Rena Dee is no ordinary girl. In fact, she is a 16-inch muslin doll who on her first tour traveled to more than 10 different pediatric dialysis/transplant units, including hospitals in England, Virginia, New York, Indiana, California, Missouri, and Texas. She has now visited four continents. Today she has served as not only as an abassador for children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) but also spurred Hope™, a sister abassador doll for children facing HIV/AIDS. Rena Dee was created in response to pediatric nephrology nurses supplications for a unique support group approach for ESRD patients. Some programs were so small that a school-age child may never meet a like child facing the same disease. And so Rena Dee was born, with the children painting her body and drawing on her face and hair. She provides an opportunity for children on dialysis to share secrets, tips and strategies to cope with ESRD. Each host hospital stamps her passport and offers their patients the chance to add their own personal touch to the diary. Rena Dee represents wellness and preventative rehabilitation. She teaches kids that it is important to keep in touch with friends. She shows that it's okay to be different, for this doll has all green features. We couldn't have planned it better, but children had that insight. In October, Rena Dee accompanied a NASA mission specialist, his son a liver transplant recipient, on the space shuttle Atlantis's mission to the international space station.
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