My boyfriend Scott was born with Polycystic Kidney Disease, a disease passed through familes. Now, his kidneys have shutdown and he is in need of a kidney donation.
Description
Scott was born with Polycystic Kidney disease. His father had polycystic kidney disease and received a donor kidney that lasted over 20 years until his death (from a non-kidney related ailment) last year. Over the past 40 years, Scott's kidneys have slowly developed cysts and are now to the point where he is in kidney failure. In November, he had surgery to put a tube in his abdomen and began p...eritoneal dialysis. Every night, he must be hooked up to a machine for 9 to 10 hours to perform the task his kidneys cannot. In addition, he suffers from high blood pressure due to the kidney failure, causing severe daily headaches even with the use of medication. He is also suffering from anemia and is losing bone mass every day he is on dialysis. Basically, he needs a kidney yesterday.
Scott is currently on the deceased donor list, but the average wait time in Oregon is a little over two years. A deceased donor kidney has a much higher rate of rejection and does not last as long as a living donor kidney. Although the disease is only passed from a polycystic parent 50% of the time, his sister was also born with the disease and is not able to donate a kidney. Due to health reasons, I am also unable to donate.
Scott is a very active person, and enjoys camping, fishing, hiking, hunting and anything in the outdoors. His lifestyle has had to be adjusted due to the dialysis. Scott is also an amazing person, who certainly didn’t deserve any of this. He has a seven year old daughter that lives in Medford, Oregon, that he visits as often as possible. He is also a wonderful, caring person. I recently suffered a pulmonary embolism and am currently in the middle of a long recovery. Scott works all day as a vascular technician at Bend Memorial Clinic, and then comes home to cook dinner, walk our wonderful dog, Cooper, clean the house, and help take care of me even though he is tired and doesn’t feel well from the dialysis. All this before hooking up to his dialysis machine for the night.
If you have ever considered being a living donor, please look at what is involved - for Scott or for anyone in need of a kidney. Scott needs a blood type A or O donor. It does not matter if you are positive or negative – only blood type. In addition, there is a "matching service" that can swap kidneys of two donors that do not have blood types that match their recipients. The kidney donor process is not “sawing you in half” like it used to be. In a healthy person without prior abdominal surgery, it is generally a laparoscopic procedure. The following contains great information regarding what to expect when you donate a kidney. http://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingDonors/infoQA.cfm
Scott's insurance covers all donation medical costs. He is in the transplant program at OHSU - this where the surgery will take place.
Being a living donor is a rewarding experience for many healthy people. The life you change is one of a person someone loves very much. I hate seeing Scott suffer every day. Receiving a kidney for Scott would be the greatest gift I can imagine, and would change our lives forever!
Please contact us if you are interested in being tested as a match for Scott. We will contact OHSU and provide your name to the transport coordinator and then you will be able to call her to get more details and to start the process.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Scott's story!
Scott is currently on the deceased donor list, but the average wait time in Oregon is a little over two years. A deceased donor kidney has a much higher rate of rejection and does not last as long as a living donor kidney. Although the disease is only passed from a polycystic parent 50% of the time, his sister was also born with the disease and is not able to donate a kidney. Due to health reasons, I am also unable to donate.
Scott is a very active person, and enjoys camping, fishing, hiking, hunting and anything in the outdoors. His lifestyle has had to be adjusted due to the dialysis. Scott is also an amazing person, who certainly didn’t deserve any of this. He has a seven year old daughter that lives in Medford, Oregon, that he visits as often as possible. He is also a wonderful, caring person. I recently suffered a pulmonary embolism and am currently in the middle of a long recovery. Scott works all day as a vascular technician at Bend Memorial Clinic, and then comes home to cook dinner, walk our wonderful dog, Cooper, clean the house, and help take care of me even though he is tired and doesn’t feel well from the dialysis. All this before hooking up to his dialysis machine for the night.
If you have ever considered being a living donor, please look at what is involved - for Scott or for anyone in need of a kidney. Scott needs a blood type A or O donor. It does not matter if you are positive or negative – only blood type. In addition, there is a "matching service" that can swap kidneys of two donors that do not have blood types that match their recipients. The kidney donor process is not “sawing you in half” like it used to be. In a healthy person without prior abdominal surgery, it is generally a laparoscopic procedure. The following contains great information regarding what to expect when you donate a kidney. http://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingDonors/infoQA.cfm
Scott's insurance covers all donation medical costs. He is in the transplant program at OHSU - this where the surgery will take place.
Being a living donor is a rewarding experience for many healthy people. The life you change is one of a person someone loves very much. I hate seeing Scott suffer every day. Receiving a kidney for Scott would be the greatest gift I can imagine, and would change our lives forever!
Please contact us if you are interested in being tested as a match for Scott. We will contact OHSU and provide your name to the transport coordinator and then you will be able to call her to get more details and to start the process.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Scott's story!
UPDATE: We have a donor! Surgery is scheduled for 7/26! We are counting down the days! I am not sure if our donor wants to remain anonymous or not? So if you (most special awesome person in the world) don't want to be anonymous let me know. Otherwise I will keep it on the downlow. :)
TAGS: kidney for scott, Ning, Live Journal, Tumblr, Weebly, WordPress, Facebook, Kidney Stories, Jim Myers, kidney, dialysis, blood, transfusion, donor, recipient, seeking, awareness, National Kidney Foundation, Indiana University, sharing, kidney disease, End Stage Renal Failure, polycystic kidney disease, chronic kidney disease, kidney for, diabetic, save my life, living kidney donor, organ donation, find a kidney for, NCS, share a spare, transplant list, fundraiser, donate life,
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