Kidney community newsletter | Fall 2017

FALL 2017

The Kidney Foundation of Canada – Quebec Branch

newsletter

KIDNEY CAR PROGRAM

Donating your car to a foundation: a generous and eco-friendly gesture page 8

RESEARCH

A Foundation grant recipient takes part in a project linking organ donation and artificial intelligence page 9

PATIENT SERVICES

Mezzo-soprano Marjorie Maltais and the Orchestre MĂŠtropolitain in concert for the Foundation page 6

The Kidney Kids Camp turns 25 page 8

The personal information you have provided is used only to send you this newsletter. If you no longer wish to receive it, please e-mail us at infoquebec@kidney.ca or call us at 514-938-4515.

Dear readers: Help enrich our newsletter by sharing your experiences with kidney disease or transplants! Please send a text of up to 300 words, along with a high-resolution photo, to infoquebec@kidney.ca.

COORDINATION AND WRITING Antoine Ardiley GRAPHICS AND PUBLISHING Ardecom PRODUCTION Ardecom CONTACT US: The Kidney Foundation of Canada – Quebec Branch 2300 René-Lévesque Blvd West, Montreal, QC H3H 2R5 TELEPHONE 514-938-4515 or 1-800-565-4515 FAX 514-938-4757 E-MAIL infoquebec@kidney.ca Circulation : 10,000 copies The newsletter is published three times a year by the Quebec Branch of The Kidney Foundation of Canada. Distributed in English and French to all people suffering from kidney failure, these publications provide valuable information on the Foundation’s services and activities, including the latest news about kidney disease and organ donation.

The opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Quebec Branch of The Kidney Foundation of Canada, its directors, employees or members.

WORD FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

FOR DIALYSIS AT HOME AND NEARBY Dialysis places a number of serious constraints on those who need it—long treatment time, ultra-strict diet, lower energy levels, and much more. Given all that, people on dialysis should not also have to spend hours on the road just to get their treatments.

The Foundation agrees with the Quebec health department’s guidelines, which strongly encourage the healthcare network to make autonomous home dialysis more accessible, whether in the form of peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis. In addition to cutting down considerably on travel time, autonomous dialysis allows kidney patients to have more frequent treatments, which has positive effects on patient health. But to reach this goal, patients need help in the form of appropriate, accessible training and support from health professionals. For a number of people suffering from kidney disease, the distance they have to travel to receive this training constitutes a major roadblock.

Not every patient is healthy enough or has the autonomy or caregivers required for them to take advantage of all the benefits of home dialysis. We are of the opinion that the round trip between the patient’s home and the nearest dialysis centre should be no more than three hours.

Consequently, we applaud the health minister’s decision to open three new dialysis centres in the Gaspé region, specifically in the municipalities of Gaspé, Sainte-Anne-des-Monts and Maria. Previously, patients had to travel hundreds of kilometres to either Chandler or Rimouski three times a week, rain or shine, to receive their life-saving treatments.

We are proud to have supported Jean Lapointe and Gui-Gabrielle Boulay Fortin, who brought the harsh reality faced by the Gaspé region’s dialysis patients to the attention of both the media and decision-makers.

Martin Munger Executive Director The Kidney Foundation of Canada Quebec Branch

Moving? Write us at: infoquebec@kidney.ca.

Articles may be reproduced provided that proper credit is given.

PLANNED GIFTS – LIFE-INSURANCE

DONATE A LIFE INSURANCE POLICY, HELP KEEP THE FOUNDATION ALIVE By designating The Kidney Foundation of Canada as the policyholder and irrevocable beneficiary of a life insurance policy, you can make a generous planned gift while earning tax credits and reducing the financial burden imposed on you by your premiums.

Whether you donate a new or existing policy, its buy-back value is considered to be a charitable donation. Furthermore, if any premiums remain to be paid, the payments you make entitle you to receive tax credits, which compensate for a significant portion of the premiums.

| 2 |

The Kidney Community Newsletter FALL 2017

And a donation in the form of a life insurance policy provides more than just financial benefits. While it is completely independent of any bequests you wish to make to your loved ones in your will, the Foundation receives the insured capital quickly, without any repercussions on your estate.

For an estimate regarding your life insurance policy benefiting The Kidney Foundation of Canada, complete this short form and we will get in touch with you within one business day.

OUR EVENTS & ACTIVITIES IN REVIEW

MONTREAL GOLF CLASSIC RAISES $190,000 Co-chaired by Luciano D’Ignazio, CPA, CA, partner at Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP, Dr. Rita Sury, FRCPC, Nephrologist at CHUM, and Tony Loffreda, CPA (Illinois), Vice-Chairman, RBC Wealth Management, the annual Golf Classic has become one of the Foundation’s most prestigious fundraisers.

On September 18, 2017, the Foundation held its annual golf tournament at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, North America’s oldest, raising $190,000 for the cause.

We are eternally grateful to the Organizing Committee and the countless volunteers for their dedication, as well as to the golfers and cherished sponsors who have contributed to the event’s continued success. As always, Catherine VerdonDiamond (host of City TV’s morning show Breakfast Television) was an outstanding emcee. A big thank-you also goes out to the sponsors and corporate foursomes who helped make the event a success.

THE 11th KIDNEY WALK: ANOTHER RESOUNDING SUCCESS The Quebec Branch of The Kidney Foundation of Canada would like to thank all the participants and local and national partners, as well as all the donors, who supported the 23 Kidney Walk events and the Tour de rein cycling event this year.

The 2017 Kidney Walk held last May and June raised over $530,000, which will enable thousands of people who have kidney disease or are awaiting a transplant in Quebec to hope for better days in the knowledge that research and patient programs and services will continue to be well funded. The Foundation would also like to thank all the honorary chairs and volunteers who worked tirelessly to make the event such a huge success.

Without their contribution, the Kidney Walk would not have been possible. See you next year!

MONTRÉAL

BUCKINGHAM

BOUCHERVILLE

The Kidney Community Newsletter FALL 2017

| 3 |

OUR EVENTS & ACTIVITIES IN REVIEW

THE QUEBEC CITY CHAPTER GOLF TOURNAMENT: A HOLE-IN-ONE! The Quebec City Chapter Golf Tournament was held on June 19 at the Club de golf des Pins in St-Alban. The event was presided over by honorary co-chairs Fernand Dufresne, President of Preverco Inc., and Jean-Maurice Vézina, financial planner at Investor’s Group.

This 22 nd edition of the tournament was the most successful one yet. A total of $48,000 in net proceeds was raised for The Kidney Foundation of Canada. Splendid weather, delighted participants and a stunning setting: who could ask for more?

A big thank-you goes out to our sponsors, to everyone who kept things rolling throughout the day and to the volunteers who made this wonderful event possible.

See you next year!

THE 7th ANNUAL CUNNINGHAM’S HUDSON CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT RAISES $17,000 The 7th Annual Cunningham’s Hudson Charity Golf Tournament for the Kidney Foundation of Canada took place in Hudson on June 19, 2017. On this occasion, over 200 golfers took to the course at Whitlock Golf and Country Club, raising $17,000 to fund research, patient programs, prevention initiatives and organ donation awareness programs.

The day also marked the 7 th anniversary of a living kidney donation between twin sisters and Hudson residents Erika and Kristen Wilkin. The story began in 2004 when Kristen was diagnosed with Henoch-Schönlein purpura, an inflammatory disease that affects the body’s tiniest blood vessels. By affecting capillaries, the disease becomes a systemic illness that can affect the kidneys.

And in 2009, that is exactly what happened: things took a turn for the worse and Kristen’s kidneys shut down. She immediately started undergoing dialysis six times a week, a frequency that was eventually reduced to only three times a week.

Specialized genetic testing was then conducted at the Royal Victoria Hospital’s transplant centre to determine whether the twins were compatible, a key requirement for kidney transplants. The results were positive, opening the way for the transplant, which went ahead on June 10, 2010.

BACK ROW: FORMER NHL PLAYER MATTHEW LOMBARDI, COMMITTEE MEMBER GRAHAME DORCAS, AND FORMER NHL PLAYER PJ STOCK. FRONT ROW: COMMITTEE MEMBER AND KIDNEY DONOR ERIKA WILKIN, THE KIDNEY FOUNDATION OF CANADA’ CHRISTOPHER GOBEIL, COMMITTEE MEMBER AND KIDNEY TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT KRISTEN WILKIN, AND COMMITTEE MEMBER KEITH DUGAS.

| 4 |

The Kidney Community Newsletter FALL 2017

OUR EVENTS & ACTIVITIES IN REVIEW

THE FOUNDATION MEETS GASPÉ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

A BENEFIT DINNER IN MURDOCHVILLE RAISES $4,400 FOR THE FOUNDATION

Last March, National Kidney Month, Jean Lapointe went out to meet grade 4 and 5 students at École St-Rosaire de Gaspé to talk to them about kidneys, their role in the body and the consequences of kidney disease, not to mention the wonderful gift of organ donation!

He explained how, in donating his or her organs, just one person can save the lives of up to eight others, and how important it is for people to notify their family members should they decide to donate their organs when they die.

The meeting with these young people was very rewarding, as they were clearly interested in the topic. Our thanks go out to teachers Virginie and Geneviève and to all their pupils, as well as to Mr. Lapointe, for this great opportunity to share.

WE THANK ALL THE ORGANIZERS

On May 27, 2017, a fundraising dinner held at the municipal hall in Murdochville, in the Gaspé region, raised $4,400 for The Kidney Foundation of Canada.

The Métallos union gave a talk on the 1957 Murdochville strike, which had a considerable impact on Quebec’s labour movement and on the province as a whole. A number of volunteers took part in the event by cooking up and serving dinner to the 200 members in attendance. During the event, Jean Lapointe handed over a $100 donation from the Gaspé branch of the Knights of Columbus to add to the total amount raised.

The Kidney Foundation of Canada wishes to thank the event’s organizers for the generous donation and the wonderful initiative.

A WALK CELEBRATING A SAGUENAY–LAC-ST-JEAN TRANSPLANT THAT TOOK PLACE 20 YEARS AGO On April 22, a Kidney Walk to highlight a transplant that took place 20 years ago was held in St-Eugène-d’Argentenay, near Dolbeau. That day, Alain Sasseville celebrated the gift of life he received from his sister in 1997. His wife, Lisette Sauvageau, secretly organized the event as a surprise for Alain and his sister.

With a few hundred people and a number of sponsors taking part in the festivities, the event was a resounding success. Delicious Lac-Saint-Jean tourtière (meat pie) and homemade fudge certainly contributed to the success of the big surprise! A total of $5,300 was given to the Foundation at the Dolbeau Kidney Walk on May 28.

A huge thank-you goes out to Lisette, Alain and everyone else who helped make the surprise celebration of a local resident possible, while raising much appreciated funds for the Foundation.

Would you also like to celebrate a transplant for the benefit of the Foundation? Contact Dany Babin at 1-800-565-4515 ext. 232 or dany.babin@kidney.ca

The Kidney Community Newsletter FALL 2017

| 5 |

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

Imagining SPAIN New Lease on Life Benefit Concert for The Kidney Foundation of Canada with the Orchestre métropolitain Guest Artist MARJORIE MALTAIS Mezzo-soprano

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20th - 7:30 p.m.

Maison symphonique

Under the direction of ALAIN TRUDEL

MEZZO-SOPRANO MARJORIE MALTAIS AND THE ORCHESTRE MÉTROPOLITAIN IN CONCERT FOR THE FOUNDATION The Kidney Foundation of Canada is pleased to invite you to the 3rd edition of the New Lease on Life Concert on October 20, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. at the Maison symphonique de Montréal.

By attending, you will be helping the Foundation carry out its mission.

This year’s edition will shine the spotlight on one of Charlevoix’s own, mezzo-soprano Marjorie Maltais, and the Orchestre métropolitain.

DISCUSSION WITH SYLVIE CHARBONNEAU, President of The Kidney Foundation of Canada | Quebec Branch

Why did you take on the role of Quebec Branch President?

My involvement was born out of a desire to give something back. I first learned about the Foundation when I was undergoing medical tests to see if I could be a donor for my son, Benoit, who suffered from kidney failure. So it was my son’s disease that led me to the Foundation. During the donation process, I realized that we weren’t the only ones going through the experience. That is when I decided to get involved. People in Quebec don’t talk about organ donation very much, and kidney disease is a lot more widespread than we realize. Making scientific advances is so very important.

How do events like the New Lease on Life Concert enable the Foundation to fulfil its mission?

Every event is an opportunity to raise funds with a fourfold purpose: funding kidney disease research, supporting patients and their loved ones, raising public awareness and appealing

| 6 |

The Kidney Community Newsletter FALL 2017

The event will also be your chance to catch the world premier of a work by Spanish-born Montrealer José Evangelista, whose music melds sensitivity and expressive power.

A one-of-a-kind event you will not want to miss!

To buy tickets or find out about partnership opportunities, visit kidney.ca/concert or contact Dany Babin, Director of Financial Development, at 514-938-4515, ext. 232, or dany.babin@kidney.ca. to the government and the public to make organ donation more mainstream. Above and beyond the money they raise, our events bring awareness of the reality of kidney disease to a larger audience.

This third edition of the New Lease on Life Concert will shine the spotlight on Quebec’s own mezzosoprano Marjorie Maltais singing with the Orchestre métropolitain. Why do you like this annual event at the Maison symphonique de Montréal in particular?

I love classical music, but I don’t always take the time to attend the symphony. I sang in choirs for 30 years and even directed some for 11 years. Music has always been a part of my life.

The Maison symphonique is a dream location for concerts and the Orchestre Métropolitain is one of Quebec’s finest orchestras. These are the perfect ingredients for spending an outstanding evening supporting The Kidney Foundation of Canada’s cause.

Which pieces and composers are your favourites?

I would have to say Mozart’s Magic Flute, though I also love Chopin. But what I really like about symphony orchestras is that they’re always willing to venture into musicals and pop music. In my opinion, Les Misérables is the best musical ever made.

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

THE 2017 JEAN-JACQUES BÉGIN BENEFIT DINNER IS SET FOR OCTOBER 27

THE FALL DOOR-TO-DOOR CAMPAIGN IS HEADING EAST

The Jean-Jacques Bégin Benefit Dinner for the Eastern Townships Chapter of The Kidney Foundation of Canada starts at 5:30 p.m. on October 27, 2017, at the Sherbrooke Golf Club. Now in its 23 rd year, this annual event is named in honour of Jean-Jacques Bégin, a long-time, active Foundation volunteer who was well known in the region.

This event unlike any other in the region—an oyster dinner and all-you-can-eat buffet—is a delightful opportunity to support the kidney disease cause.

The first stage of the Door-to-Door Campaign took place last March and April. The year’s second and final stage will take place this fall in the following cities and regions: Quebec’s North Shore, Beauce, Eastern Townships, Sept-Îles and Baie-Comeau.

It is thanks to honorary co-chairs Josée Parenteau, President of the Eastern Townships Chapter, who had a kidney transplant 11 years ago, Janie Boulianne-Gref, who runs the Mademoiselle Gref blog and has been on dialysis for two years, and Sacha De Santis, RE/MAX real estate agent and kidney patient, that the event could take place this year. The Eastern Townships Chapter’s ambassadors were thrilled to co-chair the 23rd edition of the benefit dinner. As kidney patients themselves, each at a different stage of the disease, they firmly believe in the importance of supporting The Kidney Foundation of Canada.

Tickets can already be purchased online (website in French only) or by contacting Josée Parenteau at 819-348-0964 or fondationreinestrie@gmail.com.

During that period, volunteers from The Kidney Foundation of Canada will hit the streets to raise money to support the Foundation’s work.

Feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions or comments, or if you would like to give us a hand: • For Baie-Comeau: Nathalie Saulnier, 418-543-9644 or nathalie.saulnier@kidney.ca • For all other regions: Maryse Néron, 418-683-1449 or maryse.neron@kidney.ca.

Thank you for your support during the first stage of the 2017 Door-to-Door Campaign, and here’s looking forward to a successful conclusion to it this fall!

2nd ANNUAL MADELEINE VALLÉE BENEFIT SPAGHETTI LUNCH FOR THE FOUNDATION The 2nd annual Madeleine Vallée Benefit Spaghetti Lunch will be held on Sunday, October 15, in Salle de la Franciade, 100 Rue de la Mairie in Trois-Rivières (Saint-Louis-de-France district). The meal, which costs $20, includes all-you-can-eat

spaghetti, bread, dessert, coffee and tea. There will be a show in the early afternoon and we have a few nice surprises in store for you! For more information or to reserve tickets, contact René Gélinas at 819-699-0186 or Daniel Turcotte at 819-609-5072.

The Scotiabank Charity Challenge – April 2018

The Kidney Community Newsletter FALL 2017

| 7 |

PATIENT SERVICES | THE KIDNEY CAR PROGRAM

THE KIDNEY KIDS CAMP TURNS 25!

HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE KIDNEY KIDS CAMP!

DONATING YOUR CAR TO A FOUNDATION: A GENEROUS AND ECO-FRIENDLY GESTURE If you plan to drive your car into the ground, you know that you will eventually have to replace parts just to keep it roadworthy.

Brake disks and pads, filters, fluids, tires, windshield wipers, spark plugs, belts, battery, alternator and starter: just a few of the more important parts that will have to be changed as your car ages.

You’ve heard it before: a car is an expense, not an investment.

And the older the car gets, the more expensive the maintenance becomes. One day, you’ll likely come to the conclusion that it’s time to stop putting money into your car and you might think about scrapping it.

Forty-five predialysis, dialysis or post-transplant children enjoyed a week at camp from August 7 to 13 in the company of nurses and all the medical facilities they need. It was the perfect opportunity for children to enjoy some fun in the sun in a summer camp specially adapted to their needs. It also provided parents with a week of well-deserved R&R with complete peace of mind. This annual camp is also an opportunity for children to swap stories with other kids in the same situation and make new and special friendships.

The Foundation wishes to thank the medical staff from Hôpital Sainte-Justine and Montreal Children’s Hospital, and all the Foundation’s sponsors: the Fondation de la Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec , the Royal Bank and the Fédération italienne St-Joseph.

Did you know that you can donate it, regardless of its condition, to a foundation instead? Thanks to the Kidney Car Program, you can donate your car to The Kidney Foundation of Canada: the car will be towed away for free and you will receive a $300* tax receipt. Consequently, your very generous donation will enable the Foundation to fulfil its mission of supporting all Canadians living with kidney disease. It’s also an eco-friendly thing to do, as we guarantee that your car will be completely recycled** in accordance with the industry’s very strict environmental standards.

To donate your car to the Kidney Car Program, call us today at 1-888-228-8673 or complete the online form at kidneycar.ca.

Thank you and see you at next year’s Kidney Kids Camp!

Discover the Foundation’s new Kidney Car Program website.

Completely revamped and sporting a new brand image, the site lets you fill out the vehicle donation form easily, quickly and securely.

KIDNEYCAR.CA *Amount of the receipt when your car is recycled. **On inspection by the recycling company, some vehicles may be considered for resale.

| 8 |

The Kidney Community Newsletter FALL 2017

RESEARCHER PROFILES

ORGAN DONATION: A NEW FRONTIER FOR AI? • What if a surgeon could use better mathematics to predict how long a donated organ would last before transplanting it into his patient?

Héloïse Cardinal, M.D. Dr. Héloïse Cardinal received a two-year, $100,000 fellowship thanks to The Kidney Foundation of Canada’s biomedical research program.

• What if the patient could know exactly how much better an organ from a better donor would be, if she waited?

HÉLOÏSE CARDINAL

Dr. Héloïse Cardinal is a transplant nephrologist and independent researcher at the University of Montréal Research Centre (CRCHUM). After finishing her residency in nephrology at Université de Montréal, Dr. Cardinal earned a Master’s degree and a PhD in Epidemiology at McGill University, where she developed expertise in the characterization of biomarkers for the non-invasive diagnosis and follow-up of clinical conditions, which she eventually applied to the transplantation setting.

Getting the right organ to the right recipient is always a challenge. UdeM scientists think artificial intelligence can help.

Organ transplants are a game of odds. Success depends on a number of factors: how old and how healthy the donor is, how old and how healthy the recipient is, how good a biological match can be found, how ready the patient is to receive it.

But if the system could be gamed by better statistics, would the success rate rise?

That’s what researchers at Université de Montréal and its affiliated Polytechnique Montréal engineering school are trying to find out, as they work to develop a computerized machine-learning method that will better predict how well a typical transplant will go.

At UdeM’s Centre Hospitalier (CHUM) health complex and the Polytechnique’s Department of Mathematical and Industrial Engineering, specialists have teamed up to answer questions that have stumped even the savviest of scientists:

• And what if that patient could also know exactly how long, if she passes her turn this time, she’d have to wait for an optimal donor?

A TWO-PRONGED APPROACH Such questions can be a matter of life and death. So, subsidized by a two-year grant from the Canadian National Transplant Research Program, two UdeM scientists – Héloïse Cardinal, a transplant nephrologist at the CHUM Research Centre, and Andrea Lodi, holder of the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Data Science for Real-time DecisionMaking – have taken a two-pronged approach to organ donation management, looking at whether a patient should accept or refuse a kidney from a deceased donor.

First, they want to use machine learning to develop a new support tool – a risk calculator – that physicians and patients can use to decide whether a kidney is wellsuited to the recipient. Using a database called the U.S. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, they’ve begun a retrospective cohort study of all American patients who got a new kidney between 2000 and 2015, comparing old and new ways of modeling survival times, including mathematical optimization and machine-learning algorithms.

Second, they want to learn in detail what physicians and patients are looking for in terms of the information they need to make better decisions together on whether to accept a donated kidney or not. To that end, Cardinal and MarieChantal Fortin, another CHUM nephrologist, are conducting six focus groups at their institution of six to 10 participants each. They hope to find out, for example, whether patients would accept more traditionally high-risk donations if the math showed they were in fact less risky. 

The Kidney Community Newsletter FALL 2017

| 9 |

RESEARCHER PROFILES

LONG WAITS IN QUEBEC Organ donation in Quebec in no simple affair. Demand outstrips supply, and waits can be long. In 2016, 275 patients went ahead with kidney-transplant surgery, about one-quarter of them at the CHUM. In the same year, 565 patients were waiting for kidney-transplant surgery, with wait times averaging 641 days, or close to two years. The average age of donors over the past decade has been about 49 years old; the average age of recipients, 50 years old.

Statistics on the rate of refusal of a donation are not available, but Cardinal knows from experience how common refusals are. In fact, she got the idea for her current research when she realized that, both locally and internationally, some of her colleagues would recommend accepting organs while others would turn them down, a difference of informed opinion rather than pure science.

Not only would better decision-making be good for society, it would also be an example of socially responsible use of artificial intelligence, which in the popular imagination is often associated with fears of job losses and privacy breaches by robots and other devices that work and “think” for human beings. With AI, doctors and patients would be able to better decide together whether surgery should ahead, its advocates believe.

“Machine learning is very well designed to crunch huge quantities of data and do with it with much greater certainty,” said Lodi, an Italian researcher from Bologna who previously worked on mathematical optimization of kidney donations from live donors in his native country before coming to UdeM in mid-2015 to take up a position at Polytechnique Montréal.

‘A GAME-CHANGER’ Part of the problem is there’s no reliable guide to help transplant physicians and their patients decide to accept or refuse. Nephrologists now base their judgment on the Kidney Donor Risk Index, the U.S. risk-assessment system that’s also used in Canada. Its ability to predict organ-graft survival is only considered fair. As Cardinal put it, the KDRI gives estimates that are “one-size-fits-all,” ignoring the recipient’s specificities.

AI CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE That’s where artificial intelligence of the machine-learning kind comes in.

“There are all kinds of interactions occurring between a donated organ ANDREA LODI and a recipient that can affect the outcome of a graft, and when you do standard statistical analysis you can’t consider them all, you can’t input 20 kinds of interaction,” said Cardinal. “We think machine learning could be a better way.”

For example, “if we know that the negative characteristics of one type of donor don’t have as bad an effect on one type of patient, we might be more inclined to use this “greyer,” more marginal donor on the patient where the effect will be felt less. That will definitely help, because right now there’s a shortage of organs in Quebec, and we have to use as many as we can.”

| 10 |

The Kidney Community Newsletter FALL 2017

“We expect this new research to be a game-changer with regard to being able to make our predictions of organ transplants more accurate,” he said. “For patients, it will mean a big change. If they say ‘no’ to a donation, they’ll be able to know what their chances are of getting a better one if they wait. And it will also mean there’s a better chance that the organ they refuse will go to somebody else who is better suited to it.”

In the long term, he added, “it’s not just about prediction (of outcomes), it’s also about optimization. If our studies lead to better understanding of how these things work, we’ll have a brand new set of algorithms that organizations like Transplant Quebec and others can use to benefit more patients. It’s a game-theory approach: you want to share information enough to satisfy the highest number of people possible.”

In sum, said Lodi, “if you can better predict the future, you can re-order your waiting list in such a way that more people will get what they need.”

Source: UdeMNouvelles

NEWS

MARYSE NÉRON, REGIONAL COORDINATOR, QUEBEC CITY CHAPTER, CELEBRATES 25 YEARS WITH THE FOUNDATION! Maryse Néron joined The Kidney Foundation of Canada twenty-five years ago. Over the years, Maryse has raised a great deal of money for the Foundation. She developed the Door-to-Door Campaign back when the Foundation was still raising funds by selling peanuts.

Today, she coordinates the campaign for the entire province.

She has created and supported solid volunteer committees for launching and developing the Kidney Walk events in Quebec City, Portneuf, Saint-Georges de Beauce and Rimouski, as well as the Quebec City Chapter Golf Tournament. Today, she coordinates development for Central and Eastern Quebec in collaboration with her colleagues

Isabelle Langevin (in Quebec City) and Nathalie Saulnier (in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean).

And Maryse does more than raise funds to support the Foundation’s mission. Together with her colleagues, she supports volunteers from the Quebec City, Mauricie–Centredu-Québec and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean chapters to deliver patient services and raise public awareness about kidney disease prevention and organ donation.

Maryse’s contribution to The Kidney Foundation of Canada is invaluable. Her colleagues and volunteers at the Foundation would like to thank her for her unwavering loyalty to them and to the kidney disease cause.

Happy 25 th anniversary with the Foundation, Maryse!

PUT ALL THE ODDS IN YOUR CORNER AND GET THE PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINE! You live healthily and keep your illness in check. But did you know that it can leave you more susceptible to other infections, such as serious pneumococcal infections? If you suffer from kidney disease, you really should get a pneumococcal vaccine!

Pneumococcus is a bacterium that can attack your respiratory system. Serious pneumococcal infections affect tens of thousands of Quebecers each year. These infections are responsible for thousands of hospitalizations and many deaths, especially among the elderly and people like you, who live with a chronic illness.

The infections can cause serious complications, such as meningitis (brain infection), pneumonia (lung infection) or bacteremia (blood infection). Some pneumococcal infections can cause permanent health effects, such as deafness and brain damage.

Vaccination is the surest means to put all the odds in your favour and to protect you against pneumococcal infections!

Ask your CLSC, doctor or pharmacist for more information, or visit: http://www.sante.gouv.qc.ca/en/problemes-de-sante/infectionsa-pneumocoque/ The pneumococcal vaccine: your best protection!

In Quebec, the vaccine is provided free of charge to anyone aged 2 and up who has a chronic illness, as well as to people 65 or over. If you meet any of these criteria, you can have yourself vaccinated any time of year.

A message from Quebec’s Health Department (MSSS) as part of the campaign to promote the pneumococcal and influenza vaccination.

The Kidney Community Newsletter FALL 2017

| 11 |

2017

THE QUEBEC BRANCH OF THE KIDNEY FOUNDATION OF CANADA 2300 René-Lévesque Blvd West Montreal, Quebec H3H 2R5 Phone: (514) 938-4515 • 1 800 565-4515 Fax: (514) 938-4757 • infoquebec@kidney.ca www.kidney.ca/quebec

HOW TO HELP I WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE THE NEWSLETTER

 Print version

 Digital version

 I would like to receive information about volunteering with The Kidney Foundation of Canada, Quebec Branch  I would like to make a donation Full name Address City

Postal Code

E-mail address Phone

 work

 home

 mobile

DONATION FORM I WOULD LIKE TO DONATE TO THE KIDNEY FOUNDATION OF CANADA Please find enclosed my donation for:  $20

 $35

 $50

 $100

 Other amount

TOTAL CONTRIBUTION =  Cheque made out to The Kidney Foundation of Canada.  Visa

 MasterCard

Credit card number

Expiry

Signature

Date

An official receipt for tax purposes will be issued for all donations of $20 or more.  I would like to receive my tax receipt by email – I therefore understand that I will not get one by mail.  Please remove my name from your mailing lists.

We will use the information contained in this form to send you news about kidney health and advances in research, to keep you informed about the social issues surrounding patient care, and notify you of our various outreach initiatives and fundraising activities.

If you would prefer not to be contacted regarding any of the above, please call us toll-free at 1-877-361-4947.

Please allow thirty (30) business days for your changes to be processed.