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Join us in the fight against kidney disease today and explore various dialysis options while becoming a kidney advocate. Together, we can provide essential kidney patient support and promote the importance of living kidney donation.
Date: February 6, 2026 By: Patrick Colson, Founder & President
Just over a year ago, my life changed forever when I began dialysis. I didn’t know then that this journey would lead to the birth of Nephro Warriors. Today, I want to pull back the curtain and share the massive progress we’ve made over the last 12 months as we transition from a grassroots idea to a fully-realized advocacy force.
I have spent this past year as a "student of the system." I am currently navigating the rigorous transplant evaluation processes at both UCI Health and UCSD Health. I am proud to share that I have officially received Clinical Clearance from the UCI Kidney Transplant Committee—a major milestone that proves our "Warrior" approach to health discipline works.
While I am testing the waters at the transplant centers, I have been building a powerhouse of medical intelligence behind the scenes. We have secured formal support and guidance from a network of specialists primarily within the Hoag Hospital System, as well as experts from MemorialCare.
This means our programs aren't just based on my experience; they are vetted by the best nephrologists, cardiologists, and vascular surgeons in Southern California. We have the "boots on the ground" experience at the hospitals and the "high-level intelligence" from the clinics.
In this first year, we didn’t just talk—we researched. We’ve used this time to finalize the frameworks for our two flagship initiatives:
We are currently in the process of securing Model A Fiscal Sponsorship through organizations like OneOC. This will give us the institutional backbone (501c3 status, legal oversight, and professional accounting) to take our mission national.
We are also in the "Coalition Building" phase, reaching out to established leaders like the Enlisted Kidney Foundation to ensure we are working as a unified force for our veterans.
I’ve only been on this road for a year, but I’ve spent every hour of that year reaching out, gathering feedback from nurses, social workers, and technicians, and refining our strategy. We are grassroots, we are hungry, and most importantly, we are ready.
Thank you for standing with us. The mission continues.
— Patrick Colson
The purpose of Nephro Warriors is to help raise awareness about the widespread issue of kidney disease and to educate people on the importance of living kidney donation. By acting as a kidney advocate, we aim to provide valuable kidney patient support and inform individuals about various dialysis options available to those in need.
Nephro Warriors was born from a profound personal experience related to kidney disease. My Father passed away in October of 2018 from Kidney Failure, and In October 2024, I was diagnosed with ESRD (end stage renal disease) after a visit to my optometrist due to negative changes in my eyesight. During the appointment, my optometrist compassionately urged me to go to the emergency room after discovering my blood pressure was sky-high and there was severe hemorrhaging in the back of my eyes. Three years prior, I had a heart attack and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, due to inadequate care from overwhelmed HMO doctors, I fell through the cracks, leading to a failure to monitor my kidney function properly. This lack of timely follow-ups resulted in my condition going undiagnosed and untreated for far too long. I began dialysis just three days after being admitted to the hospital from the ER. After being discharged for “In-Center” dialysis, I was informed that peritoneal dialysis was my best option. The details of this process were not thoroughly explained, and I lacked the knowledge to ask the right questions. It wasn’t until after my first surgery to insert a PD catheter that one of my doctors expressed concerns about how the PD process might impact my diabetes treatment. It was only then that I learned about other dialysis options within the home dialysis modality. Now, I do Home Hemo Dialysis five days a week, thanks to the guidance of an incredible technician who has become a personal friend. This training provided my wife and me with a better understanding of the dialysis process and the implications of being a kidney patient. Without this crucial step, I would still be undergoing in-center dialysis, simply following what I was told without awareness of the alternatives. Until that time, I had spent 20 years in the construction industry as a heavy equipment operator, a job I loved that presented daily challenges. Suddenly, I faced a new challenge—not just to survive my condition but to thrive and overcome it with the same grit that had propelled me for two decades to build roads, freeways, and infrastructure with pride. I truly believe that my past experiences and my commitment to excellence will help create an organization that can work alongside various groups, serving as a kidney advocate to expand awareness of kidney disease.
Our core values will focus on:
● Compassion—for patients, caregivers, and their loved ones
● Courage—to empower patients to make informed decisions about their treatment
● Integrity—committing to not publish unverified information
● Collaboration—with other organizations to educate and inform
● Boldness—to raise awareness and combat kidney disease
● Encouragement—promoting living kidney donation and participation in donor programs.
Nephro Warriors is not just focused on immediate concerns; we also have an eye on the future. We hope our call to action will lead to the development of a foundation that can expand current programs for those undergoing dialysis and those blessed with the gift of kidney transplants. Additionally, we aim to grow into charity work, facilitating donations to research and development programs aimed at innovating new treatments for kidney disease. Ultimately, we are driven to make a difference. We want to create a space that is respectful, encouraging, and informative. I have surrounded myself with a fantastic care team of doctors, nurses, and techs with whom I collaborate to access the best possible information. I hope we can establish a community of change-makers. Please join us on this journey.
We aim to provide a forum that focuses on advocacy for kidney disease patients and highlights the extreme need for living kidney donation. Our goal is to dispel common misconceptions about dialysis options, including its different modalities and methods, as well as the lifestyle considerations that kidney patients, care partners, and loved ones must navigate to make informed decisions regarding their care. Additionally, we plan to offer a supportive space for individuals to connect, exchange information, and share experiences in a caring and non-judgmental environment centered on positivity, support, and community action for the benefit of all. We believe there is a troubling lack of attention given to kidney disease, despite the fact that an estimated 35 million people suffer from some form of the disease—almost 1 in 7 adults. In light of these staggering numbers, we seek to increase awareness and foster more support for research and development of treatments, and ultimately, a cure.
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Battle Ready. Life Strong.
This is where you will find dates and locations for appearances, pictures and videos as well as links to interviews and podcasts that Nephro Warriors appears on.
Nephro Warriors did a profile segment for the Enlisted Kidney Foundation. Final production is nearing completion as we have been told and the link will be posted here once it is live.
Compensatory hypertrophy is the enlargement and increased function of the remaining kidney after a kidney donation. This process is a natural adaptation that occurs when one kidney is removed, allowing the remaining kidney to compensate for the loss and maintain overall kidney function. In healthy kidney donors, this compensatory growth is typically observed.
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