Dialysis and NPR

Posted on March 27, 2014 by DevonTexas

World Kidney Day DCWhile I was in Washington, DC for the Dialysis Patient Citizen fly-in, National Public Radio’s Ailsa Chang did an interview with me while reporting on “Access to Your Congressman”.  It was a great opportunity to get the word out about DPC and the efforts of dialysis patients to get access to their members of Congress.  You can read a transcript of the report or listen to the recording by CLICKING HERE.

About DevonTexas

I am a person with ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) which means my kidneys don't work. Forty or so years ago that would have been a death sentence but today there is Dialysis which means I could be hooked up to a machine that would clean my blood as the kidneys should. Three days a week, I went to a dialysis center and had too very large needles stuck in my arm to remove and replace my blood as it passed through a process where it was cleaned and the fluid was removed, a process taking a little over four hours each time. In November 2017, I received a kidney transplant from a deceased donor. My life went into overdrive. With a "new" functioning kidney, I no longer had to go to a dialysis center and my days were not open to be lived rather than recovering from dialysis which meant dialyzing for three days and resting for 4 days a week. I work full-time and often 50 hours per week. It is something I never imagined. I highly recommend it! HeeHee I want to advance knowledge about dialysis and transplant so that others can learn from my experience and mistakes. We shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel, eh? There is so much to be learned and experienced about our predicament. There are vast resources available to support us and enrich our lives but many patients don't know about them. There are also many issues that we have to deal with whether we want to or not. So I blog about them in www.DevonTexas.com All comments are confidential until I approve them. If you don't want your comment public, let me know and I will respect that. So, feel free to leave a comment. I also blog in LegacyTales in WordPress if you are interested in the ramblings of a Old Man. Give a peek and let me know what you think. https://legacytales.wordpress.com/ Enjoy.
This entry was posted in Access, Affordable Care Act, Dialysis Patient Citizens, kidney, lobbying, Medicare, Uncategorized, World Kidney Day and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to Dialysis and NPR

  1. auntyuta says:
    March 27, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    In the report it says:
    “For all the campaigning and schmoozing members of Congress have to do, the truth is that the vast majority of Americans will never actually meet their lawmakers.

    To be fair, not everyone wants to. But among those who do, there’s serious competition for a lawmaker’s time. So, how does an average citizen get access on Capitol Hill? The quick answer: It’s not easy.

    First, do the math. When it comes to face time with a member of Congress, there are 535 of them, and 314 million of you.”

    Did you try to get access?

    Reply
    • DevonTexas says:
      March 28, 2014 at 7:30 am

      Yes, I should have made that more clear. We met with three Representatives, or rather their staff people, and two Senators’ staffs. We did meet with ONE Representative Marc Veasey of the Dallas area. He was attentive and asked good questions.

      Reply
      • auntyuta says:
        March 28, 2014 at 1:59 pm

        This sounds like your visit was a great success, Devon. It is great that you take so much care to make known your special needs and that there are people who pay attention to people with these needs. Just knowing that people care must give you a great feeling. Good on you for doing this not just for yourself but for others too! 🙂

  2. Sara says:
    March 28, 2014 at 7:42 am

    Congrats on NPR! I’m visiting Texas. What a change in so many years from Oregon!

    Reply
  3. cwbybrick says:
    March 28, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    Followed & on my blog roll!

    Reply

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