The Golden Child Speaks

November 30, 2018 Leave a comment

As I mentioned on this site earlier, one of my doctors has called me “the Golden Child” for kidney donation. Not your everyday complement, but I will definitely take that designation and wear it proudly.

Basically, what the doc was saying is that my transplant should go extremely well and really have few if any complications or roadblocks (fingers crossed). There are several reasons for this:

1) People with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) as a reason for transplant generally do well because of the nature of their illness. PKD is a genetic illness confined to the kidneys. Otherwise the person is healthy. Once a new kidney is transplanted into a person with PKD (the new kidney will not contract PKD) they are “cured” of the disease and, since there is not other associated disease in their body that  the new …

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The Blood Type Factor

November 24, 2018 Leave a comment

So anyone who has heard a bit about organ transplant probably knows that, in order to be successful, blood type matching is pretty essential. It does lessen the number of kidney matches for each person unfortunately. However, programs like Kidney Swaps and chains have worked around that potential issue. For the purposes of this site, we are talking about me and my kidneys. So what blood type courses through my veins, you generously ask? Well, I am type “A positive” (insert your own type A personality joke here if you must). Blood type “A” can receiver kidneys from other type “A” and Type “O”. Type “O” is actually the “universal donor” which means they can donate to any type. Positive and negative  designations do not matter in kidney donation. Of course, with the advent of “Kidney Paired Donation (“Kidney …

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Lucky in Love

November 23, 2018 Leave a comment

I am one lucky son of a gun!

Sure I am here seeking a kidney donor as the result of a genetic kidney disease, but how lucky to have something that can be tended to by modern medicine.

How lucky I have been too many times to recount.

My good luck hit the stratosphere, though, in love. I was fortunate enough to meet the world’s best guy and get to spend a most of my life with him thus far. Like anyone’s, our story contains happy and sad occurrences, but has ultimately been a joyous event I would not trade for the world. He is the defining element of my life.

But this is not the place for me to wax poetic about my love life. I could go on for weeks about Rob if allowed. Suffice to say I …

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And By the Way, You have PKD

November 21, 2018 Leave a comment

So when people are diagnosed with pretty much anything, the first reaction of most is probably fear. That scale of that fear is generally commensurate with the seriousness of the diagnosis.

When I was diagnosed with PolyCystic Kidney Disease (PKD) it was basically an afterthought. You see, I was 25 years old and visiting my urologist because my right testicle had grown to the size of a medium tropical fruit in a really short time. And while on one hand that was impressive to a 25 year old, it was also probably not great news biologically.

Turns out, after testing, that my urologist told me and my dad that I had testicular cancer and needed to take care of that asap. “And, by the way, you also have Polycystic Kidney disease,” he mentioned.

Those unfortunate enough to have heard a …

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What Cancer Taught Me

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It may be a cliche by now, but it is true that you do learn about life from having cancer.

Trust me; still better to avoid the crap out of it ultimately, but I suppose it is a consolation that at least you can take something positive away if you do happen to meet up with it.

Testicular cancer found me young – 25 years old. Let’s face it – that’s an age where testicles rank pretty high on the body parts list. Hell, for most guys at that age they’re pretty much in charge, so any threat to one of them is a real kick in the balls, shall we say.

And, with the full acknowledgement that everyone is unique and processes life differently, I would say that one of cancer’s largest lessons is that each day is a …

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Like Father, Like Canine Son

November 19, 2018 Leave a comment

 

Miss my old man-baby George!

Most people who know me know the story of George. He was a beagle, a shelter rescue that Rob and I adopted when he was 10 and in a bit of rough shape.

With a little TLC, George experienced quite a revival, you might say. He put on weight and became strong once again, enjoying a couple of lengthy walks a day. Our mailman eventually told us how good George looked and that he wasn’t sure George would last the week when we first brought him home. Some of the neighbors even took to calling him “Second Chance George.”

Unfortunately, after approximately four years as our old man-baby, George developed a brain tumor which eventually took him. When I was at the vet with George during his diagnosis phase, the doctor was giving us …

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The Kidney Swap – A Solution for Non-Compatible Donors

November 17, 2018 Leave a comment

One of the coolest things in life must be when that person steps forward and is interested in giving you a kidney – interested in improving and ultimately saving your very life.

And one of the largest disappointments must be when you find out this person’s kidney is not a match for you. I’m not sure I can imagine the let down.

 

But the idea of the Kidney Paired Donation Program  – or Kidney Swap – has become a time and even life saver for folks who have a willing donor who does not match them. As the name suggests, you simply can register you and your donor with UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing). A transaction is created in which your donor’s non-matched kidney is transplanted into someone who they do match but also has an incompatible …

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The Big Ask – About Living Donation

November 11, 2018 Leave a comment

So what is living donation? Basically kidneys that get donated to folks like me come from one of two places; a person who has just passed away with a healthy kidney or a still-living person who has very generously decided to part with one of their own kidneys to help someone else out.

Some wonder, if you can get a deceased donor kidney, why be in search of one from a living donor? – good question…

According to the National Kidney Foundation, kidney transplants performed from living donors may have several advantages compared to transplants performed from deceased donors:

  1. Some living donor transplants are done between family members who are genetically similar. A better genetic match lessens the risk of rejection.
  2. A kidney from a living donor usually functions immediately, because the kidney is out of the body for
…

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