Whatcom County nephrologist pushes for ‘Apollo Mission’ of eliminating the kidney transplant waiting list
Ed.: The essays, analyses and opinions presented as Community Voices express the perspectives of their authors on topics of interest and importance to the community and are not intended to reflect perspectives on behalf of Salish Current.
As a nephrologist, I have watched patients organize their entire lives around dialysis. Three times a week, for hours at a time, they sit connected to a machine that does work their kidneys can no longer do.
I have seen the fatigue that follows treatment, the family schedules rearranged around dialysis appointments, the vacations, jobs and ordinary freedoms that become harder to manage. I have seen something else: the hope that appears when a patient learns that a kidney transplant may offer a better future.
That is why an idea envisioned by my retired colleague, Bellingham nephrologist Dr. Bill Lombard, deserves our community’s continuing attention.
His vision is breathtakingly simple: eliminate the kidney transplant waiting list in Whatcom County by 2030. He named it our Moonshot. Our Apollo goal.
More than half a century ago, America committed itself to landing a man on the moon before the decade was over. The destination was clear, the deadline was clear, and accomplishing it required thousands of people to believe that something extraordinarily difficult was nevertheless achievable.
What if Whatcom County did the same thing for our neighbors living with kidney failure?
What if, by 2030, ours became a county where every eligible resident who needs a kidney transplant has a path toward receiving one? Whatcom County would make history, and other counties all across the country could follow.
I believe we must try, and that the attempt itself could improve the lives of people living with kidney disease.
Living kidney donation is central to that effort. Most of us are born with two kidneys, yet a healthy person who passes a careful medical evaluation can live a normal life with one. A living donor may give to a relative, friend or even someone they have never met. Donors do not necessarily have to be compatible, by blood and tissue types, with recipients. Paired kidney donation can connect incompatible donor-recipient pairs with others, allowing multiple transplants to occur.
Imagine if living kidney donation became something people simply knew about and discussed — at workplaces, service clubs, faith communities, dinner tables and neighborhood gatherings. No one should ever feel pressured to donate. Living donation is a profoundly personal decision requiring informed consent.
Perhaps someone reading these words will someday decide, I can do that.
If we are serious about eliminating the transplant waiting list, however, our Moonshot must begin long before transplantation.
Diabetes and high blood pressure are the leading causes of kidney failure in the United States. Chronic kidney disease can advance for years with few symptoms. People may not realize their kidneys are being damaged until the disease is well established.
November is National Diabetes Month. What better time for Whatcom County to make diabetes prevention, education and early detection a more visible public-health priority? I would welcome Whatcom County Health and Community Services, health care providers and community organizations elevating that mission together.
We should encourage residents, especially those with diabetes or high blood pressure, to know their risk, discuss kidney health with their health-care providers, and receive appropriate blood and urine testing.
The best place to address tomorrow’s transplant waiting list may be years before someone joins it.
The original Apollo program succeeded because thousands of people embraced one clearly defined objective. Scientists, engineers, government, businesses and ordinary citizens all understood the destination. Our destination can be just as clear: By 2030, eliminate Whatcom County’s kidney transplant waiting list.
We must identify kidney disease earlier. We can help people control diabetes and high blood pressure. We can educate our neighbors about living kidney donation. We can build a community culture in which people understand that one extraordinary act by one healthy person can transform another person’s future.
When Whatcom County succeeds, perhaps other communities will ask a simple question: Why not here? That may be one of the most exciting possibilities of the Moonshot vision.
The Moonshot has given us an audacious destination. Now we need a community willing to make the journey.
—By Dr. Jimmy Thomas
Dr. Jimmy Thomas is a board-certified nephrologist with Washington Kidney Care in Bellingham. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and pursued fellowship training at the University of Washington. He holds a Master’s in Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center.