Rotarian Dave Albert introduced today's guest speaker, his daughter-in-law, Sarah Albert who shared her health journey and her association with the Kidney Foundation and their vision to achieve excellent kidney health, optimal quality of life and a cure for kidney disease. During her pregnancy in 2020, Sarah experienced many problems with swelling, high blood pressure and excessive fatigue along with a number of complications. But she did not give up and her son was born three months early in December 2020, a healthy, perfect 3 lb. little boy. Following birth and testing, it was revealed that Sarah's kidney function was failing due to atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome (aHUS), a disease that often affects kidney function.
The numbers kept dropping, even with medication to keep her kidneys working. By the summer of 2021, Sarah's kidneys were functioning at 9 percent, she started dialysis and was placed on a list to receive a kidney transplant. Sarah had an angel close by and her future sister-in-law Tera gifted Sarah a kidney and on September 2022 at KGH, the transplant surgery was conducted. With emotion, Sarah said Tera gave her back her life and she gave her back her spirit. Mentally and emotionally, Tera saved Sarah in many ways. Sarah can now be who she wanted to be, a mom that she is today. Everyone needs a Tera in their life.
Dr. Khaled Shamseddin of KGH said we are born with two kidneys, but we can live with one. Living donors, like Tera, go through a stringent educational and health screening process to ensure that they understand the commitment and that they are healthy and suitable for the program, posing "no major risk" to their future wellness. Vera was recently told she is the "poster child" for living donors. Now Sarah is able to give back to her community, to the care and compassion she received during her serious medical condition. She is solidly behind the Kidney Walk, to take place in Kingston on September 24th. Her team is called It Takes Lives To Save Lives. Anyone wishing to support Sarah and donate to the work of the Kidney Foundation can visit kidneywalk.ca and look for her team page. Sarah also provided pamphlets on organ donations and information on how kidneys work and how to keep them healthy and why they are so important. In addition to the walk, Sarah is a patient advisor at KGH, sharing her story and supporting others going through scary health issues. Quite the warrior as described by Tracy Bray who thanked Sarah for her very emotional presentation, with a happy ending.