ANNOUNCEMENT: I Need a New Kidney!!
How do you ask someone for a kidney? This is the most difficult posting that I have ever done. It seems that living with kidney disease for the last 30 years would have prepared me for this, but it hasn’t.I need a new kidney! There I did it. I said it. I feel like an alcoholic at their first AA meeting.
Sorry if I have been pre-occupied in some of my communication over the last few months, but the realization of this need has been in the back of my mind for some time. I have avoided most discussion, mainly because I wanted to get some things straight before I became public about this.
I was more than taken aback when I visited my doctor in Hong Kong the first time about a year ago, and he bluntly said, “Where are you on a waiting list for a new kidney?” I didn’t know whether to faint or if it was just his dry British humor. He wasn’t kidding.
Many of you know that I have had high blood pressure for many years, a side-effect of kidney disease. It is polycystic kidney disease, or PKD. As long as I have controlled my blood pressure, all has been fine, and I guess I’ve done pretty well considering how many years that have passed. But now, time has caught up with me.
Currently, my kidney function is below 15%. I don’t even notice anything unusual. And actually the fact that I also have another odd, rare disease (my good friend Roger always kidded me that “If I was a horse with all these illnesses, they would just shoot me!”), has balanced my symptoms. Most kidney patients would be anemic by now with my low-efficiency, but my hemachromatosis is offsetting that condition by creating extra amounts of iron.
Did you know that there are over 66,000 folks like me that need a new kidney in the US right now? It is the most common transplant performed, even though there have only been a few more than 4,000 preformed to date in 2006. The best situation for me is to get a new kidney from a living adult. A person with two healthy kidneys can continue to live effectively with only one. Both of mine are bad by the way. I just need one new one.
Some of my family members have offered a kidney. I am working with the University of Colorado Transplant Center in Denver, Colorado to be added to the US kidney waiting list. Only after listing, may donors, such as those interested family members, come forward to be matched. Hopefully, that will suffice and I will get a transplant within the next year.
Otherwise, I may come begging. Right now, I am asking that you seriously consider being a donor. Please sign up to be a prospective donor following the best method in your state. But be sure to discuss it with your family! They must consent, so they need to know your desires. Go to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) website, www.unos.org, or www.donatelife.net for more information. Be sure to check on ways in which you can Share a Life!
In the meantime, your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.
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posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 1:47 PM
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