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Covenanting Covenanter's News Colleen Ryan - Championing Kidney Health
Covenanting Covenanter's News Colleen Ryan - Championing Kidney Health
| Colleen Ryan - Championing Kidney Health |
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Renal Failure continues to plague Indigenous people at alarming rates. The growing epidemic of diabetes among Indigenous people is but one contributing factor to a problem that is seeing many Anangu people on dialysis with some refusing kidney transplants for cultural reasons. It's a complex problem and one that Congress member and transplant recipient Colleen Ryan hopes to overcome for others. Colleen is sister to Congress South Australia Chairperson Denise Champion. My History  I became a member of the Congress in the late 1980's in Port Augusta, South Australia. As an Aboriginal member attending Uniting Church Services I was involved in establishing a growing Indigenous congregation that was born out of these services. To this day we still maintain close ties and attend both congregations regularly and share important times together. A key part of our Ministry is assisting Aboriginal people who come to Adelaide for kidney disease treatment and to help them through their experience. A lot of people from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands and right across South Australia have to come to Adelaide for usually 6 weeks worth of kidney dialysis treatment. Many of the patients exhibit underlying conditions that have led them to the hospital wards, including diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. Many Aboriginal communities can ill afford the higher than normal costs of fresh fruit and vegetables associated with the long distances required to truck in produce. Therefore the only option that people have is the readily available processed food and this habit is passed on from generation to generation. Some communities are tackling this problem head on like Napranum in North Queensland which grows its own fruit and vegetables. My Journey with Renal Failure My own personal journey with kidney disease started towards the end of 1997. I had diabetes and high blood pressure which led me to feeling unwell with escalating health issues. I was informed that I needed dialysis in Adelaide and having never been separated from family it was a terrifying time. I had dialysis for three years after which I was informed I would require a life sustaining kidney transplant. A kidney transplant is not something Aboriginal people feel comfortable with; they don’t want someone else’s organ in them much less the separation from family to undergo the procedure. Sadly some Aboriginal people refuse a transplant and succumb. I was going to have a transplant from my sister Noleen, a living donor however our brother also had renal failure at the same time and so the Doctors ruled out giving up her kidneys as she was at risk too. Both my brother and I received a kidney from a donor who had just passed on and we do not need dialysis anymore. We wrote to the family of the donor to let them know that they gave new life to us and that life goes on through our body. I believe if Aboriginal people knew of this they would be willing to get a transplant. That is why I am working toward providing more education around this issue and importantly on helping tackle the root causes and not the end problem. Prevention is so much better than a cure. The role of Congress Throughout my ordeal Congress was my strength and transformed me in ways I could never have imagined. I saw opportunity in my adversity to help spread the good news and to be a voice to help impart good health on others. The Church made me a stronger person as I had to fight to survive and I needed all the spiritual strength I could get. It kept my spirit strong as Iwas away from home for three months in hospital and when alone I would always turn to Jesus for strength. Reprinted with permission from Message Stick - Summer 2010
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