Ep 02: Nichole Jefferson

In this episode of The Kidney Collective™, Tamara and Mike speak with AKF Ambassador, Nichole Jefferson, about her kidney disease diagnosis, experiences with dialysis and transplant, the importance of seeking answers about your physical health, and how to take care of your mental and emotional health. Mike and Tamara also find out that contrary to our preliminary research, Nichole is NOT a Dallas Cowboys fan...but she is a very good sport about it.

Nichole learned she had kidney disease in 2003 when she crashed into kidney failure. However, she did not find out she has a rare kidney disease, IgA nephropathy, until 20 years later. She has an unwavering commitment to driving change, fostering awareness and amplifying patient voices within the health care landscape, and educating and uplifting the Black community on the topic of kidney health.

More resources:

• Kidney Health for All
• IgA Nephropathy
• Know Your Cause
• Genetic testing and counseling for kidney disease

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to The Kidney Collective
• 2:46 Giving Back to the Kidney Community
• 3:33 Nichole's Diagnosis Story and Crashing into Dialysis
• 6:10 Unknown Causes of Kidney Disease and Receiving Delayed Answers
• 11:28 Advice for Finding the Cause of Your Kidney Disease
• 13:41 Systematic Biases and What it Means to Have Answers in Health Care
• 16:00 Mental Tolls of Kidney Disease and Ways to Cope
• 19:48 The Gift of Giving and Receiving a Kidney
• 21:51 Why Genetic Testing Matters
• 24:18 What Advocacy Means to Nichole
• 25:38 Clinical Trials and Health Equity
• 29:26 Final Thoughts from Nichole to Her Kidney Family
• 30:18 Recap of Nichole's Conversation