Donor Diaries

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Denice received her father’s kidney at age 13, decades before modern transplant protocols were common and pediatric dialysis existed. Fifty-eight years later, she is still thriving and using her story to inspire others to be donors.
Denice reflects on a childhood shaped by loss, a diagnosis that changed everything, and a mother who refused to accept no as an answer. She shares the extraordinary circumstances that led to her transplant, paints a vivid portrait of her donor father, and opens up about how grief and gratitude have coexisted throughout her life. With clarity and compassion, Denice also talks about being intersex, reminding us that biology is more complex than simple labels and that acceptance can be life changing.
We explore why her transplant may have lasted so long, including an unusually good match, consistent habits, and decades on azathioprine, along with the medical challenges that came with lifelong immunosuppression. Denice speaks candidly about aging with a transplant, staying active, and continuing to show up fully in the world.
What resonates most is her call to action. Denice invites more healthy people to consider non designated living donation. She describes the halo effect donors often experience, the relief it brings to recipients and families, and the quiet joy that comes from turning courage into connection. Along the way, we honor the legacy of long-term transplant pioneers like Butch Newman and Guinness record holder Joanna Rempel, placing Denice’s journey within a larger story of medical progress and human generosity.
If you have ever wondered whether one decision can ripple outward and change countless lives, this conversation offers a powerful answer. Listen, share with someone who needs hope, and if it moves you, subscribe, rate, and leave a review so more people can find these lifesaving stories.
Links
Ventura County Star Article
UCLA Article
Denice on YouTube
Denice’s 2025 Presentation for the American Society of Transplantation (AST)
About Fraser Syndrome
Donor Diaries Website
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GiftWorks Website
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Being told you need a kidney transplant is overwhelming. Being told you need to go find your own living donor while managing dialysis can feel impossible. For many veterans, that is exactly how the system works today.
In this episode, we sit down with Sharyn Kreitzer, a living kidney donor and longtime transplant professional with nearly three decades of experience in end stage organ disease. Sharyn began her career as a dialysis social worker and went on to work across transplant social work, outreach, development, and administration in both private sector programs and the VA system. In 2015, she launched the first VA transplant program on the East Coast at the Bronx VA. It was there that she saw a gap that could not be ignored, and in 2020 she founded DOVE (Donor Outreach for Veterans) to bring a different kind of support to veterans navigating the transplant process.
We talk about the real barriers veterans face when it comes to living donation. Access to transplant centers is limited. Travel can be a major burden for both recipients and donors. Criteria for donor approval can vary widely from one center to another, leaving willing donors confused and discouraged. Sharyn shares how DOVE steps in once a veteran is evaluated and listed, helping them build a clear, shareable profile that turns a vague need into something people can understand and act on.
A big part of this conversation is about how we engage potential donors. Instead of pushing people straight into long and invasive medical forms, DOVE starts with education and conversation. It is a simple shift, but one that keeps more people engaged and open to learning. We also talk about the importance of second opinions, and how a “no” from one center does not always mean the end of the road.
Throughout the episode, we come back to the idea of community directed donation. Sharyn shares how DOVE was inspired by models like Renewal and what the broader transplant community can learn from groups that have normalized living donation. When communities share the work, more people step forward and more lives are saved.
Sharyn’s work has been recognized across the transplant field, including honors from TRIO, LiveOnNY, the American Association of Kidney Patients, and an innovation award from United Network for Organ Sharing for mobile lab outreach during COVID. She is also helping lead the first ever U.S. Armed Forces Transplant Team at the 2026 Transplant Games in Denver.
If you care about veterans, kidney disease, or the future of living donation, this conversation offers a perspective that is both honest and hopeful.
DOVE Website
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GiftWorks
Donor Diaries Website
Donor Diaries on Facebook
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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.
Links
Transplant Life Foundation
Transplant Games of America Website
World Record Attempt Details
Victory Productions
Drive for Five
Craig and Katheen’s Walk

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What if a simple HR policy could help save someone’s life? In this episode, Brooke 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.

Links
Circle of Excellence
Power to Save
American Society of Transplantation (AST)
Donor Diaries Website
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GiftWorks Website
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One kidney can change many lives—if we let it start a chain. We sit down with Dr. John Friedewald, transplant nephrologist at Northwestern Medicine, to unpack a breakthrough: using a deceased donor kidney to initiate a living donor chain that moves multiple recipients off the waitlist and ultimately delivers a living kidney back to a service member at Walter Reed.

We break down how kidney paired donation works, why non-directed donors supercharge matching, and what changes when a deceased donor becomes the chain starter. Dr. Friedewald explains the military-share pathway, where high-quality deceased kidneys are screened for parity with prospective living donor outcomes, then routed via directed donation to a match in exchange. The recipient’s incompatible living donor pays the gift forward, extending the chain until an unmatched donor returns a living kidney to Walter Reed. Along the way, we dig into logistics, OPO coordination, timing windows, and why this process fits within familiar directed donation workflows.

Fairness and outcomes are front and center. We address concerns about blood type O equity, share early data showing more than double the impact per deceased donor, and discuss how programs monitor blood type flows to avoid disadvantaging anyone on the deceased list. For patients, we explore the real tradeoff between waiting for a theoretical living match versus accepting a filtered, high-quality deceased offer today—especially when months more on dialysis raises risk. With lessons from Italy’s regional rollout and leadership from centers like Northwestern and Michigan, this approach is poised to scale and become a standard tool that magnifies each gift and shortens waits.

Subscribe, share this episode with someone curious about organ donation innovation, and leave a review with your biggest question about deceased donor–initiated chains. Your feedback helps more people find these life-saving ideas.
Links
Northwestern Medicine Transplant
The Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation
Walter Reed Transplant
Military Share Deceased Donor Initiated Chains (American Journal of Transplantation) 
Utilization of Deceased Donor Kidneys to Initiate Living Donor Chains (American Journal of Transplant)
Kidney Paired Donation Chains Initiated by Deceased Donors
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