National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships
American Kidney Fund Partnership
Through VHA partner, Veteran advocates for people diagnosed with chronic kidney disease
Navy Veteran Candie Gagne will talk to anyone and everyone—from strangers on planes to elected officials— about the dangers of kidney disease. This “silent killer,” by her count, has nearly killed her three times. Her goals are to educate people about the disease, because symptoms may not be apparent until the kidneys are badly damaged, and to lobby for legislation that can help kidney disease patients.
Ms. Gagne is an ambassador for American Kidney Fund, a nonprofit VHA has partnered with to leverage the strengths of both organizations to help Veterans who are diagnosed with chronic kidney disease live healthier lives. The partnership is managed by VHA’s National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships (HAP).
It is estimated that kidney disease affects one in six Veterans. Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and more. Ms. Gagne, a kidney transplant survivor, and her husband, Thom, who is also a Navy Veteran, trace their kidney disease diagnoses to their exposure to toxic chemicals while stationed at Camp Lejeune. Thom, who receives dialysis, is awaiting a transplant.
Ms. Gagne’s experience as a Navy chief hospital corpsman emphasized the “see one, do one, teach one” method, and as a result, she has a passion for educating others. She encourages people to ask their providers to do a renal panel because, especially when caught early, additional damage to the kidneys may be prevented through diet and exercise and by limiting alcohol and tobacco. VA’s eKidneyClinic and American Kidney Fund offer relevant health tips.
When it comes to advocating for legislation to help kidney patients, she says, “No mama grizzly has anything on me.”
Ms. Gagne has seen her weekly calls and emails to legislators pay off. For example, Congress recently passed legislation that covers the cost of antirejection drugs for all kidney transplant recipients for life regardless of age. Previously, the cost was covered for only 36 months after the date of transplant surgery for people under age 65, which caused serious financial hardships and deaths, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, because transplant recipients could not afford the medication.
There’s a softer, non-grizzly side to Ms. Gagne’s advocacy efforts, too. When she goes to a clinic for infusions, she wears her pre-transplant “I need a kidney” T-shirt as a conversation starter and hands out business cards to people “just to let somebody know that there’s somebody else out there that cares, somebody who knows what they’re going through.”
Approximately 500,000 VHA enrollees have chronic kidney disease.
“We encourage Veterans, who are more susceptible to this disease than the general public, to learn how to prevent it and to ask about screening for kidney disease,” said Ms. Georgeanna Bady, HAP health systems specialist.
For more information on American Kidney Fund, visit kidneyfund.org. For more information on VHA’s National Kidney Program, visit VA.gov/health/services/renal/index.asp.
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Posted April 26, 2021
