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Posts Tagged ‘kidney disease’
Saturday, December 12th, 2009
In 2005, Deidra Hall founded what is now The Kidney Coaching Foundation, Inc (KCF). Since she was a kidney transplant patient herself and had been since 1994, she saw a need to assist adolescence, between the ages of 12 and 21, with all stages of renal disease. As an adult, she looked backed and realized that she did not have the support and people there to show her that life goes beyond her current situation – that was kidney failure.
At the KCF, it is our goal to do just this. We aim to coach and inspire that life goes on and there is so much left to do. It is ironic that in our goals, life can still be fragile. In January of 2009, Deidra found out that her transplanted kidney started failing. Throughout this year, she has seen the decline of her kidney function to the point where she finally had to start dialysis.
The beautiful thing about this time around is that she knows that life does not end and that from past experiences, she knows exactly what to do. She will be getting a kidney transplant within the next couple of months, but this does not end the KCF. In fact, this makes it stronger as the current turn of events refreshes the experiences of 15 years.
Life is learned by living it and experiences makes us stronger. As a founder, we are proud to know that she can teach from her own lessons and that is something we cannot place a value can be placed.
Written by:
Antoine Hall
Tags: dialysis, founder, kidney disease, transplant
Posted in Articles | Comments Off
Friday, October 30th, 2009
You don’t come across very many films that focus on kidney disease and how it affects lives. D tour is a documentary film that follows Pat Spurgeon, a rock musician on tour as he goes through daily dialysis treatments while he waits for a new kidney from a matching donor. Here is a brief overview of the film and Pat’s story. Pat was born with one kidney, which began to fail when he was in junior high school. He had a successful transplant at twenty-five but fifteen years later, that kidney began to lose function too. Pat now needed a second transplant though he held onto his dreams of touring with his rock band. Pat’s friend and director of the film Jim Granato followed him on tour. Three years and 80 hours of footage later, a story of hope, love, support, triumph and the importance of organ donation emerged. Pat seemingly displayed many of the qualities that Deidra discussed in the previous post. He was ready to fight and win – and sharing his story through this film is likely to inspire other kidney patients to do the same.
The film had two recent screenings in North Carolina. However, the film is scheduled to air nationally on the PBS series Independent Lens in November 2009. Watch the D tour film trailer on YouTube.
Written by:
Olympia Friday
Tags: documentary, donor, kidney disease, PBS, transplant
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
There’s a scripture (Ok, don’t tune me out here) in the Bible where Peter is asked to step out of a boat and walk on water (Matthew 14:22). Many evangelicals focus on the fact that Peter sank when he took his eyes off of Jesus. In other words, they pin point Peter’s folly of focusing on his surroundings instead of keeping his eyes on the only One who could help. I take a different view of that passage. See, there are two things you have to realize. One, there was wind and waves – not the best conditions to get out of a boat. Two, there were eleven other men in that boat. Count them, eleven other men, and it was only Peter who had the courage to get out of the boat despite the turmoil around him. (more…)
Written by:
Deidra Hall
Tags: courage, faith, fear, kidney disease, patient, support
Posted in Articles | No Comments »
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
A Note from the Founder
 Deidra Hall, Founder Welcome!
Thank you for stopping to read our blog. It is a privileged and an honor to have you here.
I became part of the elite “kidney patient club” at the age of 12, diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome. Although I’ve been through some ups and downs since then, I count it as a blessing. A blessing? Why of course! If I would have never entered this world of chronic kidney disease, I would have never met some of the most inspiring people I know. For example, doctors dedicating their lives to research and treatment for kidney disease, parents who stay up late nights and have learned what a “cc” is, coordinator of walk-a-thons to raise money to find cures, and – patients, patients who despite long hours on dialysis, “moon” faces, and careful diet planning – learn to laugh and live and take what strength they have to live productive lives. Coming in contact with these people have truly made me who I am. Out of this “disease” came this awesome opportunity in KCF, and I would like to share this opportunity with you!
So I ask, please stop by often – we’ll try to update at least once a week. We’ll share news, events, and also stories of our journeys (so if you have something you’d like to share, please do! We’d love to post them for you!)
Until then,
Deidra
Written by:
Deidra Hall
Tags: founder, kidney disease, Nephrotic Syndrome
Posted in Articles | Comments Off
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