August 2023 PKD e-News
Welcome to the PKD Foundation of Canada's August 2023 e-News! We have provided information important to helping you take action in your journey with PKD.
Pour voir l’infolettre de la Fondation canadienne de la MPR en français, cliquez ici!
SUPPORT
September is coming soon, and our in-person and virtual Walk to END PKD events will be here before we know it! We're looking forward to seeing old friends and new, and hoping you'll join us at your local Walk, or participate virtually. Everything you need to register your team, or donate to this event, can be found here.
Bingo nights at Market Brewing Company in Newmarket, ON, will again benefit the PKD Foundation of Canada throughout the month of September! Try your luck and support the Foundation at the same time. Thursday nights, Sept. 7, 14, 21 & 28 from 7pm-9 pm! Bingo books are $25 for 5 rounds, and $10 from each book sale will benefit the PKD Foundation of Canada.
When is a car magical? When it can help save a life. You can turn your vehicle donation into generous dollars to support PKD Foundation of Canada! Working on our behalf, Donate a Car Canada will accept your vehicle for donation -- running, or not! Old or new!
There is no cost to you, and the process is incredibly easy! Donate a Car Canada will facilitate all aspects of your car donation from the pick up to the final sale, ensuring that your vehicle will be sold for the highest sale outcome possible. They will then forward the net proceeds on to us here at PKD Foundation of Canada and we will send you a tax receipt!
The PKD Foundation of Canada chapters and the volunteers who lead them are the backbone of the polycystic kidney disease (PKD) community.
As a grassroots non-profit organization, the PKD Foundation of Canada prides itself in keeping administration costs low and impact high. In order to do this, we count on volunteers every day to help drive vital programs and awareness around Canada.
Find out how you can get involved with our flagship fundraising event, the Walk to END PKD, today!
AWARENESS
Once again, Health Canada is recognizing September 4th as National Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Awareness Day - a special day devoted to raising awareness of this life-threatening, genetic disease.
Though PKD affects thousands in Canada and millions worldwide, many people have never heard of it. Together, we can change this!
#PKDAwarenessDay is our day to raise awareness about this disease and the devastating impact it has on generation after generation.
Stay tuned for our upcoming PKD Awareness Day posts on social media for ways to get involved and raise your voice with us on September 4th!
Marie-Pierre has given us an update on her journey since her first Voices of PKD story in July 2020. Last November, Marie-Pierre received a new kidney from her cousin. Read “Part 2” of her story, and share your own, at endPKD.ca/voices_of_PKD.
Living Donation Week (#LDW2023), September 11-15, hosted by UHN - Centre for Living Organ Donation, is a national awareness week featuring free virtual events and activities focused on improving access and equity in living organ donation, profiling the work of Team Transplant, and celebrating our incredible living donors and transplant recipients.
For more information and full event details, visit www.livingdonationweek.ca!
Surgeons at NYU Langone Health transplanted a pig’s kidney into a brain-dead man and for over a month it worked normally — a critical step toward an operation the New York team hopes to eventually try in living patients. Read more about this exciting innovation in transplant research, here.
When Darren Creed, a PKD patient in Leichester, UK, started looking for a kidney donor, he never anticipated that it would be his wife Donna who would ultimately end up being a match for him. Kidney Care UK estimates that the odds of the couple being a match were one in 22 million. Read more about this special transplant here. 
New York Times bestselling author Abby Jimenez has included a meaningful plot twist – a life-saving kidney transplant – in her latest novel. What was her inspiration? Her own kidney disease diagnosis. Read more about her new book, Yours Truly, here.
LEARN
So, it's time for your annual lab test, and to see your healthcare team. Does getting your labs done seem overwhelming and frustrating - trying to figure out what each value means? In this month’s blog post, Emily Campbell, registered dietitian, breaks down common labs your healthcare team may be checking with PKD, to help you feel confident in your next appointment.
Plus, this month includes a delicious enchiladas recipe that can easily be prepared ahead of time for a weeknight meal!
Join us for the upcoming FREE Montreal PKD Patient Forum!
WHEN
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
On-site registration and light reception 6pm-6:30pm
Main presentation - La maladie polykystique rénale autosomique dominante en 2023 - 6:30pm-7:30pm
Breakout sessions from 7:30pm-8:30pm
WHERE
IRCM Montreal Clinical Research Institute, Jacques-Genest Auditorium
110 avenue des Pins Ouest
Montreal, QC H2W 1R7
Canada
*THIS PRESENTATION WILL BE IN FRENCH ONLY!*
If you're in the Vancouver area, be sure to save the date for our upcoming FREE PKD Patient Forum with speaker Dr. Mike Bevilacqua on October 18, 2023, from 6pm-8:30pm. Dr. Mike will be sharing an overview of PKD in 2023: the current state of research, treatment options, etc.
Light food and beverages will be offered.
Free admission. All are welcome!
Please note, registration is at 6:00 p.m. and the presentation will start at 6:30 p.m. sharp.
WHEN
October 18, 2023, 6pm-8:30pm
WHERE
Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel, POINT GREY ROOM
1128 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 4R5
Check out the event on our website, or click below to register now.
The thought of Having Your Donor Find YOU! sounds like an unusual approach to living kidney donation, but this is what actually happens. By spreading the word about your need, your donor finds YOU!
Having Your Donor Find YOU! is a comprehensive video series with graphics, that educates patients about transplant, and gives them the tools to mount a successful living donor campaign.
This program helps overcome the primary obstacle of living donation — the thought of having to “ASK” someone to donate. But, most donors say, “No one asked me to donate, I heard about their situation and was motivated to help them.”
Visit endpkd.ca/findyourlivingdonor to get started today!