The Donor Diaries Podcast

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The Donor Diaries Podcast

Donor Diaries is a podcast that delves into the beauty and complexity of living organ donation. Welcome to Donor Diaries! Most don’t even know it.

Tune in to hear extraordinary stories of people who choose to share their organs and give the gift of life. Donor Diaries is a podcast about the beauty and messiness of living organ donation. Get ready for some amazing stories about what happens when people decide to share their organs with other people, when people chose to share life. The sharing of kidneys and other organs is an incredibly fascinating topic that teaches a lot about kindness, love, and life! There are over 100,000 people on the kidney transplant waitlist today, and sadly about 13 people die each day waiting for a kidney that they never receive. One in three Americans are at risk for developing chronic kidney disease and one in nine already have kidney disease. Donor Diaries shares unfiltered stories of kidney donation through the voices of living donors and straight talk from transplant experts who are committed to bringing the conversation of living organ donation to the forefront of society, so patients no longer have to die or suffer while waiting for a transplant. Donor Diaries supports a bigger initiative called CrowdSource for Life. Maitri River Productions is producing CrowdSource for Life to air on PBS member stations across the country. This unique one-hour television special features first-person storytelling by non-directed kidney donors- people like me who donated their kidneys to strangers. While the goal of Donor Diaries and CrowdSource for Life is not to recruit living donors, we fully expect that people will be educated, inspired, and that some special individuals WILL step forward to donate a kidney once they discover what is involved. We only need .03% of the population to get on board with sharing a kidney to completely eliminate the kidney transplant waitlist. 13 people die each day waiting for a donated kidney that they never get, and in the meantime so many of us are walking around with an extra. This concept is a lesson in abundance. We don’t have a kidney shortage; we have a kidney abundance in this country. It’s just an allocation problem. Thank you for visiting our page!

-Laurie Lee, Host

04/07/2026

The Transplant Games of America: Where Donation Comes Alive

Listen here: https://donordiaries.com/the-transplant-games-of-america-where-donation-comes-alive

You can’t fully understand organ donation until you see what it makes possible. Parents reaching milestones they once thought they might miss. Grandparents meeting grandchildren. Families holding both grief and pride at the same time.

In this episode of Donor Diaries, we take you to the Transplant Games of America, happening June 18 to 23 in Denver. Often described as a “mini Olympics,” the Games bring together transplant recipients, living donors, and donor families for a week that feels more like a family reunion than a competition.

Laurie is joined by three voices who represent every side of the donation story.

- Bill Ryan, donor dad and President and CEO of the Transplant Life Foundation, shares how decades of experience producing large-scale events led him to steward this powerful gathering and why it continues to grow.

- Mark McIntosh, founder of Victory Productions and chair of the 2026 Denver host committee, opens up about living with amyloidosis, surviving kidney failure, and receiving a life-saving transplant in 2024. Now a longtime media personality and motivational speaker, he is using his platform to drive awareness around kidney health and living donation.

- And Kathleen Hostert, living kidney donor and co-founder of Life’s Short. Live It., shares her deeply personal story of donating a kidney to her husband Craig and walking alongside him through transplant, cancer, and the meaningful years they might not have otherwise had.

Together, they explore what makes the Games so unique, why living donation is a practical and powerful response to the organ shortage, and how this community creates space for both celebration and healing.

You’ll also hear what to expect in Denver, from competitions and ceremonies to the moments in between that are harder to describe but impossible to forget. Kathleen shares updates on a large-scale gathering designed to bring living donors and recipients together in one place, inspired by global milestones and grounded in the idea that generosity can ripple further than we imagine.

With National Donate Life Month as the backdrop, this episode is an invitation to move beyond awareness and into action.

03/03/2026

Workplace Support That Changes Everything

Listen here: https://donordiaries.com/workplace-support-that-changes-everything

What if a simple HR policy could help save someone’s life? In this episode, Iarkowski, Transplant Community Program Manager at the American Society of Transplantation, shares how paid leave transforms the living donor journey from a financial gamble into a supported reality. Brooke brings over ten years of experience in the transplant and donation field and a deeply personal connection to the mission. Witnessing both her mother and brother receive kidney transplants inspired her commitment, and in October 2023, she became a non-directed living kidney donor herself. Her lived experience gives her a unique perspective on the patient, donor, and family caregiver journey.

We explore how Brooke leads national initiatives that center the patient and donor voice, including the Power2Save campaign and the Living Donor Circle of Excellence. She explains how the Circle of Excellence helps companies adopt clear, humane policies that provide eight to twelve weeks fully paid leave for donor evaluation, surgery, and recovery. Brooke highlights why the business case is strong: medical costs are billed to the recipient’s insurance, utilization rates are low, and company culture benefits are significant. Thoughtful HR policies remove the number one barrier to donation (lost wages) while signaling leadership support for employees who step up to save a life.

This conversation also addresses the mental and emotional aftermath of donation. Brooke speaks candidly about post-donation fatigue and a brief depressive period, and how being seen as a whole person made all the difference. Realistic expectations and proper support make donation safer and more sustainable for everyone.

If you have ever thought, “I would donate, but I cannot afford the time,” or if you are a leader looking for a high-impact, low-cost benefit that saves lives, this episode is for you. Learn how to bring the Circle of Excellence to your workplace, get practical steps for starting the HR conversation, and hear why thoughtful policies can turn goodwill into a kidney or liver that moves someone off the waitlist.

02/03/2026

From One Kidney to Many

Listen here: https://donordiaries.com/from-one-kidney-to-many

One donated kidney can change far more than one life. In this episode, Dr. John Friedewald from Northwestern Medicine explains how a single deceased donor kidney from a member of the military can launch a sequence of living donor transplants that moves multiple people off the waitlist and eventually returns a living donor kidney to a service member at Walter Reed.

We walk through how paired donation works, why non-directed donors increase matching opportunities, and what shifts when a deceased donor becomes the chain starter. Dr. Friedewald breaks down the quality safeguards that ensure the deceased donor kidney is comparable to a prospective living donor kidney and explains how directed donation makes the process feel familiar for both hospitals and OPO teams.

Fairness is a major theme. We talk about blood type O equity, how programs monitor blood type flow, and early results showing that deceased donor-initiated chains more than double the impact of a single gift. For patients, we explore the real question many face: whether to keep waiting for a possible living match or to accept a high-quality deceased kidney now, especially when more time on dialysis increases risk.

With insights from centers in the United States and lessons learned from Italy, this approach is poised to grow and help shorten wait times nationwide.

01/06/2026

Choosing Life: Renal Warriors Wilson Du & Amy McCann

Listen here: https://donordiaries.com/choosing-life-renal-warriors-wilson-amy/

In this episode of Donor Diaries, we sit down with transplant recipient Wilson Du and living kidney donor Amy McCann, two people whose stories intertwine through determination, community, and the belief that choosing life is a daily practice.

Wilson spent five and a half years on dialysis before receiving his transplant in 2022. After a doctor told him he needed to lose 100 pounds or forget about a transplant, he confronted the shock, the shame, and the painful first steps toward change. The words choose life stayed with him and became the foundation for a journey that carried him from a ten-foot walk to an Olympic-distance triathlon and a mission to help others Outshine Their Pain. Today, Wilson is The Renal Warrior, inspiring patients to fight for their second chance.

Amy first heard Wilson’s story at their community gym and immediately volunteered to be tested as his donor. She was denied for BMI and could have stepped away, but she chose to turn the rejection into resolve. Nearly 100 pounds later, another donor matched with Wilson, yet Amy kept going. She donated her kidney to a stranger on her birthday, transforming her journey into a gift she had fought hard to give. At The Mission HQ, she now leads the Warrior Program, supporting patients and community members who walk through the doors looking for hope.

Together, Wilson and Amy share how Mission HQ became a space where dialysis patients, survivors, and neighbors can move, breathe, and rebuild without judgment. Their message is simple and powerful. Consistency matters more than intensity. Rest when you need to, and then keep going. Small steps count. Hope is built one choice at a time.

12/23/2025

Every kidney donated is a life changed. Donor Diaries returns January 6 with unfiltered conversations that shine a light on living organ donation and the people who make it possible.

07/09/2025

Sue Rees returns to Donor Diaries to discuss donor protections
offered by the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation (APKD) that are
making kidney donation more accessible and equitable for
everyone. As Chief Operating Officer with over 25 years of
transplant experience, Sue walks us through the comprehensive
"Donor Protect" program designed to eliminate financial barriers
while safeguarding donors' futures.

We explore how the Alliance reimburses lost wages (up to
$10,000), covers travel expenses for both donors and their support
persons, and even provides dependent and pet care assistance.
Sue explains their innovative "Home Advantage" program, which
allows donors to donate and recover locally while their kidneys are shipped to
recipients across the country. Most fascinating are the various
pledge programs that protect donors and their loved ones: the
Advanced Donation Pledge, the Family Pledge, the Friend Pledge,
and the Kidney Promise.

The conversation takes a global turn as Sue reveals how APKD's
international initiatives are creating life-saving matches across
borders. "Our differences can save our lives," she explains,
sharing the remarkable story of a Mexican poet with 94%
antibodies who found her match in Wisconsin. This global kidney
exchange program demonstrates how genetic diversity across
populations can be the key to finding matches for highly sensitized
patients.

Sue's personal journey into transplant care adds emotional depth
to the discussion. After losing her father to glioblastoma, she was
profoundly moved by his nurse's compassion: "I want to be that for
somebody," she decided. Today, through her work with the
Alliance, Sue helps give second chances to patients and families
facing medical crises.

Whether you're considering donation or simply curious about
advances in transplant care, this episode offers invaluable insights
into the protections that make kidney donation safer and more
accessible than ever before.

Link to Episode: https://donordiaries.com/kidney-pledges-pet-care-and-paychecks-the-unexpected-support-system-for-living-donors-with-the-apkd-episode35

07/08/2025

What happens when a transplant surgeon, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, and a willingness to trust strangers come together? A revolution in kidney donation that has saved 20,000 lives and counting.

Meet Dr. Michael Rees and Sue Rees, the power couple behind the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation. In this captivating first installment of our two-part season finale, we journey back to 2007 when kidney paired exchange was in its infancy and most surgeons believed all transplant surgeries had to happen simultaneously to prevent donors from backing out.

Dr. Rees takes us behind the scenes of his radical experiment: what if we trusted donors to follow through on their promises even after their loved ones received kidneys? The medical establishment warned this trust-based approach could collapse the entire system. Undeterred, Mike vetted the first chain participant over a steak dinner, separated surgeries by weeks instead of performing them simultaneously, and created what would become what is now a common practice- NonSimultaneous Extended Altruistic-Donor chains.

Sue shares the heartbreaking reality that confronted her as a transplant coordinator: watching patients remain on dialysis despite having willing but incompatible donors.

Through their pioneering work with the Alliance's sophisticated matching algorithm, they have transformed how we think about organ donation, proving that human goodness and trust can overcome medical skepticism and logistical challenges.

Whether you're curious about organ donation, inspired by medical innovation, or simply love stories of human connection, this episode reminds us that our differences—even incompatible blood types—can ultimately save each other's lives.

Link to Episode: https://donordiaries.com/building-a-legacy-of-life-the-origins-of-the-alliance-for-paired-kidney-donation-episode-34

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