Reporting Meeting of January 28, 2008

(For Distribution February 4)

● Chris Nyhan presided over the meeting and called upon Sandy Kominoski who introduced her husband Craig, her boss Barbara Peck and the guest speaker Carol LaFleur of the Northeast NY Affiliate of the National Kidney Foundation

● Chris welcomed soon to be members Mike Brewster and John Fantauzzi.

● Visiting Rotarian John Weldon of the Glenville Rotary made an announcement for their upcoming Spaghetti Dinner and offered tickets for sale after the meeting.

● Laura Linder announced an event to remember the Historic Stockade Massacre to be held at 7:30 PM on Friday February 8 (the anniversary of the massacre) at the First Reformed Church in the Stockade. All are invited.

● Gini Whetten spoke of the annual Dinner (Partners Night) on Tuesday March 11. This wonderful evening of fun, fellowship and great food will be held at the Van Curler Room of the SCCC School of Culinary Arts. . The festivities begin at 6:00PM and you are welcome to bring your own wine which will be exquisitely served by the student wait-staff.

Carol LaFleur gave an excellent Power Point presentation on kidney disease and the work that the Northeast NY Affiliate of the National Kidney Foundation does to help families affected by the disease.

Some alarming statistics: 1 person in 9 have some stage of kidney disease and another 1 in 9 are at risk for it. In the USA there are 4100 new cases of diabetes (the leading cause of Kidney disease) per day. Of 8800 people waiting for organ transplant in our region, 5500 are waiting for kidneys. Dialyses cost $65,000 per patient year and are a major expense in our medical system. Kidney disease leads to major costs in lost productivity and disruption of family life.

Kidney disease is a silent killer because by the time most people detect symptoms irreversible damage to the kidneys has already occurred. The symptoms, fatigue, frequent urination, leg swelling and facial puffiness, disturbed sleep, etc are often mistaken for other ailments until the person is in stage three kidney failure.

Fortunately there is a screening test for kidney disease based on blood and urine testing. This is often a feature of the annual physical exam for those in the regular care of a doctor. If you are in that category you should ask your doctor that the results include a “GFR” report that indicates the filtering rate used to detect end stage kidney disease. For those not in the regular care of a physician, the National Kidney Foundation of Northeastern NY offers free screening clinics. The next one is February 16 in Concourse Meeting Room 6, Empire State Plaza from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. (During the Q&A period there was some discussion of BH-BL Rotary sponsoring a screening clinic in our area.)

It was interesting to note that the Founder of the Northeast NY Affiliate was the owner of Huck Finn’s Warehouse who donated a kidney to his daughter who, 30 years later, received another kidney from her daughter.

Reported by Garry Morrow