Member Spotlight: Lana Schmidt

Meet Lana, a Patient Co-Investigator on our study. Learn about her and her struggles with kidney care in the spotlight below. 

I am passionate about raising kidney awareness throughout our nation and want to improve the quality of care and services for kidney patients, making a difference in their quality of life. I have had my own marketing consulting business for years and I use those skills to promote kidney awareness in my local community and nationwide.

I was on dialysis for 13.5 years before receiving a kidney transplant using an experimental drug, which suppressed my high antibodies. I have been on all the modalities and did home hemodialysis on my own, putting in my own needles, 7 days/week for 2 hours each treatment. I have been a national patient advocate for many years and strongly believe that kidney patients talking to kidney patients is very important to improve their quality of life. Also, I want to be involved in empowering and equipping kidney patients to be fully educated in making medical decisions for their life. It is very important that kidney patients receive information about their disease and possible options as early on as possible. 
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Why is this project important? I want to bring positive change for kidney patients, helping them to be more informed and knowledgeable about the disease and how to make the best decisions for themselves. 

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