Leading Through Crisis: Stage 5 Kidney Disease, Faith, and Finding Purpose

What happens when your world falls apart in a single week? In this powerful episode of the Love and Leadership Podcast, hosts Trent and Star Postell sit down with their longtime podcast producer Phil, also known as the Podcast Doctor, for an emotional and deeply personal conversation about leading through crisis.

Phil opens up about being diagnosed with stage 5 kidney disease, losing his mother, and quitting his job all in the same week. He shares how this life-altering diagnosis forced him to confront years of ignoring his own health while carrying the weight of being the sole provider for his family, including a special needs child.

This is not a conversation about sympathy. It is a story of hope, perseverance, faith, and awareness. Phil discusses the invisible symptoms he mistook for stress, how kidney disease often goes unnoticed until it reaches a critical stage, and why men, especially African-American men, must prioritize their health before it is too late.

You will also learn about the difference between living and deceased organ donation, how to become a living kidney donor, and how one decision could save a life. Phil shares details about his upcoming fundraiser event in Orlando on July 11th to support his transplant journey and raise awareness for kidney disease.

Whether you are walking through your own crisis, know someone who is, or simply want to be inspired to take better care of yourself, this episode will challenge you to stop putting your health on the back burner and start leading your life with intention.

Key Topics Covered:
- Stage 5 kidney disease diagnosis and symptoms
- Leading through multiple simultaneous crises
- The importance of men's health and preventive care
- Living kidney donation vs. deceased organ donation
- Faith, entrepreneurship, and stepping into purpose
- How to become a living kidney donor
- Phil's Kidney Fulfilled fundraiser event

Resources Mentioned:
- Website: kidneyfulfilled.com
- Fundraiser Event: July 11th at the Levy Hughes Center, Downtown Orlando, FL (5:00 PM to 8:00 PM)

SEO Keywords: kidney disease awareness, stage 5 kidney failure, living kidney donor, organ donation, men's health, leading through crisis, faith and entrepreneurship, kidney transplant, health awareness, Love and Leadership Podcast

#LoveAndLeadership #KidneyDisease #OrganDonation #LivingDonor #KidneyAwareness #MensHealth #LeadingThroughCrisis #FaithAndPurpose #Entrepreneurship #KidneyFulfilled #KidneyTransplant #HealthAwareness #StageOfLife #PodcastDoctor

Love well. Lead with purpose. Steward what matters. #LoveAndLeadership

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What does it look like to love well at home and lead with purpose in the boardroom? Welcome to the Love and Leadership Podcast, where faith, family, marriage, and business come together to build leaders who last. Hosted by Trent and Star Postel. Love well, lead with purpose, steward what matters.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

Hi there, and welcome to the Love and Leadership Podcast. I'm Star and this is Trent, my uh business partner and husband. And today we have a special episode because we have a very special guest with us.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Today's episode, we're gonna be talking about leading through the crisis. Now, either we're walking through one, we're either experiencing one, or we're about to go into one. Either way, it's gonna happen. Now, today we're gonna be talking about someone who is behind the scenes with our podcast from day one. But not only does he help us with these conversations, he's actually walking through one right now. Phil. He's going through stage five kidney disease. And yes, it is serious. But we're not talking about sympathy today. We want today's story to be one of hope, one of perseverance, one of awareness, but also just possibly how we can save someone's life. Let's get started.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

Okay. Um, so I have some statistics here uh regarding kidney disease for those of you guys who are not as familiar with it. So it says more than 100,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant, and over 90,000 are waiting specifically for a kidney. Every eight minutes, another person is added to the national transplant uh waiting list. And in 2025, the US performed over 27,000 kidney transplants, including 6,500 from living donors, yet more than 90,000 people are still waiting.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Wow, that's uh that's quite a amount of people if you think about it. I think every day we kind of we hear that. I think the only time we really hear about kidney transplant is this, you know, when you get your license and say, hey, do you want to be organ donor or anything like that? But I think that, you know, what we need to do is as maybe bring a little bit more awareness because you don't really think about that amount of people that are needing something. I mean, every day we're probably walking past people that are in need of something and we have no idea. And each of us could be that person that that possibly could be the help.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Yeah. So I mean, I'm definitely excited for us to get into this conversation because I know that's not a topic that I think about on a daily basis. So I think this will be important for all of us to learn more. Um, and then there's a few other things that it says here a healthy person can live a normal life with one kidney. And additionally, living donation often shortens wait time dramatically and generally put provides excellent outcomes for recipients. Um, so without further ado, let's get into it. Uh, Phil, tell us a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_03 2:52

Great. Thanks for having me, guys. I really appreciate it. Uh so my name is Phil. I'm also known as a podcast doctor here in Orlando, Florida. I've been around um this area for 20 years. I've been helping people produce their podcasts for about 15 to 20 years since podcasts were created, honestly. And uh it's been my passion and I I love everything about it. I love helping people tell their stories, and I I love that podcasts can also bring communities together.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

Yeah. And then today you're stelling you're telling your story.

SPEAKER_03 3:23

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

So you're the one in the hot seat.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

I know, I feel like it's cooking in here.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

Um, okay. Uh so let's walk us, uh, if you can walk us back to a day when you found out and you know the circumstances that were surrounding you during that time period.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

Okay, so the day I found out, I didn't really have a a clue. I I knew something was going on with me because of my face, right? And so uh I don't really have, I never really had acne ever, really, ever. Until like last July. And I thought it was just from stress, I thought it was just from job stress, just life just in general. I mean, we all go through stuff, you know. Uh I'm in my late 30s, of course, going through stress, right? And so uh I was getting these these acne all over my face, and then it was coming in all over my body. Wow. So, like my elbows, my legs, my chest, even my scalp. So I would cut my hair and then I would have them on my scalp too. So not looking good. And I waited and procrastinated to probably January or February. I went to the dermatologist. Never seen a dermatologist before ever. Uh my wife tells me to go. I go see hers, her dermatologist, and they do a biopsy on me. So I have to wait two weeks to get results. And the results they tell me, they say you have something that's associated with preferring dermatosis. I'm like, what is it? Can I get some cream or something? Like that. And like that's that's associated with kidney failure.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

And I'm like, Oh wow, oh can I cream?

SPEAKER_03 5:05

Anything could help? And so uh they're like, you need to go see a nephrologist somehow. Wow. Great. So I went to go see a nephrologist, and then that's what they told me that my kidney function was at. At the time, it was at 14%. So they're like, You were in stage five kidney failure.

SPEAKER_02 5:21

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 5:22

You need to have you need to go on dialysis or you need to find a transplant immediately.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

So it sounds like you didn't even have a whole lot of time to process that, you know, you you went straight to stage five.

SPEAKER_03 5:33

Yeah, I didn't go through any of the stages of this because kidney failure, kidney disease is often gone unnoticed until it's too late.

SPEAKER_02 5:43

What were the emotions that you were feeling, you know, throughout this process? Because even having to wait, you know, those two weeks and you know, going to different doctors, you know, what what is that process like when you're living in the uncertainty?

SPEAKER_03 5:57

You ever have when you were a kid, you know, when it was Christmas time and you couldn't sleep because you had that Christmas anxiety? It was like that, but it was the opposite. It was it was it was like a little bit of dread mixed with anxious and anxiety. Yes. I hate that like like right before you fall off a roller coaster. You know what I mean? That feeling that that's what was like for two weeks. And it was it was weird. It was really weird. Like, I can't even tell you what I did in those two weeks in between. It was like it was like a blur, but then it was also like the longest two weeks that I had.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Man, well, how did talk about like how did that affect your family? I mean, like, yeah, think about it. I mean, I could only imagine if I had to come bring this news to my wife. Like, I I don't know what's been wrong with me, and all of a sudden I come and say, Yeah, I've got stage five kidney disease, you know, not one, two, or three, or even four. I'm at five. Like, what what does that even look like?

SPEAKER_02 6:52

How does that sound like it skips to the worst diagnosis that you could think of, really?

SPEAKER_03 6:56

So y'all are gonna be mad at me. Okay, I didn't tell anybody, including my wife, until maybe that Friday, which I found out on a Tuesday. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

So you sat with it for those three days.

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Yes. Yeah. Cause I mean that that week that I had was was really tough for me. Um anyway, because like I I was trying to quit my job. You guys know about that. I was trying to quit my job. Uh, I learned that the reason why I wasn't doing so well in my job is because I was having kidney problems, brain fog, uh I was forgetting a lot of things, my motivation was just down. Those are all those are all invisible symptoms that are all part of it too. Which we as men, we think it's oh, our testosterone's low, or oh, I'm just going getting older, or I'm just fat.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Yeah, we make we make every excuse. Yeah, yeah, no, really.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

And so a lot my body was literally screaming at me.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 7:53

I didn't know, but it was affecting my job. And so I was kind of I was trying to quit my job for the longest time. And and luckily the day before I did, but I didn't know. I didn't know what was coming. You know, I and then, but this is the same week. Uh I found I quit my job on Monday, Tuesday, I had uh I found out I was diagnosed with uh stage five, and then Thursday my mom died. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

So what a heavy week. And I mean, you brought up a good point that a lot of times we we've learned to ignore our bodies, you know, even in this country, a lot of times the things we're eating, the things, you know, that we're watching or, you know, the things that we're allowing to affect our mind, body, soul, spirit, you know, we just kind of keep going. We learn how to just move ahead regardless of of all the signs and the symptoms that our body is telling us.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

Well, well, yeah, also too, I think we as men just do that because that's our duty to just protect and provide for our family. So we typically put ourselves in the backseat, even if we are going, even if we are feeling it.

unknown 8:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:52

We just say, well, I gotta make sure we have a roof over our head, I gotta make sure that you know, uh we have food in our fridge, I gotta make sure that because I'm the only one that has the income in my family. So, you know, you guys know I have a I have a special needs child. Yeah. And so my wife, her job, which I hate saying that, but it's a full-time job. She cares for our son full-time. So there's no possible way she could have an outside job and have to worry about bills too, and she has to take care of our son. So that's the burden that I that I have. And so me having to do that and worry about that, I never even cared about myself. I just thought, well, this is just a process of being getting older or or being fat or whatever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

Yeah. Can you um do you mind elaborating just a little bit more on your faith journey when it came to your job? So you mentioned you quit your job, but really, um, from the conversations we've had, you know, it's it's gone further than that. I mean, you know, of course, we've been entrepreneurs for years. And then now, you know, you're stepping into that journey by closing one door, it was really, you know, with the purpose of opening another door. So can you share with us a little bit about that as we, you know, just kind of take a pit stop?

SPEAKER_03 10:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So like I said, I've been doing this stuff forever, honestly. It's it's and it's always been uh a passion of mine. Uh, it was never the main focus because it was like a side hustle. You know, I had to have some stability. I had to have a weekly paycheck because I have these duties. And before I found out I had kidney disease, I was contemplating leaving the job I had, even though I loved I loved the job I had. It was great. Director marketing, I had a lot of fun. The company I work for is an awesome company. Never say anything bad about them. Um, but I my purpose wasn't, I didn't have a purpose really. I was helping their them.

unknown 10:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:38

You know, so my serving somebody else's dream. Yeah, yeah. I was helping, I was helping serve someone else's dream and not mine. Right. And it was eating at me internally. It really was, because I've I knew this here, what we have here, what you guys see here, um is legit, you know. And I feel like what we do here uh really does help a ton of people and it can benefit people. And I was scared to leave because I'd did I not have faith in it? Yes, I did, but it was like, well, I don't know what it's gonna be like not having a paycheck every Friday.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Yeah, it's easy to say you have faith until you're actually being asked to give something up in exchange for that.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:21

And then think about it. I mean, you you've now you're talking about, I mean, special needs child, you know, stage five kidney disease, you know, quitting your secure job to go into the entrepreneurs. I mean, that's literally the epitome of multiple crises that many people live every day, but just singular.

SPEAKER_04 11:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

But you're you're you're living in all of it at one time. I mean, and then you're married. I mean, you just think about all the things that we go through, just and so I want to talk about this from a man's perspective because like I said, you said this earlier about how we just we just uh keep it moving, take it licking and keep on sticking, right? And it's it's one of those things that, you know, what what shift your mindset to say, you know what, I'd have to change from you know just going through and just, you know, without thinking about myself, taking care of myself, and just being this provider and not provide for myself or care. Like what shifted your mindset to say, you know what, I need to focus on these crises and also myself to make sure that I'm able to navigate these scenes properly.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

I'll be honest with you, Trent, it was the disease. So uh if I didn't find out that I had kidney, kidney disease or kidney failure, I probably would have worked myself to death. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 12:23

I probably just would have ignored it. Like, oh, this is it, this is it. Let me just keep going, keep going, keep going. And then I probably just would have not woken up one day. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

I think that's probably the one good thing about major crises in our life is it really focus it really focuses or shifts our focus and and uh forces us to really figure out what's important and you know, and and think about what's ahead. Because if not, we just keep going. We just put one foot in front of the other. And a lot of times we don't even pause long enough to to think about are we even headed in the right direction, you know?

SPEAKER_03 12:57

Yeah, no, it really did change my perspective on a lot of things because I I literally had to do a hard stop. Like a hard stop, like, oh, wait a second. I need to breathe. You know, I'm going through this, I'm going through that, and I'm still I'm still focused, trying to focus on everybody else when my doctor is telling me, hey, you're gonna die.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

Yeah, warning, warning, red flag, you know, like and I'm like, oh well, what about my bills?

SPEAKER_03 13:22

So like what does that matter if you're if you're your family's gonna be worse off if you're dead? And so um that was a major, major, major wake-up call that I needed to I need to focus on myself because I I guarantee you, I guarantee you guys, I would not survive if uh I didn't find this out.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Yeah. What do you think some of the main things that were brought up uh from this when you're having to sort of grapple with your mortality, you know, in in your 30s? What were some of the main things that that you felt like, wow, this is this is where the focus needs to be or this is what life is all about?

SPEAKER_03 14:08

Well, I was just concerned about my son. That was the biggest thing. You know, ha having you guys have several kids. You got you you guys are a big big family, right? It's just my wife, me, and my son. You know, so our biggest issue is just uh what's he gonna do when we're gone? You know?

SPEAKER_02 14:27

That's hard.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

So being in my 30s, I'm like, well, I can't I got a whole lot more uh time I need to be here for uh for him. And so that was that's been my my biggest like worry and and concern, but um, which is good I'm handling this now and not I'm not 60 handling this because of my youth and and the fact that I have changed my lifestyle before I found out that I've yeah I had kidney failure, right? And so I've lost 150 pounds in a little over a year. Yeah. That's incredible. I mean, when you met me in January, I was I was probably 50 pounds heavier. Yes, you know, and um so that has been my advantage, major, major advantage because my diabetes was reversed, uh, my blood pressure is perfect. Um, when I was diagnosed, my nephrologist, who's a kidney doctor, he was like, You're the healthiest person in stage five I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

Wow. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 15:28

He's which is why I'm not immediately on a dialysis. Because he's like, Normally we see stage five patients, they're in their 60s, 70s, can barely walk, they're in constant pain, can't wake up from the fatigue. They're they're in they're in dire straits. Yeah, it's like you you would have never you you look like you're fine, other than acting in your face. Wow. And I'm like, I feel fine because I lost so much weight, the symptoms that I was going through. Y'all reverse themselves.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:01

It was kind of like, well, the symptoms I have now weren't worse than what I was going through before. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Wow. So kind of talk about that. Let's um, you know, you know, just to get a little bit more education on what you're specifically going through, talk about the stage five kidney disease. What is that, what's the hardest part about it? What is what does that life look like for you and the things that you have to go through?

SPEAKER_03 16:22

So, what stage five actually is, first of all, um, it means your kidneys cannot filter out waste, right? That's the main function of our kidneys, is to filter out waste in your in your blood, right? And when so when you have stage five uh kidney failure, the filters in your kidneys don't work the way they need to. So all the waste and protein, all that stuff builds up and it's gotta go somewhere else. So it expels out into your blood, spells out into the rest of your body, causing like essentially, like if you never change your car's oil, then you get to sound toxic. You get it is very toxic. You get that sludge, and that's where the acne comes from. Right? So this is all uh like urea in urea acid. Um I can't just like squeeze it, not nothing's gonna come out. So uh it's like keratin and stuff, like your nails. So it's hard. Oh wow, yeah, and so uh it has to come out somewhere. But the symptoms of that are extreme fatigue, uh back pain, uh foamy urine, um thirst. Yeah, like dry mouth, like dry mouth, um, swelling and swelling your ankles, um, or just retaining water in general because your body isn't filtering a lot of anything.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Yeah, and it sounds like a lot of that is has in common with diabetes too, as well. There's a lot of so there's a lot of confusion sometimes with people who are diabetic, they don't even know they're going through certain stages of kidney disease. And so um, so that's why I think sometimes you see where someone who could be living five, 10, 20 years with stage two, three kidney disease, and then but they think there's something else, and they're treating these other things, but not really getting to the heart and root of the problem. So, and that's where I where you see, like, you know, yourself say, Hey, all of a sudden I'm in stage five because we didn't know those other signs may have been coming from something else, you know.

SPEAKER_03 18:14

Yeah, yeah, for and especially for our people. Uh high blood pressure and diabetes is the number one killer of black marriage.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

Wow, wow.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

Yeah. And so, you know, it's it's our diets, you know, it's uh stuff that's been passed down for centuries, you know. And so we're a lot more susceptible to kidney failure and kidney disease.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Yeah. And and we don't want to change our lifestyles because again, it's not in us to go get go to help, get help, go to the doctor. You know, sometimes that's not, you know, we didn't see that growing up. So therefore, if we didn't see it growing up, they're just like, uh, we're just we're just gonna keep it going, right? I'm gonna rock for my family. I'm supposed to work hard, provide, and that's my only function. And when you forget that you are a person and you have to take care of yourself, you kind of those things go in the backburn. I know my wife, she's always talking to me about to go get your dentist appointment. Did you go go to the doctor? And I'm like, I'm gonna get to it. Yeah. One year later.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

I'm like, what are we paying for insurance for? Literally, you're paying for insurance and I don't know what it is.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

So even now I'm being convicted again to know that, you know, I'm not immortal, you know, and I need to make sure that I go, especially knowing my history, knowing the things that I my family's susceptible, or myself, you know, I've been through my own weight loss journey over the few years because I say stress, you know, being an entrepreneur, having multiple business and things, it can it can cause you to eat, you know, not right, it can cause you to not get your right sleep, you know, which is terrible for us, you know, and and water rich, all those things. And and until you put serious the things you need to put serious, you know, you're you're literally killing yourself from the inside out. You know, and I think that, you know, what good are we for our families? What good are we for, you know, people we lead as entrepreneurs? You know, it's it's funny that you're the podcast doctor, right? You know, and it's like, and so it's like you think about these things that we want to be the doctor and and and make everything else good except for our own selves, you know? And so I think that, you know, this is a great conversation to have, especially all the men, um, well, no matter what race, but especially African-American men, uh, hey, take care of yourself, go to the doctor, know that we're we don't live forever. I mean, there's a lot of us dying a lot earlier than we should right now, but we don't have to if we would take some of these things more serious, you know.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

What about the financial burden? Um, because we, you know, we talked a little about uh mentally, you know, what you were what your thought process was, and then also physically, you know, what does that look like eventually, you know, if and when you get the kidney, the whole procedure, and then also um, you know, the recovery process after with you being the single earner in your household.

SPEAKER_03 20:45

That is a big concern, you know, and I didn't even really think about it until I had my um consultation at the hospital. You know, uh they run you through the gamut. So I had uh a social worker come talk to me. She's like, You do all the stuff, you're you're the sole provider of your family. How are you gonna pay your bills when uh you have your transplant?

SPEAKER_02 21:05

And I'm like, Wow, uh you're like, I'm I'm just trying to figure out if I'm gonna live. Yeah, you didn't even get to the rest of it.

SPEAKER_03 21:13

Exactly, exactly. And so, you know, with me leaving my steady job, now I don't have a guaranteed income. So that was another huge decision uh and a huge added stress on me. But my career here uh is fruitful. I enjoy doing what I do. Um, and so we do have staff here, so but when I do eventually uh take time off, um hopefully the the business won't shut down. We have staff that continue, can handle everybody else that we can do. But uh it will be tough.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

Uh it will be tough, but um I'm sure I'll be able to get it through. The only thing that's weird is the the medications after. Are very, very expensive.

SPEAKER_02 22:01

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

And those medications are for life.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

Wow. I didn't realize that.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

Yeah, they are they are for life because it's um when you get a kidney transplant, your body will always try to reject it. Always. Because it's not yours. And so you have to be on medications that will suppress your um immune system to be able to keep the organ. But now that you're suppressing your immune system, you need to boost your immune system. So you need to be on a steroid. So there's a lot of medication that you need to be on for life. And I won't get into anything systemic, but medications are astronomically expensive because they know so many people need these transplants. So many people need it. So they make it capitalists. So they make money. Luckily, I have insurance. You know, but uh it is it is it is a blessing. I have insurance. I pay for my own insurance. So most likely most of that will be covered. Um and and then if I do happen to be on dialysis, uh, if I ever get on dialysis, I'll be able to get on Medicaid too. That's like an automatic approval. So uh or disability. I don't want to, I don't want to go that route because I still don't see myself as that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

You have a lot of uh life to live and a lot to contribute still.

SPEAKER_03 23:23

Yeah, but if I have to, I will. But the the finances I think will will be okay. Um, I my event that we would we'll we'll talk about later, it is a fundraiser for just that in general as well, just in case to cover any added cost and to help the donor as well.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Absolutely. And I and I and thank you for, you know, because you know, again, this is about bringing awareness. And like I said, we're gonna, you know, let you guys understand uh know how you can support Phil, the event that's coming up, because I think it's highly important, you know. But one thing I want to talk about that sometimes gets you know lost in the fray is that you know, you don't have to we don't have to, you know, be gone and passed on from this earth to be a donor. You know, we can actually be a donor as we're living. Um many people don't realize that you can live with one kidney as a healthy, uh a very healthy life, normal life. And so uh so as a living person, if you feel the need that you want to help uh or your purpose is to help other people, someone like Phil, then I think that you know these are opportunities to step up to the plate if you can and see you know what that looks like. So, but uh I think that's sometimes a misnomer is that you know, something like a kidney, oh my God, if I give my kidney, what is my life gonna look like? Well, you actually could be pretty just normal, right? And so, but the the beautiful part is that don't only your life be normal, you can help someone else become a little bit more normal in their life. Now, like you said, it's not ever gonna you know be quite normal because of the medications and things you have to, but at least you have life that you can live after the fact, and and that's the most important thing.

SPEAKER_03 24:48

Absolutely. That is the most important thing. And with kidney donation, like you said, you can live perfectly fine with one kidney, you will never know any difference. Yeah, your body won't really ever know. Um Living donation is the single greatest gift that anybody can really ever ask for. Um because you're giving somebody life. And when people say, Oh, you're on the list, though, the list, the actual list that I'm on, is only for deceased donors. Now, if you ever want to know what the difference between a deceased donor and a living donor is the lifespan of the actual organ. So deceased donors' organs last around 10 years. Um a living donor forever.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Wow. Yes. I didn't realize that. So so when you say deceased, you mean maybe somebody um is involved in a car accident.

SPEAKER_03 25:45

Um, recently passed.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

Yeah, goes to the hospital and then they're a uh uh transplant donor and it takes over.

SPEAKER_03 25:53

Those those donors, kidneys last, like I said, around 10 years, and then you'll have to probably you may have to get another one uh or be on dialysis uh again. But with living donation, um the your lifespan is until you expire.

SPEAKER_02 26:12

Yeah. Um, so when it comes to uh being able to be a donor, um what what is that process like, if you don't mind me asking? I mean, is there um certain ways that somebody would be able to check if if uh they would have an organ that's compatible?

SPEAKER_03 26:30

Yeah, so it's actually gotten a lot easier than it used to be. Right? There used to be uh a whole stringent amount of tests, right? But now with the invention of the internet, it's it's a lot easier because information is almost instantly available.

SPEAKER_04 26:44

Okay, right.

SPEAKER_03 26:44

So on my website is kidneyfulfilled.com, you'll find two applications. One's for Advent Health and the other is for HCA out in Largo in South Florida. Those are the two main agencies I'm dealing with. But if you go click on any of the applications, it'll take you to a screener. The screener is just a generic screener that asks you a bunch of questions about yourself. And then if you pass that screener, then they will call you.

SPEAKER_04 27:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:09

Right? And then they will continue the process there. Because there are extra steps, you know, they'll need to do a background on you, they'll need to do history on you, they'll need to check your blood type. Uh, and then once you pass those tests, then come the physical tests.

SPEAKER_04 27:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:25

And then the mental tests because they want to make sure you are of sound body and mind as well.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

Yeah, because it's probably still an ordeal for the person that's donating, right? Yeah, yeah. It's a surgery.

SPEAKER_03 27:38

I mean, it's yeah, and they want to make sure people are doing it for the right reasons, too. Right. And um, so blood type isn't the only barometer. Okay. Really. So, you know, they check weight, weight of the organ, not the weight of the person. But yes, they will check your weight.

SPEAKER_02 27:55

Okay. They want to make sure it's probably somewhat compatible to what you have.

SPEAKER_03 27:59

Yeah, so you do generally have to be healthy, right? Um, I feel like that's the hardest part because the people in America just are no for real. People in America just we're that's not as healthy. Yeah, not healthy. There's so many people that have high blood pressure, there's so many people that have diabetes, so many people that have underlying conditions that they don't even know they have. Yeah, and I've had several people apply that just and they didn't meet the criteria. They don't get the criteria because they just were not healthy. Wow. Um, and so it it's it's a process, it is a process, but I think that they make the process intentionally long just to weed out any unsure people.

SPEAKER_02 28:38

Yeah, it's not for the the faint and heart.

SPEAKER_03 28:41

No, no, it's not, and they do make sure that you're good financially too. Yeah, they want to make sure that you're gonna be okay because you're gonna be out of work for you know, or if you need to travel.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

Yeah, if you don't live here and you do and you do the donation, you know, we need to make I'm sure they want to make sure that you you can see it all the way through and it's not something where you're you know excited to help in the beginning and then goes off because you have the commitment.

SPEAKER_03 29:06

Here's the thing, you can. You can even even if you're about to be at the operating table, you can still back out. Okay, I mean, and that's good to know too.

SPEAKER_02 29:15

They're not gonna pressure you or because that might prevent people from even trying if they think you know if they're looking too far ahead and get nervous about the consequences, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:24

So and there's no like consequences for that. They're not gonna be like, too late. It's like you signed here.

SPEAKER_01 29:33

Yeah, so so just kind of talking about all this, um, I mean, this is a this is a lot of mental grind. Yeah, I mean, this is this is this is emotional, spiritual, it's not just physical, you know. And so, you know, we're gonna I'm gonna kind of dive into that a little bit. And I'm sure that's kind of changed your perspective in life with some things, right? Um talk about success. Like, how's that change or this process change your you know mindset on what that even is anymore? What is success to you?

SPEAKER_03 30:01

That's a really good question, Trent. Um, success to me, well, success to me before was adulation from people, recognition. Because I never really asked for it. So when I got it, I was like, yeah, I did a really good job. Right? Uh or if or if people reached out to me through outside of my circle, that was success. Like me being listening to Chat GBT, that's a success. I didn't do that. The internet did it. You know, to me that was success. After this diagnosis, uh success to me is more of a personal thing that I'm able to reach to people that I need to. I'm able to advocate for myself, I'm able to I'm able to advocate for other people who don't have the reach that I do. Um that's success. Um getting the getting the kidney is gonna be success too, you know, just be being able to hear this diagnosis and not let it defeat me, not letting me sit there, not letting me be sad about it, and continue to move, you know, that's success because sometimes people people probably couldn't even survive the week that I had, you know. That's pretty crippling. You know, and so I that's success. You know, so but but but yeah, that's that's a great question.

SPEAKER_02 31:22

Wow. Um, so I think you have an event coming up soon. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how people can support?

SPEAKER_03 31:30

Yeah. So my birthday is Saturday, July 11th, which is very, very close. We're having an event downtown Orlando at the Levy Hughes Center. It's also known as the Boys and Girls Club, but the Levy Hughes Center is the more sophisticated name. But it's it's the Boys and Girls Club uh downtown. Uh it's from five to eight. It is a fundraiser slash benefit slash soray. So you do should you should dress, you should dress for success. I know it's the middle of July, so it will be hot, but uh if you want to dress, please do. But uh, we will have uh doctors speak, we have people who have had transplants speak. Uh I'm gonna speak. We have entertainment, we have comedian James Young, who's a headliner. Oh nice. Um, we have uh a saxophonist. I forgot her name. I'm so sorry. Uh we have a saxophonist, she's playing, and uh it's catered, so there's gonna be lots of food. And uh DJ J Love is gonna be DJing the whole event because it is a birthday party too.

SPEAKER_04 32:27

So we're gonna sound like a good time.

SPEAKER_03 32:29

A lot of fun. With purpose. Yes, it's definitely good purpose. But like I said, it is a fundraiser. So if you do have a company and you do want to uh drop a sponsorship for it, you can, and you know, we'll put your name on the banner or any any type of uh um swag that we can give out. We can have your your branding on it, but it is a fundraiser, so it will help out me and my family once I do have my transplant. You know, I won't be working for a little bit, but it also helped the donor out too. So once the donor, whoever they are, they'll be able to have some financial relief uh as well.

SPEAKER_02 33:03

Yeah, that's important.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

Yeah, and yeah, I just want to say thank you because like I said, it takes a lot of vulnerability, you know, to talk about this kind of thing and to put yourself out there. And I and I know your heart is not this is not just about you, it's about your family, it's about those that you can help and like I said advocate for. So really appreciate you taking this time to do this with us. I want to ask you one last thing as we get ready to our our closing of this episode. But, you know, we're talking about leadership through crisis. Um if this crisis had to do one thing, um, Phil, I want you to fill the rest of this sentence in. I hope this crisis does blank.

SPEAKER_03 33:43

I hope this crisis wakes people up about their health. It woke me up about my health. We don't, we're like trying to say we're not immortal. I know we as men like to think that and just kind of shuffle it along. Um, but I I hope this crisis will reach the right people who may be experiencing symptoms that they didn't know they had. Uh I hope this crisis wakes up men and women who overwork themselves to learn to not overwork themselves. I hope this crisis can wake people up to follow their dreams and journey and not be stuck into a a position where they are working to survive and then it's just surviving to work. You know, you guys broke out of the matrix.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

Yeah. So it took a lot of faith.

SPEAKER_03 34:47

It took took a lot of faith. And so I I hope this crisis can reach the right person. Um I hope this crisis can help me find a donor, you know, obviously. And I I hope this crisis can help me understand that it's okay to be vulnerable. Uh it's okay to talk to people, it's okay to focus on me first sometimes, then everybody else. Because once I am elite, everybody else benefits.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

Thank you so much, Phil. I appreciate it. Um, you know, and so I just want to leave you guys with some questions for yourself. Um, because again, leading through crisis, you know, we all go through crises, but not only we go through crisis, that means that someone else is as well. And so so I just want to leave these questions with you. Who can you encourage today? You know, who's going through a crisis that that you may know of, that you can pick up the phone, who needs a phone call, you know, who needs a prayer, right? Who is somebody I can, you know, go encourage today that is going through a crisis? Because again, you're either about to go into one, you're walking through one, or you're about to come up on one. And then lastly, what about myself? What crisis am I avoiding in my life? What are the crises that are happening that I'm just putting in the back burner? Is it my health? Is it going to get that checkup because we're afraid to say what that doctor may say? You know, sometimes, you know, it takes us making sure that, you know, we're better for ourselves before anybody else, just like Phil said. And the first thing they teach you when you go on an airplane and if in a crisis situation, you got to put the oxygen mask on yourself before you put on somebody else. Because what are you good of you to help somebody else if you're not here? And so, um, so again, you know, we want to make sure that you guys understand not only just the weight of a crisis, but how do you get through them? And then how can you encourage somebody else to go through them too as well? So I hope this episode has been enlightening because it has been. And I think the vulnerability that it takes for you to come on, Phil, and to want to talk about this. We appreciate that you're doing this with us, you know. And so um, but uh before I give the last word, did you want to give anything else, uh, Phil, um, to our people or star?

SPEAKER_02 36:52

Um, I just want to say thank you. You know, um, even what you just talked about as far as making sure that we're not focused on the wrong things, you know, it it we don't want to wait until we get to a crisis situation to make those important decisions and to really think about what matters the most. So I think for me, you know, that's something that I got out of this conversation is, you know, don't put things off because we never know how much time we have, you know?

SPEAKER_03 37:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:18

We really don't.

SPEAKER_03 37:19

I agree with you guys. And thank you so much for having me on. Thank you for, you know, allowing me to speak with your audience and reach reach whoever needs to hear this. So I appreciate it guys. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 37:30

Absolutely. But whether it's a gift that you can give somebody through encouraging words, whether it's a prayer, whatever the case may be, um, be an encouragement to somebody else that's going through a crisis. Or if you need crisis, you know, drop a comment. You know, make sure you subscribe, Love and Lead Podcast. You know, we're always here to make sure that we're bettering you guys as a you know an audience and you guys as individuals. Um, but again, we got to have these types of conversations because at the end of the day, this is what makes us all better. And so um, so what can you do to help someone else through their crisis? And what can you be uh an encouragement for yourself sometimes when you're going through those same crises? And today, what you could do, maybe save a life. So if you can be an organ donor, why don't you step up to the plate if you can and see what that looks like? Because it just very well can save a life because we're looking for someone to help save our friend, our podcast producer, but more than anything, a husband or a father that wants to make sure he's here to continue on his great legacy as well. So uh before we leave you, we always leave you the same way we come in. And so we want to make sure that you love well, lead with purpose, and make sure you steward what matters.