Cathy Woods is no stranger to standing in front of an audience to share her experience with kidney disease.  

While many struggle to talk so intimately in front of big crowds, Woods thrives on connecting with audience members and drawing them in with her story. “There’s nothing that makes me happier than when I’m speaking and I look up and see people captivated and you can just tell you’re reaching them,” she says.  

Woods is a member of Naicatchewenin First Nation, who was diagnosed with membranous nephropathy when she was 57 years old. Many people diagnosed with the condition progress to kidney failure, but Woods was diagnosed early, received aggressive treatment, and made a full recovery.  

In 2015, she joined Can-SOLVE CKD as the network was being formed, and she has been a dedicated patient partner and advocate for kidney patients ever since. In particular, she has contributed significantly to projects focused on advancing Indigenous cultural competency and early kidney health screening in Indigenous communities.  

Over the years, Woods has given more than a dozen presentations to national and international audiences to share her story and raise awareness about Can-SOLVE CKD. Most recently she attended the American Society of Nephrology meeting in Philadelphia to present a poster on the Indigenous Peoples’ Engagement and Research Council (IPERC).  

Woods is surprised when people tell her she appears calm and collected during a talk – when inside she can, in fact, be very nervous. “For us as kidney patients, in telling these stories, it really does place you in a vulnerable position. And you have to be comfortable with that,” she explains.

Woods says that training and support from Can-SOLVE CKD has been crucial in overcoming nervousness and telling her story effectively. In particular, the Storytelling for Impact course has helped frame her journey for health care providers and policy-makers. From this training, she learned to not always start at the very beginning of her kidney journey, but to pull out key themes that are relevant to the audience and highlight important ways Can-SOLVE CKD is reshaping the kidney research landscape.

Many aspects of being a patient partner are rewarding, Woods says, but the best part has been the connections she has made with other patients and the impact the network has achieved. 

When she looks back on her experience with Can-SOLVE CKD, she knows this was the right path for her.  “This is where I am supposed to be, and this is what I am supposed to be doing,” says Woods. “I’m just really passionate about it.”