Welcome Dialysis_Support members

[DoriSchatell]

Hi y'all,

If you've come here, it means that you have heard the sad news about our Dialysis_Support listserv founder, our fearless leader, and one of my personal heroes, Dale Ester, who passed away yesterday morning.

This is a temporary spot for Dialysis_support members to meet and share, while we figure out next steps. We don't have the password to the old yahoogroups listserv, and may not be able to get it. So, if y'all are up for it, we can start over. Let's talk about what Dale meant to us, what he'd want us to do, what sort of tribute we might do for him, and how we want to move forward with the listserv itself.

I know how much Dale cared about all of you.

[John Mudie]

I am feeling sad and crying as I write this and wondering two things.
1/ What can I do to support the contination of ESRD which benefitted me so much in the past?
2/ What to ask my executors to do with my stash of immuno's when I won't need them anymore?

John

Now, we must all remember what Dale was about and how we can continue his cause and always keep his mission upper most in our minds. No one can replace him but all of us can honor him by continuing his work. We will miss his wise counsel but most of all, we will miss his friendship. We can work together to make his dreams of a better world for dialysis patients a reality.

My deep condolences to his family and especially his wife. Thank you for sharing him with us. We will not forget.

Bob

I've only just started reading ESRD recently, within the past couple of months. Dale made me feel welcome and like it was something I could deal with.

I would definitely like to see Dialysis_Support continue in whatever way we can. If this involves starting a new group, I volunteer to take on at least some of the work of administering such a group. I have the time and the knowledge of internet communities to do a good job of it. But that is a subject for a different topic.

The best tributes to a person's life are often to carry on and expand upon that person's work. I suggest that we all look to doing the same in whatever ways we can. I'll bet Dale would have loved to see groups of citizens in all 50 states carry forward his initiative to get dialysis technician certification legislation in their states, and to get this passed at a federal level; something like a "Dale's Law" would be highly appropriate here. Another suggestion I have is for us to give a financial award or mini-scholarship in Dale's name every year to a young nephrologist or nephrology resident specializing in research or treatment for ESRD. Many dialysis patients don't have much in the way of extra funds, but I'm thinking of a small award, something like $1000 - $2000. We can do this if each of us chips in a dollar or two a year.

I'm pretty much up for whatever the community decides to do, and/or whatever his wife decides would be desired and appropriate. Whatever it is, count me in.

River

[Bill Ford]

Oh no. I am in shock and I too have tears as I type this. What an absolutely first-class human being Dale was !

Compassion was truly Dale's middle name. Dale was a personal "rock" of
support for me. Since I joined the list in 1998, Dale was very, very kind
and supportive to me. We spoke several times on the phone over the years
and exchanged emails as well, sometimes just to check in with one another,
and I always found him friendly, helpful, and funny, too ! He even
forgave an unintentional but serious list sin or two I committed as well.
He was a real friend to me, and we talked of our going Down Under together to stir up some real trouble with Lance Down Under, one of our esteemed list colleagues. )

Dori, I'm more than willing to help in any way that I can in
memorializing Dale's memory. For starters, it is my opinion that in whatever form the ESRD list board continues, his name should be included in the list title. (The Dale Ester Dialysis List Support Group, for example) More should be done in his memory than that, of course.

I am just one of thousands and thousands of people whose lives Dale has touched either personally through his life-extending efforts of handling donated medicines, through his advocacy for legislative change, the Dialysis Support Group, his friendships, and the ways go on and on.

Such an enormous gift of a Dale Ester to Mankind is not likely to pass by us again any time soon. How can I help?
Bill Ford

This is a tough one, in a lot of ways the worst one yet. I can't find the words.

I am glad he went in a very peaceful way after a day of living his life the way he wanted. Still this is tough. We've lost so many members over the years; as hard as that is I've always felt grateful for the opportunity to know these remarkable people. It was through Dale's vision and effort that this happened, thank you Dale. You will be deeply missed.

billp

I am so saddened and shocked to hear of Dale's passing. He truly was an inspiration. I joined this group in 1996 and will miss him. He was a wealth of knowledge.

Connie
'Don't Ever Give Up'

[DoriSchatell]

Hi y'all,

Originally Posted by John Mudie

1/ What can I do to support the contination of ESRD which benefitted me so much in the past?

We'll talk about that for a while and see what makes sense to do. I don't think we want to make any sudden decisions. Let's give folks a while to process.

2/ What to ask my executors to do with my stash of immuno's when I won't need them anymore?

Good question; wish I knew. Dale was part of a nationwide network, but unless those folks somehow identify themselves to us, I'm not sure how we'd find other members of it.

[DoriSchatell]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

If this involves starting a new group, I volunteer to take on at least some of the work of administering such a group. I have the time and the knowledge of internet communities to do a good job of it. But that is a subject for a different topic.

Thanks, River. It's great to know that we have so much Internet savvy and listserv administration talent in our group (this certainly isn't something I can claim), and sharing the load may make it easier.

I'll bet Dale would have loved to see groups of citizens in all 50 states carry forward his initiative to get dialysis technician certification legislation in their states, and to get this passed at a federal level; something like a "Dale's Law" would be highly appropriate here.

I bet you're right about that.

Another suggestion I have is for us to give a financial award or mini-scholarship in Dale's name every year to a young nephrologist or nephrology resident specializing in research or treatment for ESRD. Many dialysis patients don't have much in the way of extra funds, but I'm thinking of a small award, something like $1000 - $2000. We can do this if each of us chips in a dollar or two a year.

Cool idea--keep 'em coming, and thanks for joining our community!

[DoriSchatell]

Originally Posted by Bill Ford

Oh no. I am in shock and I too have tears as I type this. What an absolutely first-class human being Dale was !

I couldn't agree more, and have certainly shed buckets of tears since yesterday. :-( Dale was so passionate about helping others--he would be so thrilled that folks want to continue his efforts. He was a terrific friend to so many of us.

For starters, it is my opinion that in whatever form the ESRD list board continues, his name should be included in the list title. (The Dale Ester Dialysis List Support Group, for example)

Great idea.

Such an enormous gift of a Dale Ester to Mankind is not likely to pass by us again any time soon. How can I help?

For now, stay with us and be part of the conversation about how we'll move forward. It will take us some time, no doubt, to figure things out with YahooGroups, listserv administration, etc.