Obesity is one of the major risk factors for developing kidney disease, which is measured through the body mass index or BMI. This measurement factors into the process for both living donors and transplant recipients. On today’s episode, you’ll learn how to measure your BMI and hear from both kidney patients on how managing their weight affected their kidney health.

In this episode we spoke with, 

Carol Murray is a Quality Manager for Boston Scientific in Minnesota. On June 12, 2019, she donated a kidney to her husband who was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease in 2015. Introduced to the National Kidney Foundation too and through the transplant journey Carol became passionate about ways to draw attention to need for living donors as well as advocating for living donors. Working with the National Kidney Foundation on a local level she has participated in the Big Ask:Big Give, Kidney Walks, and Advocacy Day. With a strong desire to provide help and hope for others Carol has been involved in several roles with a few different non-profit organizations. Carol has a B.S degree in Quality Management from the University of Minnesota Crookston, and an A.A.S in Manufacturing Technology from Hennepin Technical College. 

Golnaz Ghomeshi Friedman, RD, is a Senior Dietitian and Certified Clinical Transplant Dietitian for UC Davis Health Transplant Program and has been working in this role since 2014. Golnaz values the importance and impact of nutrition in the transplant population and has been involved in a variety of projects directly impacting patient care. She has developed and modified policies that have made a significant impact on the decision-making process for transplant patient selection. Golnaz has worked with the transplant team and served as co-investigator on various research projects including those centered around assessment of malnutrition, functional status and frailty in transplant candidates.

Melanie Pina was diagnosed with lupus nephritis in 2018, and in 2021 she became a peritoneal dialysis patient. Melanie started sharing her journey online since April 2022 and recently had weight loss surgery to be on the transplant list. Now she is waiting for a transplant and hopefully, her second shot at life will come soon. 

Additional Resources: 

Melanie's Blog Article 

5 Exercises for Kidney Patients

Do you have comments, questions, or suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. Also, make sure to rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts.