The Journey Continues

Successful dermatologist Dr. Joaquin Brieva knew kidney disease ran in his family but when he learned his own kidneys were failing, it still came as a surprise. Thanks to the encouragement of his wife Jennifer, the couple is relying on one another and their support system while they wait for a life-saving kidney donor.

We’ve had the privilege of telling some really powerful stories on The Journey Continues.  We invite you to join us on a walk down memory lane through some of our favorites in this compilation episode.

Listen to the full episodes in your favorite podcast app:

• Connected at the Heart (Emma O’Neal and Pam Walton)
• Making an Impact (Jacqueline Burgess-Bishop)
• Battle of a Lifetime (Daronta Briggs)
• Monica’s Thanksgiving Miracle (Monica and Olivia Fox)

After losing her brother Vernon at a young age, Sheri Shaw couldn’t bear the thought of losing her cousin Vernon to kidney failure… so she took a semester off from college and gave him her kidney.

Follow Sheri on Instagram @sheri__nicole and on Facebook at @shaw.sheri

If you have chronic kidney disease, you could be at risk for developing gout.  But what is gout? How does it affect patients? Josie Cooper from the Gout Alliance for Awareness and Jen Gentry, a patient living with CKD and gout, answer all of these questions and more.

Follow Jen on Instagram @Jen_gentry and the Gout Alliance for Awareness on Facebook @GoutAlliance and Twitter @GoutAlliance

Thank you to Horizon Therapeutics for sponsoring this episode.  Learn more at goutrevealed.com

Star Wars super fans Josh Weiselberg and Barry Benecke bonded in an online community over their mutual love for the franchise. When Josh shared that a kidney transplant was his only hope, Barry chose light over dark by donating his kidney and returning balance to the force.

Host Monica Fox was a guest on The Gifted Life Podcast. They cover a range of topics in this special episode including Monica’s crash into dialysis, the immunosuppressant coverage bill, the origins of The Journey Continues, micro-aggressions and much more.

Listen to more episodes of The Gifted Life at https://www.thegiftedlife.org/

As a journalist, Damaso Reyes has made an impact by telling the stories of people across the globe. When his friend and fellow journalist needed a kidney, he chose to make the biggest impact of all by becoming a living donor.

Find Damaso’s writing and photographs at https://www.damaso.com/

Tracy Wingo and Courtney Bullock met through a running club and when Tracy desperately needed a kidney transplant, Courtney went the extra mile by donating one of her own. And it hasn't slowed either one of them down. They're running this year's Chicago Marathon together as part of Team Kidney.

Did you know the first successful kidney transplant was performed at a tiny hospital in Evergreen Park, IL in 1950? If not, you're not alone. Our guest Edmund Lawler wrote The Graft to tell the little-known story of this ground-breaking operation and the brave patient and surgeon at the center of it. 

As an IT Director and father of 5, Phil Hanks is used to making big decisions. When doctors told him he'd need a 5-organ transplant, he was faced with the most daunting decision of his life.