My first encounter with kidney disease was way back in 1970. I was 17 and my mother started on dialysis in Seattle, Washington.

Fast forward to 1991 in Abitibi. My wife Suzanne and I were working as researchers at UQAT and we had just had the first of our two daughters. I was in great shape and, out of nowhere, I got gout! That was when I was diagnosed with renal failure, which was followed by a long follow-up period, and excellent care, in the nephrology department at the Centre hospitalier Rouyn-Noranda (CHRN).

Even though I stayed in shape, my kidney function declined gradually over the years. It became obvious that I would have to go on dialysis or have a kidney transplant. Suzanne thought about it, we discussed it, and she made the decision to donate one of her kidneys to me. If you ask her, the decision was as rational as it was emotional—it was better to live with one kidney, despite the risks, and a healthy spouse, than to live with two kidneys and a spouse who wasn’t healthy.

Our big “kidney shuffle,” as I liked to call it, took place and was a textbook example of a successful kidney transplant without complications. The periodic blood test routine at CHRN and the follow-up visits (again, excellent) with the team of nephrologists from HMR in Val d’Or went well, and every day, I think of my good fortune and all those who were responsible for it.

Two years after the transplant, I joined the Kidney Foundation’s Abitibi-Témiscamingue Chapter and served as Honorary President of the first Walk ever held in Rouyn-Noranda, in 2014. In 2016, I served as a volunteer in charge of helping patients in the region. The job consists mainly of acting as a link between people with kidney disease who need the Foundation’s help and the Patient Assistance Department at the Quebec Branch.

Demand is relatively low, partly because many patients don’t seem to be aware of the many kinds of assistance the Kidney Foundation provides. Nevertheless, with the help of the regional branch’s development agent, and in collaboration with the four dialysis centers (Val d’Or, Rouyn-Noranda, La Sarre and Ville-Marie), we are working to raise awareness among patients and healthcare staff.