Want to help me? It’s all about information: for you and potential donors. One of the best places to start is the transplant area of Massachusetts General Hospital’s excellent website. There you will find a lot of education. I have several articles and links published in the submenu under this menu category. These will give you a quick, easy-to-read background on the subject so you can understand the ins and outs of kidney transplant and how it is very safe for the donor and a pretty awesome thing to do for someone if life! A couple of other sites that are helpful are: The National Kidney Foundation and The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) So, happy reading and learning! Here are some education links from the submenu:
…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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …