By Mike Guffey , DPC Board Treasurer
Why
Advocate?
After the January Education call, I had a couple of people
thank me for my participation and say they could tell I feel
passionately about my need to advocate on behalf of ESRD
patients. For those of you who were not able to attend the
call, let me explain my passion for you.
Like many of you, I crashed into dialysis with no prior planning
or education. I got up one morning hoping to take in some
sun and warm up on vacation and by noon was hospitalized
in the ICU with a diagnosis of End Stage Renal Disease. (No
matter how many times they tell you not to worry, that is just
a governmental label, End Stage does not sound comforting
or reassuring to me.)
My journey living (and working) with the disease led me
quickly to the DPC website and soon after that to applying
for a position on the DPC Board. To my amazement, I was
4
accepted onto the Board and soon found myself at my first
fly-in with no idea what to expect.
Why advocate? To put a human face with an issue. At my first
fly in, I learned how important it is to personalize an issue. I
could sit with my Senator (or even better his aide) and explain
how a proposed bill was either going to improve or worsen
my life. It really was not about the facts, although DPC had
me prepared with handouts to leave behind with all sorts of
facts and figures. It was about the fact that I could explain
to them that I was their constituent (a voter they needed to
keep their position), and I was willing to come visit them to
explain my concerns as well as those of an additional 3,000
dialysis patients and potential voters. (And, I warned them on
that first visit, I am persistent. I have been on the DPC Board
since 2011, and DPC’s representative to Kidney Care Partners