Kidney disease and transplant
Credit: Sheldahl
First, if you are looking for information and registration info for our LIVE “Decade with Dave” Healthy Matters broadcast and the Here 4 Life health education series, click here.
April is Donate Life month. It is a time to reflect on the gift so many people have given by donating their organs to a person in need. At Hennepin Healthcare, we have a tremendous kidney donation program so I asked two key people from the transplant program to join me in the WCCO studio to talk about kidney disease and kidney transplant. I found much to learn! I hope to share some of what we learned here.
At the very end of this post I have a link to a story that should inspire you – the story of a brother and sister whose lives changed forever in 1975 through transplant. And who are still going strong today. Click on the link to read that story when you get to it.
To listen to the audio podcast of any Healthy Matters broadcast (free of commercials!) click on the banner here. The kidney show is Healthy Matters show #484, April 22,2018.
A few facts of kidney transplant in the United States (from Donate Life America):
- There are 100,000 people in the United States waiting for a kidney transplant
- The average wait time for a deceased donor kidney is 3-5 years
- People want to help: 95% of people are in favor of being a donor but only 56% are registered to be a donor read more…
“Decade with Dave” and Here 4 Health series
Hi, friends! See that sign in the picture? Those signs are all over the campus at Hennepin Healthcare. Let’s just say my co-workers have shown no mercy in teasing me about them.
But hey – we have something to celebrate! I’m super pumped to be launching “Decade with Dave” – our celebration of 10 years of our Healthy Matters broadcast!
We’re starting with a live broadcast of Healthy Matters from the atrium at Hennepin Healthcare’s Clinic and Specialty Center complete with a LIVE audience. That’s where you come in. I’m inviting you – my Healthy Matters listening friends – to be that live audience on Sunday, June 10. Denny Long will be there, I’ll be there, and I hope YOU will be there.
Here’s what we’re planning for the live broadcast of Decade with Dave . . .
Diabetes and the Sweet Life. I’ve invited an old friend from my medical training, Dr. Laura LaFave, to introduce her to Healthy Matters listeners. Dr. LaFave recently rejoined the Hennepin Healthcare faculty in Endocrinology – in fact I don’t even have a link to her picture yet! She’s a friend, a smart doctor, and a genuinely good person. She’s been practicing for over a decade but only been back to Hennepin for a few months, so to welcome her back to our family I’m putting her in front of a live audience. She’s a good friend, eh? We’ll talk about diabetes and other hormone-y topics.
Arthritis Treatment Options: Moving from Pain to Gain. Dr. Rawad Nasr is Hennepin’s Director of Rheumatology and another colleague with whom I go way back. We dragged him back from his practice in Bemidji to join our Hennepin faculty. His recent show about arthritis was a huge hit with listeners so he’s coming back to chat with me about arthritis and joint questions. You’ll love this guy.
Sleep Health: What Keeps You Up at Night. Another really popular topic – in fact, perhaps the most popular topic – is sleep. We all need it, we all want it. Many of us struggle to get the best sleep we can. Another Healthy Matters veteran, Dr. Ranji Varghese, will be at the broadcast to meet you, to help us understand sleep, and to answer a few questions.
Following the broadcast, we’ll have a bit of Q&A and show you around the place a bit. We’ll have coffee and munchies (donuts, anyone?).
Let’s fill the place! The broadcast is free to attend, but we need you to RSVP if you plan on attending. Click here to RSVP for our special “Decade with Dave” LIVE broadcast.
But that’s not all . . .
Announcing . . . Here 4 Health
Hennepin Healthcare’s Clinic and Specialty Center
After kicking off the summer with “Decade with Dave” we are launching an exciting new health education program for the curious and inquisitive among you. “Here 4 Health” is a series of three educational sessions on a variety of health topics sort of like a mini Medical School. Except more fun. And not nearly as grueling. Come to learn about health topics from cool experts from Hennepin.
You can attend 1, 2, or all 3 sessions. They’re all free of charge, but you do need to send your RSVP by clicking here. All events are at the Hennepin Healthcare Clinic and Specialty Center.
Here’s what we have planned for “Here 4 Health” (subject to change if any of these colleagues chicken out):
Session 1: Thursday, July 12, 5-7 p.m
How to live to 100 or die trying. Dr. David Hilden (that’s me) will be updating a popular session I’ve been giving for years. I’ll take you behind the scenes at a state-of-the-art working clinic with insider tips on staying healthy.
The Ins and Outs of GI Health. OK, some smart aleck (probably the same guy who decided to make a career of doing colonoscopies) made up the name for this informative session about colon cancer. Learn from Hennepin gastroenterologist Dr. Jake Matlock about colon cancer and colonoscopies! I know Jake. Great guy. Ask him to show you a colonoscope. Then ask him why the heck he thought it would be cool to look at people’s intestines all day. You’ll also get the special chance to tour a colonoscopy suite – when you’re NOT on the cart getting your own colonoscopy
Session 2: Saturday, August 11, 9-11 a.m
Dermatology – your skin questions answered. Hennepin 
dermatologists Dr. Sara Hylwa and Dr. Jenny Liu will be on hand. You’ll never get a better chance to tap into a skin doctor’s expertise. They are smart and they know skin like the back of your hand – literally. Just don’t ask them if you can skip wearing sunscreen. (Spoiler alert. . . you can’t . . these two are so stingy on that point).
The Ancient Art and Modern Practices of Integrative Medicine – Acupuncture and Chiropractic. A certified acupuncturist and chiropractor will show you around the world of integrative medicine. Maybe you’ll come away just a little less mystified at these ancient practices. Ask to see an acupuncture needle. Dr. Richard Printon and acupuncturist Jessica Brown will be on hand!
Session 3: Saturday, September 15, 9-11 a.m.
You Gotta Have Heart. Recent Healthy Matters guest and cardiologist Dr. Michelle Carlson will show you around the world of heart health. You’ll learn from her particular expertise in women’s heart health and the link between heart health and cancer. You may want to check out the recent post I did with Dr. Carlson here.
Best Practices in Breast Health. Leah Hahn is the supervisor of the mammography program at Hennepin. See a mammogram machine for yourself. Men, you too should attend this session. It will give you a new appreciation for the women in your life. And men get breast cancer too! Check out this post I did with Leah Hahn from a few months ago.
A Little Help for your Friends. Hennepin has the best Physical Therapists AND therapy facilities in the region. Come see a PT gym and look at the amazing possibilities for therapy. This is state-of-the-art stuff which you can learn from Senior Physical Therapist Beth Stegora.
Attend all three sessions or pick and choose the ones you want. They’re all free and all at the Hennepin Healthcare Clinic and Specialty Center in downtown Minneapolis Probably the most important part of all . . . the parking is right there underground. Could not be simpler.
Why should I go learn something?
Here’s why I think you should attend the LIVE Decade with Dave broadcast and why you should attend the Here 4 Health series . . .
You could sit home and watch TV. Or stare at the grass and watch it grow. Or sit on your couch and get bad health information from the Internet.
Or you could get out of the house, come to the Here 4 Health series, and learn from fun, smart, and reliable doctors and health professionals. All while taking in the art-filled and warm setting of a state-of-the-art health facility.
Looking forward to meeting lots of you!
David
A “Decade with Dave” – Mark your calendars
Hennepin Healthcare’s Clinic and Specialty Center
Wow. Healthy Matters is in the midst of our 10th year on the air on WCCO Radio. I am celebrating 10 years of joining many of you – over the airwaves – for breakfast, coffee, and some fun health and wellness chat.
To celebrate this “Decade with Dave” my Hennepin Healthcare crew and I are planning a really special event – a LIVE broadcast of Healthy Matters from our Clinic and Specialty Center in downtown Minneapolis.
We have never done anything like this before!
The show will be at its usual 7:30 am time on Sunday, June 10. What I hope for is to fill the atrium of the Hennepin Healthcare Clinic and Specialty Center with Healthy Matters listeners. I’ll have some of our favorite expert guests attending so you can meet them. We’ll do a Q&A, check out the new building, and have coffee together. So mark your calendars for Sunday, June 10, and register for this free event by going to www.hennepinhealthcare.org/here4health to RSVP for the “Decade with Dave” celebration – seats will be limited!
Until then, I have a request . . .
Over the past “Decade with Dave” I have heard countless stories of listeners. Among them:
- Several of you come to the Minnesota State Fair every summer to hear the show live.
- There was the person who listened to the live stream of the show from South Africa.
- One patient at HCMC specifically informed the paramedics that he wanted to go only to HCMC because he was a loyal Healthy Matters listener.
- Loads of you have told me that you listen to the show while getting ready for church.
So I want to hear your Healthy Matters story. To do so, please leave me a comment in the “Reply” section below. Tell me where you listen from, or what church you attend when listening, or if you listen online, or the strangest place you have listened from, or anything else you want to share.
I’ll talk about some of our stories on the air in the coming months!
Here’s to you, my friends and listeners,
David (aka host of Healthy Matters, aka the “Dave” part of “Decade with Dave”)
