Please Help Me Find a Kidney Donor
I Want to Be a Really Old Lady
My grandmother lived to be 96. My parents are alive at 88 and 92. But at 66, I find myself in Stage 5 kidney failure, facing dialysis and the limitations that it brings to the length and quality of my life.
I need your help.
My Kidneys Are Failing & I Need Your Help
I find myself in Stage 5 kidney failure, facing dialysis and the limitations that it brings to the length and quality of my life.
My grandmother lived to be 96. My parents are alive at 88 and 92. But at 66, I find myself in Stage 5 kidney failure, facing dialysis and the limitations that it brings to the length and quality of my life.
Apparently caused by an unidentified period of hypertension, my physician alerted me to diminishing kidney function 7 years ago. She was hopeful that my kidneys might stabilize at a decreased, but adequate level.
As a mother of two sons, and step-mother of one more, I have looked forward to watching their lives and families develop. A family and a career left me little opportunity for other interests, and I, indeed, looked forward to retirement as the opportunity that time would offer to “become who you really are”.
There Is Hope
A Kidney Donation Offers A Renewed Lease On Life
Dialysis and transplant (from a living or a deceased donor) are the only treatments for kidney failure. A normal kidney processes body fluid and waste around the clock. Dialysis replaces only 10 – 15% of a failed kidney’s function during a brutal treatment regimen without hope of improving health. Kidney transplant, particularly from a living donor, may replace as much as 85% of normal kidney function and support as much as 15 – 20 years of active life. (Source)
When transplanted, live donor kidneys function on average much longer than deceased donor kidneys. Deceased donor kidneys require a waiting time measured in years during which dialysis takes a hard toll on the body and limits activities.
Those within my family have a genetic risk for kidney disease. My aunt, my cousin and myself have each required transplants. My husband, too, has been evaluated as unable to safely donate.
Each of us are born with a second kidney which, when healthy, we can safely share with a short hospitalization and recovery. But how do I ask a stranger for one of their vital organs? How do I find a stranger willing to provide an astonishingly generous gift of health, energy, and life that can never be repaid?
Contact Debra by email: kidney4debra@gmail.com
APPLY TO BE DEBRA’S DONOR
Do you wish to find out if you can be a kidney donor?
(Identify Your Recipient as Debra Starr-Knecht. You’ll need to contact Debra by email for her date of birth.)
Donor Information
I would want a potential kidney donor to know that their remaining kidney grows to compensate for the kidney that they may share. My blood type is AB+ which accepts all other blood types. Kidney exchange programs exist to compensate for other aspects of donor matching. The recipient’s health insurance covers the kidney donor’s testing and surgery.
Donor surgery is usually completed laparoscopically. This avoids both a significant scar and an extended hospital stay. For example, at UCLA, 80% of kidney donors are discharged the day following surgery. The donor’s return to work depends on how physically strenuous their work may be.
Should I receive a transplant, I would like to use my healthcare knowledge and renewed energy to support other patients living with and overcoming kidney disease. Unlike cancer, there is little community support for individuals in facing the silent but certain outcomes of poorer kidney function.
Please Share This Message
Your help could be exactly what is needed to find the right donor. It could be someone at your work, in your church, your acquaintances or neighbors. Any contact is valuable – talk to others and share this message on social media.