Schwartz Writing & Communications

06/14/2024

There once was a nephrologist (kidney doctor) who saw such a dire need for more living kidney donors that she decided to donate her kidney to someone she never met. Every day she cared for her patients and watched as many of them got sicker despite treatment for chronic kidney disease. Some needed kidney transplants to survive.

So, she gave one of her healthy kidneys to a stranger, knowing that living kidney donors can live long, healthy lives with just one kidney. She knew that her one healthy kidney would take over the function of two kidneys in little time. She was back to work in 2 weeks and her altruistic kidney donation saved someone's life.

According to the American Kidney Fund, there are close to 100,000 people in the U.S. waiting for a kidney transplant, but in 2023, only 27,332 received one. Just 6,290 transplants were from living donors, which provides better outcomes and lowers the risk of rejection.

I had the good fortune to interview Dr. Anna Gaddy and share her inspiring story in the May issue of Kidney News magazine. We're all walking around with a spare - Dr. Gaddy is inspiring more people to "share the spare."

Read Dr. Gaddy's story here: https://www.schwartzwriting.com/portfolio/kidneynews-walking-the-walk.

I hope it inspires someone to consider living kidney donation for a loved one - or someone they have never met.

To learn about living kidney donation, The Johns Hopkins Transplant Center has loads of great information: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/transplant/programs/kidney/living-donors

04/22/2024

Imagine being a patient with a life-threatening condition that eludes diagnosis.

When I spoke to the patient about his medical journey for the winter issue of Health, MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital's community magazine, it was clear that having a team of expert medical minds to piece the puzzle together saved his life. Together, we can achieve so much more.

I love producing and writing hospital publications and sharing the stories of patients and providers who are dedicated to great care. Check out the issue - https://www.schwartzwriting.com/portfolio/health-winter-2024

MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center - Community MagazineWhen MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center needed a writer for its community magazine, Health, Lisa Schwartz put her vast experience producing hospital publications to work. For this quarterly magazine that reaches thousands of people...

04/15/2024

I'm working on an article series on altruistic living kidney donors.

How appropriate since April is National Donate Life Month.

I get to share the stories of incredible people who donated a kidney to strangers or friends. They understood the enormous need for living kidney donors as the wait for a deceased donor could be five years, or longer, and life on dialysis is difficult for so many reasons. These donors learned they could live a long and healthy life with just one kidney. They gave their recipients a chance at another 15 to 20 (or more) years of life.

These are simply amazing, giving souls.

Meeting these donors gives me hope that a living kidney donor match is in the stars for someone I love dearly.

Anyone can be the hope that so many people with chronic kidney disease and kidney failure need. Organ donation is truly one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

Learn about living donation - it could save someone you know: https://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingdonors/general-information-living-donation

I can't wait to share the stories of these incredible people and help spread the word about the importance of organ donation. Stay tuned…

What is living donation? Living donation takes place when a living person donates an organ (or part of an organ) for transplantation to another person. The living donor can be a family member, such as a parent, child, brother or sister (living related donation). Living donation can also come from so...

04/12/2024

I get to do some meaningful work as a freelance writer.

Take yesterday. I spent the day at the Kaiser Permanente Health Action Summit in Washington DC.

There were so many amazing healthcare leaders taking action and enacting change in public health, policy, healthcare inequities and access in vulnerable populations.

One of the most eye-opening and ambitious efforts is the Food is Medicine movement. It just makes sense - eating healthy, nutritious foods to prevent chronic food diseases like diabetes or heart disease. But with the cost of fresh produce and food at an unaffordable high for so many people in this country, nutritious foods can be unattainable. There are physicians, healthcare leaders, policymakers, and companies like KP who are changing the narrative. Imagine getting a prescription for fruits and veggies instead of pills.

And I for one am looking forward to seeing the change.

04/15/2020

It's great to see there are people delivering smiles during these crazy times.

08/27/2019

A must-see video tour of Charter Radiology, one of the premier imaging centers in Maryland. You'll see what makes Charter exceptional...
Kudos to Focal Point Productions for capturing the essence of Daisy Uppal and this top-notch practice with offices in Columbia and Reisterstown, MD.

Tour of The Charter Radiology Imaging Facilities. Charter Radiology has two imaging centers located in Columbia MD and the second location is in Reistertown MD

03/09/2019

A fun way to end the week- a photo shoot at Chesapeake Urology’s corporate office.

11/29/2018

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