The Life-alysis Foundation

There are so many benefits that an emotional support animal can have for a dialysis patient. If you have ever wanted to look into registering your beloved family member this company was a life saver for me and helped me get an official doctor's letter to have my wonderful pets allowed into University housing during my transplant recovery process. Definitely check them out and give their page a like, they are 100% supportive of our kidney community needs and as an amazing added bonus, the doctor is actually a transplant recipient himself! #Lifealysis #SupportDogs #ESA #Kidney #PuppyLove

I have been taking a Medical Ethics class this quarter and amazingly just one week after my first kidney transplant the subject of organ donation and open markets was the main discussion including should alcoholics be given less priority for an liver transplant than non alcoholics. I don't want to talk about that in particular but in doing my own research for my final paper on the various ideas of how to increase organ donation, and living kidney donation in particular, with...out actually making it legal for purchase, I came across an excellent Freakonomics Radio episode titled "Make Me A Match" with an interview with the Nobel laureate Al Roth who helped to create the algorithm used now in paired exchange, something that was utilized to get me my kidney on March 2nd. 8 people were involved in our chain and 4 people received a kidney. The first paired exchange in America was in 2000 and currently there are 600 paired exchange transplants each year, and without the algorithm that Al Roth created, we would still only be doing 2 or 4 of those exchanges every year. It's something I am beyond grateful for and passionate about spreading information about. It has truly changed the game in a big positive way. One of the things at the end of this 50 minute interview that really caught my attention was information about Husbands being Less likely to be able to donate to their wives if they were parents due to antibodies formed similar to that of blood transfusions. Here is the actual transcript of what was said about that. Information worth sharing and understanding for sure and something that might not be discussed or explained by some Doctors. ROTH: So one of the things that could stop you from taking my kidney is that you might have antibodies, pre-formed antibodies against some of my proteins. So if you have antibodies against my proteins then your immune system is waiting to attack my proteins if they show up in my kidney, for instance. But mostly you shouldn’t have antibodies against human proteins that you don’t have. You have to be exposed to those proteins to develop antibodies. So the chance that, so if I didn’t know my blood type, the chance that you could take my kidney is somewhat over 50 percent. But the chance that my wife could take my kidney is only about 30 percent. And the reason is we’re parents, and in the course of childbirth, not pregnancy, but childbirth, my wife, my wife’s immune system might have been exposed to some of the proteins that our boys inherit from me. And if so, her immune system might have developed antibodies that would now be prepared to attack my kidney if it should appear. So for parents, husbands donating to wives is harder than other donations. Here is the link to the actual program if you are interested in listening. http://bit.ly/KidneyMatch See more

1 week away! #Lifealysis #DonateLife

Congratulations Mikey Hann on a long awaited Kidney! You can aid in his recovery here: www.gofundme.com/MikeyHann

Maybe the greatest single piece of information ever contained in a letter. HAPPY NATIONAL KIDNEY MONTH! #KidneyTransplant #DonateLife #Lifealysis

This is what I call #Mattertude !

DaVita, the leading provider of dialysis services in the United States, agreed to pay two of the largest settlements for fraud to the US Government in 2015: $450 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly generated unnecessary waste in administering the drugs Zemplar and Venofer to dialysis patients and billed the government for costs that could have been avoided; and $350 million for paying kickbacks to physicians to induce patient referrals to its clinics. #Lifealysis

A reminder to have a great Thanksgiving! #Lifealysis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKEhTKMQAEY

It is starting to come together... The WAK is totally not wack. #Lifealysis

Since I started dialysis on December 1, 2009 the stock for my dialysis provider, Davita, has increased by 269%. Currently at around $80, Warren Buffet listed it as a top investment stock in 2013 and actually owns 17% of the company. So much of that profit could be put back into patient quality of life and kidney disease research. http://bit.ly/1JjwWeQ #Lifealysis

I love The Big Lebowski, and this is a brilliant, fun game. Ready... GO!

"The dialysis industry enjoys a unique place in the healthcare sector with a comparatively small patient base but large revenue base for needed services." ... "The dialysis industry remains a robust, multi-billion dollar business that has managed to fuel its growth engine in the past 5 years. What makes this market more interesting and challenging is its relatively small customer base - a bit under two million dialysis patients form its entire universe. It is the high value of these customers that make this a competitive industry. There are several key issues and trends impacting the future of the dialysis market. Demographics, insurance and reimbursement issues, and consolidation in the industry will continue to influence the outcome of the market in the future." http://www.prnewswire.com//world-market-report-for-dialysi

Coming Phosphorus Crisis? More like no more binders celebration!!!! http://bit.ly/1URfyT1

Wow, this Facebook post 'age game' is really impressive. Never seen so many ladies willing to have their age guessed in public. Wondering if this will lead to a guess my dry weight game? Those of us on dialysis already know how much better we look compared to the imagination of those that hear we are on diaysis. #Lifealysis #KeepTheBeautifulPicturesComing