Two Brave Women United Against a Silent Killer: Chronic Kidney Disease

The Arizona Kidney Foundation, now known as the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona, – and the entire community – is preparing to say ‘thank you and we will miss you’ to two of our state’s most beloved humanitarians. Between these two dynamic women, Mary Ann Messina, Administrative Director of the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona and Ruthann Elms, Patient Services Coordinator, lies a legacy of over 54 years of dedicated service committed to the prevention of kidney disease through awareness, education and research and to improving the quality of life for Arizonans coping with kidney disease.

 “I’m 80 and it’s time to move on,” smiles a very spry Messina, who current CEO Jeffrey Neff calls “The Oracle.”  At the end of June, Messina will move on to the next chapter in her life after 43 years with the Arizona Kidney Foundation. In 1967, Messina was working in the Kidney Center at Good Samaritan Hospital with James A. May, who was the first Executive Director of the Arizona Kidney Foundation. She soon became AKF’s first executive secretary and  has gone on to serve every executive director since, including Carol Bidstrup Bombeck, the late Ann Goss, Glenna Shapiro and today she provides her wise counsel to the newest CEO, Jeffrey Neff.

Today her duties still include everything from keeping board members informed to human resources, helping with audits, and problem solving. She explains that one of the biggest differences in her job responsibilities today is that she no longer has the opportunity to personally interact with patients as in years past. She closes her eyes and remembers 40 years ago and patients like 17 year old Michael “who was so frightened on his first day of dialysis that he kept the pillow over his head during the entire eight hour treatment.”

  She sadly remembers another young teen patient who lost her mother to cancer while she herself was striving to cope with kidney dialysis and transplants.  “It was especially sad to see the young kids trying so hard to deal with this illness instead of being out there enjoying life with their peers.  It certainly forces you to appreciate your own blessings and to do whatever you can to bring some cheer and hope into their lives, even for a day”. Messina is quick to praise the doctors for their compassionate care of these patients, especially Dr. Mel Cohen one of the founding doctors of Phoenix Children’s Hospital and currently the Director of Medical Education, and the late Dr. Dan Potter, who served as the first Medical Director of the Good Sam Kidney Center.

Messina believes that the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona has always ‘been there’ during times of crisis for Arizonans and she hopes that the community will continue to support the foundations good works after her days of service are over. “The foundation helps these families in so many ways – providing funds for medication, shelter, transportation, scholarships, dental work and nutritional supplements to the people of Arizona who are suffering with Chronic Kidney Disease. Many of these families would not be able to survive without the foundation’s intervention”, adds Messina.

“The Oracle’s” easy going attitude and calm demeanor belies a toughness and confidence gained from a woman who provided hope and a brighter tomorrow even during her own times of crisis. During her tenure, Messina also managed to raise not only he two children but also her two grandchildren. “I’m from a generation where you just do what you have to do.  It’s been a tremendous challenge – but it’s also been an incredible joy.”

Ruthann Elms, perhaps better than anyone else, intimately knows the population of kidney disease sufferers she has served since 1999: she has Polycystic Kidney Disease. On Tuesday, May 11, she received her fourth kidney transplant in the roller coaster ride of a life battling kidney disease for the past 26 years. “Life has been pretty good to me,” effuses Elms. “I want to see my three grandkids graduate from college and get married.”

Born in Illinois and still married after 49 years to her beloved George, Elms also knows the power of persistence and following your dreams. After a combined liver/kidney transplant in 1997, Elms learned about the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona’s Peter and Bruce Bidstrup Memorial Scholarship Fund. With help from this wonderful fund, Elms was able to obtain her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Arizona State University.

This generosity came full circle in 1999 as Elms became the Patient Services Coordinator for the foundation where she has administered the scholarship fund that so profoundly impacted her life. The mission of the scholarship fund is to assist Arizona’s kidney dialysis patients and transplant recipients to achieve personal, academic and employment goals through guidance and academic financial support.

“This program has meant the world to me,” declares Elms. “It opened the world of ASU to me, and in turn, my association with the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona. It’s been very gratifying to help people from all walks of life – nurses, computer programmers, welders, you name it – achieve their dreams.”

The Peter and Bruce Bidstrup Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 1984 by Carol G. Bidstrup Bombeck in honor of her two sons who did not survive kidney disease. It was one of the first programs in the nation to directly assist dialysis and transplant patients in pursuing their dreams of academic achievement.

“There will always be a piece of me here,” notes Elms. “I’ve served our community, but the community should also know that the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona stood behind me every step of the way. I went to school on scholarship and they’ve allowed me to work with benefits even during my continuing health problems. I’ve been on a waiting list for a new kidney for the last three years and on dialysis, but they’ve never wavered in their support – standing by me, every step of the way.”

            Elms played a critical role in the organization and establishment of the nationally known free kidney health screening program, Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP), in Arizona.  She became certified in the program at the outset and with the help of medical personnel and other volunteers launched the first screenings in 2002. Since then, Elms has managed the program and close to 2000 Arizonans have been identified as having Chronic Kidney Disease.  For these people, the opportunity to see their doctor at the onset of the disease has made a crucial difference.

Elms is proud to note that through the advances in technology and nutrition that she has helped to foster, the dialysis process is 100% better than it was when she first experienced the process in 1986. Her son, Georgie, has unfortunately inherited PKD, but through new medicine designed to keep a patient’s blood pressure down, her son has been told that he will probably never see dialysis or need a transplant. “I tell him, look at me, I’m not young, and I haven’t died yet,” laughs Elms.

As for the next chapters, nothing is certain, but Messina says that she would like to travel – beginning this summer with a road trip back to her native Pennsylvania.  She will also volunteer her help at a shelter for homeless children. She also enjoys reading and gardening.   Elms envisions buying a camper and a fishing pole and meandering with her husband and grandsons – and one day, she may become a docent at the Phoenix Art Museum. What is certain is that Arizona is a much better place to live with the legacy of caring that these two outstanding women, Mary Ann Messina and Ruthann Elms, have created.

Elms and Messina want to remind the community that the many programs and initiatives of the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona bring help, care and education to thousands of dialysis patients and transplant recipients, provide community education about kidney health and the prevention of chronic kidney disease and encourage support of organ donation. “When you volunteer your time, participate in an event or make a donation, you are making a valuable investment in your community,” adds Messina. Please support generously today by calling (602) 840-1644 or visiting www.azkidney.org.

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