Donor Diaries
Donor Diaries is a podcast that delves into the beauty and complexity of living organ donation. Tune in to hear extraordinary stories of people who choose to share their organs and give the gift of life. The world of kidney and organ donation is a powerful testament to kindness, love, and the human spirit.
With over 90,000 individuals on the kidney transplant waitlist and about 13 people dying each day while waiting, the urgency is real. One in three Americans is at risk for chronic kidney disease, and one in nine already suffers from it, often unknowingly.
Donor Diaries offers unfiltered narratives from living donors and candid insights from transplant experts, aiming to elevate the conversation around organ donation. Our goal is to bring this crucial issue to the forefront, so no patient has to wait in vain or suffer needlessly.
Donor Diaries
Transporting Second Chances- When Kidneys Fly | EP 31
Join us as we welcome the extraordinary Mike Lollo, a former NYPD detective whose journey led him to become a passionate advocate for kidney donation. Mike's life took an inspiring turn in 2018 when he donated his kidney to a stranger. He shares his remarkable story with us, reflecting on how chance encounters with people like Ned Brooks shaped his mission to transform lives through the power of living donation. This episode highlights Mike's dedication and the profound impact his advocacy has had on individuals like Tommy Alexander and Mark Weiner.
We also explore Mike's career transition from the beat of New York City streets to the intricate logistics of organ transport. His role as chief strategy officer at the National Kidney Registry and his current position with Mobile Network 24 underscore his commitment to the safe and efficient transport of organs. Mike provides an insider's perspective on the complex layers of planning and coordination required to ensure successful transplants, especially when time is of the essence. His insights shed light on the critical importance of reliable transport systems in saving lives.
Mike Lollo is also the host of a new podcast called “Let’s Talk Transplant!” Mike was formerly co-host of the podcast “One is Enough,” an NKR podcast. You can find both podcast wherever you listen to podcasts!
Links:
Mobile Network 24
Let’s Talk Transplant Website
Let’s Talk Transplant on Facebook
One is Enough Podcast
Donor Diaries Website
Donor Diaries on Facebook
Connect with Laurie Lee
GiftWorks
Welcome to Donor Diaries, a podcast that explores how people are changing lives through the powerful act of living donation. Tune in to discover how kindness, love and simple acts of giving are transforming lives every day. Hello and welcome back to Donor Diaries. Every day, organs are getting flown and driven across the country to those in need of a transplant. Today, my guest is my friend, Mike Lalo, who's going to share a bit about the part he plays in getting those organs where they need to go. He works at Mobile Network 24, but has a colorful history in the kidney world, and pretty much just a colorful history in general. Welcome to Donor Diaries, Mike. Happy to have you as a guest.
Speaker 2:finally, I am so excited because you're not just a donor friend and a close personal friend, but you are my inspiration. I know we're going to talk about it later for me to start a podcast, so I'm super excited that you invited me on Well.
Speaker 1:it's been a long time coming and I can't wait to ask some questions about your podcast.
Speaker 2:I am an open book, total transparency. So, lori Lee, go ahead and ask me whatever you want.
Speaker 1:How did you become a kidney guy, Mike?
Speaker 2:That is a great question and you know, every good kidney guy has a kidney guy. So I will give a plug to my original mentor, my OG kidney guy Ned Brooks, who started a small little organization years ago called Donor to Donor, and then myself and a few other people helped him turn it into the National Kidney Donation Organization, which is the largest living kidney advocacy group, I would say, in the United States. So he was my first kidney guy and I kind of, you know, modeled myself, I guess you know, after him, but I guess I became a kidney guy because I donated my kidney. I guess that's how you, that's one of the requirements, right, Lori?
Speaker 1:Yep, it is. You got one kidney.
Speaker 2:I got one kidney, so donated my kidney back in 2018. And I'm just she had a very, very short story, so I don't bore your listeners. I was New York City police, nypd detective at the time and I'm sitting at my desk and I was looking at the computer screen and we have this thing called an intranet, which is like an internal police intranet thing, and a flyer came up about a police officer named Tommy Alexander who was in need of a kidney. So I called the phone number that was there, the transplant center just never called me back, so I just assumed that you know Tommy got his kidney. So that was in April.
Speaker 2:At that time, and until I saw Tommy's you know flyer, I never thought about kidney donation. I really didn't know it was a thing that you could do and I just totally put it out of my mind. And then, four months later, I saw an article in the New York Post about a guy that had a billboard donated to him at Times Square. His name is Mark Weiner and they again were asking for you know someone to come forward and donate a kidney. So everyone asks and Lori Lee, I'm sure you've been asked this question a million times why would you donate your kidney to a stranger. What was going through your mind? For me, the best way to answer it is I was 46. I never heard of kidney donation.
Speaker 2:I tried to do it in April and then I didn't hear a voice from up above or anything.
Speaker 2:But I did think it was very odd that in a span of four months, kidney donation came across my eyesight.
Speaker 2:So I got tested to donate to Mark and then I started doing research and I found out that you could give your kidney to a stranger. So when I got the phone call from the hospital that I wasn't a match for Mark, I asked the lady on the phone. I said oh well, what about this non-directed thing Like I can donate it to a stranger right? And her response was yes, that's a different pile, I'll have someone call you right. Back was yes, that's a different pile, I'll have someone call you right back. And then I donated in December of 2018 at Weill Cornell. But I actively helped both of them find kidney donors and each of them ended up getting a voucher through the National Kidney Registry and they both got kidneys and Tommy Alexander is still a police officer in the New York City Police Department on a harbor boat, and Mark Weiner is no longer on his, you know, seven, eight years of dialysis, and he has a kidney now too.
Speaker 1:So that is an awesome non-directed donation story, mike, and I love how your kidney went to a third person and not the two people on your radar in need, but that you also played a role in getting both of those people kidneys anyway. It's just really cool and unique. Can you share a little bit about your career journey in Mobile Network 24?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you were there, I think from almost all of it. So you know, I was a NYPD detective, like I said, and I retired in August of 2020. And I did what every law enforcement officer does when they retire. I got a security gig. I was a director of security for a school district out here on Long Island and I had a great time. I was volunteering for the National Kidney Donation Organization at the time, mentoring people, helping people find kidney donors. It was totally cool, everything was great. And about a year into that, I get a phone call from my kidney guy, ned Brooks, and he says listen, we want to expand the National Kidney Donation Organization and we're looking for a face and a voice and I like to talk. I know people can't see my face, but it is very handsome. I do like to talk. And he goes we have an opportunity to hire someone. As the president I said get out of here, I'm like what do I got to do?
Speaker 2:the president, I said get out of here. I'm like, what do I got to do? He goes, we'll figure it out. But you know, basically we want to you know, promote awareness. I'm like I'm in.
Speaker 2:So I worked only for one year at the school district and I went to work as the president of the National Kidney Donation Organization and I did that for a year and the National Kidney Donation Organization, nkdo, works very closely with the National Kidney Registry, nkr, and after the first year the CEO, garrett Hill, approached Ned and I and asked if I would come work over there as their chief strategy officer and I took the job 2021, I guess, I went to work as the chief strategy officer of the National Security Registry.
Speaker 2:I did that for two years and then in April of last year I stopped working there. Everything's okay, I still talk to the people at NKR and everything's fine. And I took the summer off and then I got a phone call out of the blue from a buddy of mine that said listen, there's this friend of mine who has this company and I think he could really use a you and he connected me with Brian Smith, who's the CEO and founder of Mobile Network 24. And they are an organ transport company, so they transport either recovery teams or organs back and forth and I wanted to stay in organ transplant somehow. And here I am still in organ transplant. I was hoping and praying that I could do something in transplant and it materialized.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. And I love that last switch for you when you moved over to Mobile Network 24, because, yes, it is organ donation, but it's very different than what you'd been doing.
Speaker 2:I mean there's overlap, but I mean you and I know, not as much as I would have liked.
Speaker 1:Yeah right, Exactly. And you're working with a lot of deceased donor organs.
Speaker 2:Correct. Yeah, that's correct.
Speaker 1:So before we hop into what Mobile Network 24 does, let's just talk a little bit about the landscape of moving organs, because I think there's a lot to understand behind that, and people who are new to this often think their kidney is going to get lost in the mail.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Mike, can you explain the gap between organ availability and location and those who are in need of a life-saving transplant?
Speaker 2:Sure, so I'm going to, I'll break it up into living, which is what I specialized in, I guess, before, just really quick, and then we'll spend a little more time on the disease side. So there's a company called right National Kidney Registry I mentioned. There's another company called Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation and they move specifically kidneys living donor kidneys from point A to point B completely safe. Those kidneys are typically moved either by vehicle, which is the preferred method because it's a lot easier to control right when the car's on the ground, versus, you know, a plane flight. They are also shipped from point A to point B on commercial flights. So the kidney doesn't get a seat on a plane per se but it gets allocated to be on a plane and it gets dropped off at the airport and then it gets picked up at the airport and brought to the transplant center. In those two areas for living kidney donation there's never been an issue, a problem, a kidney that has not gotten transplanted because of a transportation issues, kudos. On the living kidney donor side it's not. It's not as great on the deceased donor side and I think there's a lot of variables with that and you know I'm not an expert per se.
Speaker 2:People can go back and they can look at the last couple of senate hearings where they specifically talk about organs that are lost in transit. I can only talk about the company that I work for now. We have never misplaced, lost an organ of any kind. It always gets to where it's got to go. But there isn't one unified system. So there are many companies like ours. So there are many companies like ours the OPOs, the organ procurement organizations can contract with any courier service. If you will that they want, the transplant centers can contract with a courier service. So there isn't one singular method. There's not one unified process. When I worked at the NKR, their protocol is to have a primary commercial flight, a backup commercial flight and then to get a price on a chartered flight just in case those first two fail. So you know the importance of having a redundancy in organ transport is really very important, but there's even a backup patient, so it's so important to make sure that that kidney finds a home.
Speaker 1:Well, I love logistics. I don't know if you know that about me. Our conversation's reminding me of an interview I did with Al Ross last season.
Speaker 2:I've heard of that guy.
Speaker 1:You have Great guy, and one of the things he talked about was the early days of kidney exchange and how difficult it was, for example, to get transplant centers to coordinate, because one center does living donation surgeries on Tuesdays and the other one does on Thursdays, right. So they have to come to some sort of agreement where the logistics fall in line such that they can take a living donor kidney out of somebody in New York in the morning and that when it arrives in San Francisco that team's going to be ready to receive it. You know whether or not they do kidney surgeries on Tuesdays normally or not. So I mean the time sensitivity of this. Let's talk about the time sensitivity of organs and transporting them.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I guess I'll focus now on deceased organ donation and I will give a high level, if you will, of the process and that will probably segue right into the logistics component, just so people have an understanding. So I'm not sure if people are aware we just had a milestone last year. They transplanted over 48,000 total organs in the United States and that's the highest that it's ever been. As most of the listeners probably know, there's more than 100,000 people on the list. So we never have enough organs, whether it's deceased or living, to satisfy these poor people that are on the list.
Speaker 2:So 1% or less of the people pass in a manner that the majority of their organs can be used. Like my mother-in-law who had the cardiac event, she passed technically at home and by the time they get her to the hospital, the heart, the lungs and all that kind of stuff the kidneys, the liver they're not viable. So she was able to donate the skin. But for someone to donate the lungs and the kidneys and the heart, pretty much you're probably already in the hospital and it's someone who probably I don't even know if it's a medical term, but people would understand that you're in essence brain dead. And then there's a whole coordination happens and I was just at a conference and, lori Lee, your mind is going to be blown Just on that end. There's, they said, about 200 people of you know between the organ procurement organizations, the hospital family. There's like 200 people who touch this particular decision.
Speaker 1:So 200 people are involved with a kidney getting from point A to point B.
Speaker 2:Or a heart or a lung, yeah, and the disease side it's. It's because there's like there's the finance people, there's people on the back. It's like this amazing, crazy logistical machine. There's all these things going on kind of at the same time and very quickly. So, unlike living kidney donation, it's a 24-7 operation. So our drivers have to have their phones on, the pilots have to be ready to go, because you can get a call literally any minute of day, two o'clock in the morning, right, you can't predict when someone's going to pass and when the opportunity strikes.
Speaker 1:That's incredible. I can't tell you how often I'm driving to work and I'm following an organ into the city. It's typically in a Gift of Hope van with the lights on. It's cool, right, it's really cool. It's just amazing.
Speaker 2:But think about this, all the team that led up to that point. You have these skilled surgeons who recovered the organ, all the team and the skilled surgeons who are going to be putting that organ in right, and you're in the middle. As a transport company. You're in the middle and if surgeons are listening, don't be offended by this, but we have an equal responsibility and a role in a transplant because, obviously, the surgeon went to school a heck of a lot longer than I did and the other people that we have at our company. The transport of the organ is essential. I think all the parts of this machine, of this cog, have an equal responsibility, although you know, the surgeons went to school for, you know, double-digit years and all I did was donate my kidney and I found myself here. But it's fascinating Really.
Speaker 1:I do like logistics as well and I find this whole thing very, very fascinating Me too, all of the technology that's coming out now to make the shelf life longer, so that, like liver perfusion devices that are allowing transplant centers to hold that organ on ice being perfused overnight yes, that their team can come in in the morning, versus turning an organ away in the middle of the night because they don't have the ability to transplant it at that time. A hundred percent. So special shout out to the transplant coordinators, organ procurement organizations and specialized transport teams that make up these 200 people that move, oh my gosh, loyally.
Speaker 2:since I've been here, we've got video of the family having to see the car arriving, with their loved one's heart right and the joy, and then the drivers actually got to take pictures with you know, the the people, and then they, like, they stayed in the waiting room for a little while like holy mackerel, right, I'm really so happy to do this and, just like you know, you are with everything that you've been doing.
Speaker 1:it's, it's definitely a passion so how does mobile network 24 play a role in moving organs to where they need to be, because they're one of these 200 people or organizations.
Speaker 2:That's a great question and I think I'll answer it. Stop answering. It is what drew me to Mobile Network 24. When I spoke to my CEO, brian and his wife also works for the organization Karen, she's a registered nurse by trade there's such like a passion with them and the other companies that are out there. I have met them, especially at that last conference, and they all have passion. But I think there's something different about Mobile Network 24 and it was attractive to me. They're very grounded people, very humble people.
Speaker 2:My boss had a business, a national black car service business, for 30 years and then COVID happened and he pivoted. But he ended up. He's like oh you know, what else can I do in logistics? And he opened up, started an ambulance company and we are licensed in 25 states to do licensed sirens. And then someone turned him on to organ transport and they said you know, you should really focus on this. And so that's all we do is organ transport. But when I spoke to him and his wife, there's such a passion it's almost like you know that you're having such a profound impact that they want to do more, they want to have more successful transports. So you so our slogan, which I cannot take credit for creating. I will take credit for trademarking it because it is trademarked. Anyone who hears this. You cannot use it or steal it because I will come after you. But Karen came up with this. It's transporting second chances, isn't that beautiful? So I was very drawn to this company and transplant is very slow to change in my experience that I've had from the day I donated till now. So the company I'm working for has a very fresh look at it.
Speaker 2:And just so people understand, I've talked a couple of times about charters. Right, you got to fly the team from point A to point B. You got to fly the heart from point A to point B. Those can't go on commercial airlines because we just don't have that kind of time. Right, it needs to get there really quick. So how does it go? You have to hire a private jet from a charter company. That is very, very expensive. And what I've learned from September till today if I talk to someone what's your biggest concern about organ transport, and they all say the plane. You know there's people who've gotten bills for like $100,000. The way it works is that price is pretty much 100% passed through to all of us who are listening, because it gets to be put on the Medicare cost report.
Speaker 2:So the way the not Mobile Network 24, but the way the system currently works now is there are other companies that do what we do. They operate as a charter type service and also have charter companies who are affiliated with them charter type service and also have charter companies who are affiliated with them. And they get the call and they'll call the charter company and say I need to go from Teterboro to Tampa, right, and the charter company tax on a percentage a broker fee is what it's called and then if that company can't find the plane, they go to another charter company. It's broker stacking is actually the term. So the reason why it's $100,000 is because there's all these additional fees. But it has to be done because it's a life that gets saved.
Speaker 2:So anyway, the point is my boss came up with this concept and I don't want to bore people, but a charter company operates under a specific way. Under the FAA regulations it's called a Part 135. And that's how these charter planes go from Vegas and this, that and the other thing. It's very costly to operate as a Part 135. So they do have to charge these higher rates because they're paying a lot more for that FAA designation, private people or corporate travel departments like American Express. American Express has a couple of their own planes, bloomberg has his own planes, goldman Sachs has a plane or two. Right, they operate under a Part 91. And that's a lot less expensive to operate.
Speaker 2:So my boss said well, why couldn't we sort of have a corporate travel department, or we like to call it an internal travel department for transplant? So the way it works is the way that we operate is we have our own planes, we have three, we're purchasing a fourth. We have all our own vehicles, all our own employees, our own pilots that are paid salaries and get a 401k and all that kind of stuff that are on call and we legally are allowed to operate as this Part 91 for anyone that we contract with. So if you're one of our partners, we're almost like a subsidiary of that company. So we assume all the risk for buying or leasing the plane, the fuel, the maintenance, the pilots. But you know, we have these planes sitting there basically waiting for our partners to call us.
Speaker 2:So a benefit of that is and I've heard this consistently it's called a call out. Right, oh, I'm going to need a plane. You usually got to give a charter company like two hours. They got a call the plane may be someplace else. It's called repositioning. You got to reposition your plane. Our planes are all in one location right now and we can be up in the air in under 60 minutes typically 45, but we tell people 60 minutes, which is amazing. Right, that cuts a whole hour plus. You know that we can get someplace and get that organ transported somewhere quicker. And the other thing that we're doing is because we don't have the high costs of operating under this way charters do, is we offer fixed pricing. I don't know of any other company in the industry that offers fixed pricing.
Speaker 1:So it clearly costs less than $100,000. What's your pricing like in comparison to what transplant centers currently pay on average?
Speaker 2:Well, it depends on the zone. I'll just give you an example If you stay within zone one, it's like 16,000 and change, right, that's like 250 nautical miles or something like that. So that price will never change. If you're anywhere, anytime you travel within zone one, that's the price. So these hospitals, OPOs, these other companies that use private charters, they usually have to call and say listen, I'm going from Teterboro to Tampa, what's the price? We tell our people you don't have to call me. I'm giving you the map of the United States, I'm giving you the zone map and here's the price list, if you will right.
Speaker 1:So it's the FedEx model. So I use FedEx daily and I always the cost based on what zone I'm shipping to and the first one variable is the weight of the package. It sounds just like the FedEx model concept is.
Speaker 2:This is where I talk about transplant. The concept is not new to the world, right, but it's not been used, has not been used in transplant, and why, I don't know. I think people just think that the current method is the only method. The other people that are operating in this space are a bit larger than we are, andires your company, do you replace their existing transport?
Speaker 1:system, or are they using you in addition to whatever transport system or systems they're already using?
Speaker 2:That's a great question. So we have no exclusivity clauses. I would strongly encourage a company to not put all their eggs in one basket. You know the National Kidney Registry, just as an example, has two courier companies that transport the kidneys from point A to point B. But there are companies that do kind of like lock people in. You know that doesn't benefit the people who need the organ. So the answer, as far as our company goes, you know Mobile Network 24,. No, we work with one of our partners now that uses another air company and that's totally cool.
Speaker 1:Now. So they're looking at it situationally and there might be cases where they use a different one because it makes more sense for whatever reason. Sure absolutely.
Speaker 2:Three of the four people that we partner with use us exclusively, but that's their choice. My goal would be that people would at least give a second look at how they transport organs and the companies that they use to think about. You know Mobile Network 24's internal travel department and all the benefits that it could have you know, financial and otherwise to your organization. There's all this stuff that happens in transplant that I see on a regular basis, and it's all because there are people who are not open minded and I think that they're a little reluctant to change.
Speaker 1:So well for anyone listening who's interested in cost savings and change. I will make sure to put your information in my show notes so that they can contact you directly. But, mike, I know another thing you really want to talk about today is your podcast. So there's only a handful of podcasts that focus on organ donation out there. Did you know that?
Speaker 2:Is that true? I didn't look, because I only know of one other one, yours.
Speaker 1:It's an uncommon and cool thing that we have in common, but you've had more podcasts than me, so you have a one up there, so let's start with the first one. Tell us about your podcast. One is Enough.
Speaker 2:Sure, so One is Enough was the podcast that I was a co-host on when I worked at the National Kidney Registry. Someone said, you know, oh, maybe we should do a podcast. I'm like, oh, that's kind of interesting. So we ended up doing two seasons and I really liked it and you know, I got validation, sort of like when I was telling my kidney story for the one millionth time. People were like, why do you do it? Because throughout the last six years people have told me that they have looked into donating and donated because of the article that I was in or the radio station or the news broadcast, so which gives me validation to never stop. It was great, I love doing it. I think we had some great content, some really great episodes. Honest Enough is still out there if people want to listen to it. I mean I prefer you listen to Donor Diaries or the new podcast, the newest, the rookie podcast called let's Talk Transplant, which is now, I guess we'll say independently, mine, right, my two anonymous donors who were willing to fund, you know, the startup of this podcast and you know I have enough money to produce six episodes. So I think you, laurie Lee, said how hard it is to do the editing and all of this stuff. So I have a very small team but you know, very small like one person who helps me with all that stuff. So I really just have to kind of like show up, talk for an hour and then and then leave. So I just started it.
Speaker 2:Episode zero is out there. Let's call let's Talk Transplant wherever you listen to podcasts, and I have recorded my first episode, which will be coming out February 4th. My first guest is Kevin Longino, the CEO of the National Kidney Foundation. I am interviewing an OPO CEO from Ohio so we can learn more about the organ procurement world and all that kind of stuff. And then I have my third guest committed. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, has agreed to come on let's Talk Transplanting. He's very charismatic. When I was with the police department I worked on his protection detail with his other detective that he has. But there's a large number of people who think that organ donation, whether living or deceased, is against their religion.
Speaker 1:Yes, unfortunately, that's a common myth.
Speaker 2:So I said to myself, who can I get to sort of dispel this myth? He's one vote away from being the pope. I mean, he's a cardinal, right, and if something happens to the pope he could be almost the highest in the land, right? So I said let me see if he would do it. And I reached out to his people and I couldn't believe it. He said, yeah, the Cardinal said he would gladly do it and I have to email his people to lock in a date. So that's my first three. Oh, I have. Oh, actually, I have someone else coming up too. You know Kelly Schmidt, right? Yep, yeah. So Kelly Schmidt has an amazing story and living and she's also part of a two-time, if you will, donor, donor family. So you know the podcast. I want it to be everything and anything you could think of.
Speaker 1:Congrats on your new podcast, Mike. It sounds like an incredible lineup. Really happy for you.
Speaker 2:That's cool. So far right. It's all downhill from there. One podcast was not enough.
Speaker 1:So one actually wasn't enough, but that's okay, because now we can listen to let's talk transplant and get our mic lalo fix again. If you're missing, one is enough. And for our listeners, check out my show notes and I'll link you to both of his podcasts. I was a big fan of the first one and I'm excited to hear episode one of let's talk transplant, which launches actually the same week as this episode you're listening to now. Fan of the first one and I'm excited to hear episode one of let's Talk Transplant, which launches actually the same week as this episode you're listening to now. So lots of listening to Mike for us all to look forward to Mike. In closing, what's the most important thing you want our audience to hear that you haven't talked about today?
Speaker 2:The most important thing is for anyone out there that still has two kidneys that they look into the possibility of being a living kidney donor. Today I don't know the exact number it's probably in the neighborhood of 94,000 people who are on the wait list, you know, waiting for a kidney. That doesn't account for the 500,000, 600,000 people who are on dialysis, so those people on dialysis can benefit also from a kidney right. So there's a lot of people out there that need a kidney and we just don't have enough resources that we need to figure out ways to increase. You know organ donation now and you know your podcast, my podcast and the other you know 10 or so podcasts that are out there and any story about living kidney donation, I think, is truly important. So if you're listening to this, I hope that Lori Lee and I inspire you. I think that's it, anything else. Did I miss anything, lori?
Speaker 1:No, that was wonderful, Mike. Thanks for a great interview today. Good luck with your podcast. Huge congratulations.
Speaker 2:Thank you. You know we didn't get to talk about that. I was just gonna have to leave this cliffhanger about you and I have scuba diving in common, but maybe if I ever come on again, we can talk more about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we could have a scuba podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Lori.
Speaker 1:I'd really like to show the world that Mike and Lori can scuba dive in Bonaire. We can scuba dive in Thailand. Watch us go 100 feet in all of these different countries and if you could just sponsor us, we can prove to you that you can scuba dive with one kidney.
Speaker 2:That would be. What would my wetsuit look like? Would it be like like I'd have to have like kidney stuff all over it? That would be awesome. For full disclosure, I haven't dove in a very long time but I am, you know, an advanced certified PADI diver. That's impressive. I know you're like a master diver, I think. Right, Aren't you?
Speaker 1:I'm a dive master.
Speaker 2:See, she's a dive master everybody. So look for Lori Lee and Mike Lalo's future podcasts. We're going to have to come up with a name like Diving for Kidneys, or I don't know. Figure it out.
Speaker 1:All right. Thank you, mike, thanks Lori. Special thanks to Mike for this episode, which was edited down from a 90 minute conversation. I also want to acknowledge two people who were edited out for the sake of time Mike's recipient, ruth, who ultimately received Mike's non-directed kidney, and Mike's wife, megan, who is truly amazing. After Mike donated a kidney, a few years later, megan went above and beyond, donating her liver to a co-worker. The Lalo family is a family of givers and we should all be so lucky to know people like Mike and Megan. Congrats, mike and Megan.
Speaker 1:This season of Donor Diaries is proudly sponsored by GiftWorks, an organization dedicated to empowering organ recipients and living donors through education, advocacy and support. By helping patients share their journeys and connect with donors, giftworks ensures everyone feels supported throughout the transplant process. We're honored to partner with a team that's transforming lives, one transplant at a time. To learn more, visit yourgiftworkscom. Remember, every act of kindness creates ripples. Thanks for listening and keep spreading those positive vibes. This is Lori Lee signing off. I just want to feel the sunshine. I just want to feel the sunshine. I share this life with you.
