a platform to talk about what people believe for themselves and what does your faith tell you because many faith leaders who are opposed to donation would be surprised once they dig into their word and see what it sets, says Andi.
3 Key Points:
- Denise is a Community services specialist with the NJ sharing network. She goes into all types of communities to discuss organ and tissue donation and dispel myths and misconceptions.
- When tested positive for Covid, Denise felt a knee joint pain that she hadn’t ever felt. And after two days, her hand and shoulder started swelling, and then her left-hand knuckle. After that, she was not able to walk or text.
- Denise suggests that we have to continue to spread education about donation in this world before families ever hit the ICU. The community needs those stories. Stop being so secretive that you have kidney problems.
Resources Mentioned:
Friday Jan 28, 2022
Friday Jan 28, 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
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
On this episode of This Thing Called Life, host Andi is going to talk with Kelly Williams about her connection to donation. There is a lot of misinformation and falsehoods about donation. One of the goals of this podcast is to really dive in and help listeners better understand what donation is and how it truly impacts others. It can be best accomplished by hearing from the people who have lived it, who have walked, can speak, and share their experiences. Tune in for Kelly’s life saving story.
Episode Highlights:
- Kelly donated her left kidney 13 years ago to Caleb, and Caleb was 12 years old at the time. Caleb celebrated his 25th birthday a few days ago, and he is in such a good place. It is the power of organ donation.
- Andi asks Kelly to take the listeners 13 years back when she was working, she was young and kind of getting her career going, and she met Caleb’s mom at her place of employment.
- The process started in September, and then in December, they ended up getting the call that our transplant date was confirmed, and we were on the books for January 15th, and we did it, says Kelly.
- In the African American community, there are some barriers to donation, and one of them is the lack of transplantation awareness.
- Andi asks, how do you think we’re doing at breaking down the donation-related barriers, and what do you think we could be doing better? Unfortunately, people are not taking the time to get that transplant awareness, and it could ultimately be a death sentence for many people.
- Growing the living kidney donor base of people of color who can stand in front of somebody else and say, you can do it as I did it will probably be most impactful, says Kelly.
- Kelly doesn’t think there are things that she can’t do, and she genuinely doesn’t have any limitations.
- Ask as many questions as possible and determine if kidney donation is something that you can do and if you can’t do it, take that knowledge and share it with somebody else.
- The waitlist continues to increase, and that’s the part that Kelly thinks is so important to highlight. People of color make up the majority of that waitlist for kidney transplants.
- It has been amazing to see over the years the number of people who are stepping up to say, “I will be a generous kidney donor. I don’t know who I can donate to, but I’m going to walk through this process, and I will do it.”
3 Key Highlights:
- When you do something like kidney donation, it gives you such a surge of purpose and energy, and it feels like the best possible outcome that could have ever happened, says Kelly.
- Kelly was young in her 20s when she decided on kidney donation. She tells the listeners how her parents fely about this decision.
- Kidney donation is a big decision, and it is worth contemplation for sure. You want to make sure it is the right thing for you and your family to do.
Resources Mentioned:
Tuesday Jan 11, 2022
Tuesday Jan 11, 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 Jan 04, 2022
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
On this episode of This Thing Called Life, Andi is going to talk to Katie Beurket. She is a program coordinator at Fernside. Fernside is an exceptional organization in Greater Cincinnati. The fernside staff is very honored to continue their legacy of supporting grieving children and families. Katie says they provide peer support groups for children ages 3 to 18 and their parents or legal guardians. Tune in to hear about their valuable work.
Episode Highlights:
- We must understand that many people are struggling right now. They could be grieving a variety of different things or could be mourning the loss of a loved one. So we will talk about those feelings of sadness and how we try to best get through during times like this, says Andy.
- Fernside is a children’s grief center,the second oldest children’s grief center in the country. They were founded 35 years ago by Rachel and Paul Burrell, says Katie.
- Andi asks Katie to share about the switch to virtual during covid and how that has been going.
- Andi asks Katie, “You are very passionate about the work you do; What led you to this?”
- Grief will change throughout your lifespan based on your developmental age. There are different signs of grieving children that correlate with the period that they are at.
- Unfortunately, kids at a young age are experiencing loss, but if we are not educating them and telling them what it means now, they will hear about it later on, and it can affect them badly. Educating kids is also part of grief.
- The 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders are one of Katie’s favorite age groups because they do start to understand what death means. They understand the permanence of death, and that is when they begin to really ask questions.
- Fernside has over 100 direct service volunteers. They have different lesson plans that are given to them.
- Programs like Fernside and what they offer allow individuals to keep memories alive of their person and create a safe space to talk about it which is so important.
- The National Alliance for Children Grief is an excellent resource for finding things even outside the region. They have a wealth of other information on how to help children who are breathing in different resources, says Katie.
3 Key Points:
- Katie says that they do orientation in their office, and they help give tours to suffering children and families. There is a program called the Pit Crew at Fernside. It is a philanthropy and training.
- A lot of kids don’t understand what happens when people die, they think they are going to come back or don’t understand the permanence of death.
- Fernside is helping families have healthy coping skills to figure out how to move forward because they don’t want anyone to be stuck in their grief forever.
Resources Mentioned:
Tuesday Dec 28, 2021
Tuesday Dec 28, 2021
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.griefincommon.com/
National suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
https://www.facebook.com/LifeCenterOH
Life Center Phone # 513-558-5555
Tuesday Dec 21, 2021
Tuesday Dec 21, 2021
On this episode, host Andy is going to talk to Pastor Chris Beard. He is the leader and pastor of the People’s Church located near the University of Cincinnati. They are discussing how the concept of faith intersects with the idea of organ, eye, and tissue donation.
Episode Highlights:
- We just wrapped up national donor Sabbath month, the time when faith leaders or people in their congregation take time out to highlight organ donations within their places of worship, says Andy.
- Chris shares about his congregation statistics and the church.
- The church has been in the process of 20 years of moving from homogeneity into a multicultural reality, which led to a church name change about ten years ago. It was an intentional decision to follow the Scriptures and the vision of Jesus, Chris shares.
- Chris shares how speaking of life means speaking the truth. He calls for continued thought towards and prayer for there to be able people, willing, and a good matches for donation.
- Being created by the creator, we have the ability for creative thinking, and let us trust the scientists, the artists, and the engineers of this world to do what they do to bring the quality of life, says David.
- Andy asks, “For many people who may not be happy this time of year because they are grieving a loss… as a pastor, what would you offer to encourage our listeners?”
- There is a sadness from a loss that will never be fully overcome, and grief is something that has been with us for a lifetime.
- There is healing in sharing with other friends about the memories, feelings, and losses of people who are dear to us.
- A poor theology of new earth and new heaven causes an effect on a lot of decisions in the current day out of lack of knowledge.
- Some of America’s racism and medical history was sinfully, wrongfully made concerning people of color, and that story still keeps people of color from life and health.
- The telling of the true stories will diminish the power of the myths, which is very powerful.
- David asks the listeners to be strategic about organ and tissue donation to the new and younger generation. He says that we need more stories of those who receive the donation and the quality of life added, and hearing their stories will inspire others.
3 Key Points:
- There is a sense in the Christian tradition within evangelicalism or fundamentalism that ‘If my body isn’t buried whole, how will I be raised from the dead properly?’
- David shares his thoughts on what he would say to someone who is very ingrained in their faith in God but doesn’t want to be a donor.
- Andy highlights the myths around tissue and organ donations that sit in the families for generations and somehow become factual.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter | website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube| Twitter
- Andi Johnson website |LinkedIn
- Organ Donation Website
- Pastor Chris Beard https://www.peopleschurch.co/