I need a kidney...

My previous post pretty much brings up to date as to 'what's happening'! Medically, I still have chest and cough problems. My HB is still low but being treated slowly with injections. My BP is still highish but responding to increased medication. My insomnia seems to be better controlled with new sleeping drugs and my dialysis still happens uneventfully four times a day. Energy levels will not excite the Duracell bunny but I have started taking walks with Lee in the evenings, and sometimes I even mow the lawn! My new doctor diagnosed early signs of hypertensive heart disease, a side-effect of twelve years of renal failure and erratic blood pressure. Yay, I needed that!

There is one quick-fix to most of this...a transplant. The spare parts department within the family no longer has viable stock. I have to go out there now, to my community of friends, and harvest an organ from one of them. I have dreaded all along that I may have to do this, but it has now become unavoidable and necessary. Many of you would have received an email from me. Here is a copy for those that did not:

Greetings All

This is an email I had hoped to avoid. While I may be the one typing the words, they come from Lee, Jason, Greg and Kate too. I have to let the world know that I need a kidney…there is no real way to ask, other than to make my need known. Very recent consults with new specialists have confirmed that my sister Leanne is not a suitable donor. To keep it short, I have developed a specific immunity to Jo’s tissue type, and well with Leanne being an identical twin…you get the idea. They have all advised seeking an alternate donor.

Two things first: Sorry, you may get this email twice as I send it both from my home and my work email. Secondly, by receiving this email, you are not specifically being asked for your kidney. I simply wish my need to be known and spread as wide as possible, so I am including just about every person I know!

Offering a kidney, as well as accepting that offer, is no light-hearted matter and I for one appreciate the gesture more than words can express. If I may though, I would like to leave the emotional aspect out of this email to deal with the solid facts and clinical requirements for now. There are many of you out there who at some time or another offered me a kidney; you just needed to know what, where and how? If you are indeed still keen to help and wish to be considered a ‘candidate’ then this is what you start off doing please:

Go to your local lab and ask for a blood-group type test. If you can’t remember the technical terms, just tell them you need to know if you are A, B or O etc. You must get a printed report of the result.
You will need to get that lab report to me or my doctor as he requires it in writing by law.
My doctor will then select candidates for the next phase of testing, based on these bloods – I do not choose.
The next phase will be a tissue-matching test, which is also just a blood sample at the lab, nothing more.
Again, my doctor will select the best candidate from these results and proceed with donor “work-up”.
“Work-up” is just a series of tests to check out the health and compatibility of the donor. I assure you once again (and Lee will testify) there is nothing more than a few blood tests, scans, X-rays and needles – nothing sore, invasive or unpleasant.
Yes there are medical incentives for me to hurry along with this process, but there is certainly time and room to accommodate any events, job-demands etc that a donor may have. We will plan to fit in.

I don’t think at this point I need to get into the nitty-gritty of the procedure. Once we are down to a shortlist (if there is even a list!) then we can discuss the details and need-to-knows.

This mail may seem so matter-of-fact, so superfluous, so without feeling….but it’s not. Society dictates that we get embarrassed just asking a mate to lend you a new CD. How do you ask for a kidney??? Please read the tone of this email as ‘letting you know my need’ as apposed to ‘asking you personally’. That way I may be forgiven the little emotion given to the magnitude of my request!

God Bless,

Terry.