BUFFALO, NY — World Kidney Day is observed every year on the second Thursday in March to spread awareness of kidney disease and to encourage people to become organ donors to save another person's life.
At ECMC on Thursday morning, transplant recipients, donors, and the head transplant surgeon were handing out flyers and providing answers on many things from kidney health to how to detect and treat kidney disease.
"We have a tendency to take our kidneys for granted but, when they start failing then people begin to realize how important kidneys are," said Liise Kayler, a professor of surgery at UB. Kayler heads the Division of Transplant Surgery in UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and is program director of the Regional Center of Excellence for Transplantation and Kidney Care at ECMC.
In the United States, more than 100,000 men, women, and children are waiting for an organ transplant, and 13 to 17 people die each day while waiting.
If you are interested in becoming a donor, Dr. Kayler recommends talking with your doctor or even visiting the transplant center at ECMC.
"The worst thing to do is when people make their own decisions about their health and decide not to donate when in fact they could have," said Dr. Kayler.
For 80-year-old Barbara Breckenridge, her kidney transplant nearly 24 years ago saved her life.
"I did not know anything about dialysis I just knew that I had two kidneys and that was that," said Breckenridge.
Breckenridge uses her expertise and knowledge of getting a kidney transplant to help educate others dealing with kidney disease.
"After two years I started my work in the community because I felt blessed after receiving my kidney. So I needed to give back to others, because I did not want them to go through all the challenges that I did, like not being educated about my disease and about transplantation," said Breckenridge.
Breckenridge also created a kidney disease support group called Kidney Health Together, where dialysis patients, kidney transplant recipients, and kidney failure patients can share their stories together.
If you want to become a donor you can visit the ECMC website here or call 716-898-5001.
If you want to connect with other donors, or kidney transplant recipients you can contact Breckenridge at info@KidneyHealthTogether.org.
