During episode 15 of This Thing Called Life podcast, host Andi Johnson speaks with Paula Franckhauser, a woman who has been in the fight for a long time but is now retiring from the kidney transplant game. Paula knows all things kidney and has dedicated almost half of her life to changing the lives of so many!
Episode Highlights:
- Paula turned 65 recently and thinks that after over 20 years of service, it’s time for younger nurses to take over the fight.
- For the last 5 years, Paula has taken over the responsibility of handling the kidney transplant waitlist.
- Some people have to wait years on the kidney transplant wait list depending on their blood type.
- Paula feels as though she has become part of the families of those who are waiting on a kidney transplant.
- After working on the floor as a nurse and as a case manager for a few years, Paula fell in love with her role in the transplant office.
- Paula’s 30-year nursing career started out in long-term care but she has held a plethora of roles since then.
- When Paula first started at Christ’s hospital in Cincinnati, there was only one nurse.
- Most people are severely undereducated about how their kidneys work, thus leading to unhealthy habits.
- The morning after a transplant, people have color back in their eyes and a smile on their face.
- Many people don’t know how well they can do after a kidney transplant with only one kidney.
- People make the mistake of thinking that just because they don’t match their loved one, they can’t make a difference.
- The National Kidney Registration, NKR, offers a solution to a massive issue in a network that stretches across the country.
- Paula has enjoyed watching friendships evolve from kidney transplants between the recipients and the donors.
- Kidney donation programs are incredibly picky with living donors, but 20-years ago, there wasn’t enough known genetically.
- The biggest problem that non-compliant recipients have is that Medicare goes away after 3 years.
- If any complications come from the kidney transplant for donors, Medicare covers them for life.
- Paula has found an incredible amount of joy in making the phone calls to long-waiting recipients to tell them they have a kidney.
- For young nurses and doctors who are looking to join the transplant field, they need to get involved in their off-time.
- The Transplant Breakfast and Kidney Walks are great ways for young medical professionals to get involved.
- 2020 has taught everyone the importance of coming together as a community to lift each other up.
- One of the biggest myths surrounding healthcare is that medical professionals will not save a life if they are a registered donor.
- The communication between donation centers and hospitals has improved an incredible amount over the last 20 years.
- Paula, unfortunately, lost a patient at the beginning of her career but did everything she could to comfort his wife.
- When you are as involved in and connected with the lives of recipients as Paula is, a bond is formed forever.
- The Kidney Foundation is always accepting volunteers, so don’t be afraid to reach out.
- Through the pandemic, The Christ Hospital only slowed down a little with living donors but did as many overall as they ever do.
3 Key Points:
- The education process around kidney function is massively underdeveloped, and Paula would love to establish better education starting in high school.
- The parent-kidney donation program involves someone who doesn’t match their loved one but does match with someone else on the list and vice versa.
- Medicare stops covering prescriptions after only 3 years, so many of the recipients who don’t work are forced to find jobs in order to afford their medicine.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter (website) (Facebook) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Twitter)
- Andi Johnson (website) (LinkedIn)
- The Christ Hospital