Donor Stories

How Patty Is Rocking 1 Kidney … With Other Donors!

I’m writing this blog for World Kidney Day, March 10, 2022, and if all goes well, I’ll be summiting Mount Kilimanjaro to celebrate.

If you’d have told me five years ago I’d be an organ short summiting one of the tallest climbable mountains in the world, I’d have laughed hard and loud. Back then, I still had two kidneys and my usual hiking distance was about 3 miles. I’d been at the same job teaching nursing for 15 years and when anyone asked what was new, the typical response was about my latest vacation. A short five years ago I hadn’t met some of my best friends yet. I’m talking the kind of people you meet and feel like you’ve always known. The ones who lift you up and you can be 100% yourself around. Not to mention I hadn’t met the Dalai Lama yet … but now I’m getting ahead of myself.

Twenty years ago, my sister, Sarah, told me she was donating her kidney to our then stepdad. He’d been on dialysis for a while and was so sick he couldn’t work. His marriage to my mother was terrible and he was miserable. I really couldn’t understand why my sister would give him her kidney. It was beyond brave. Right after he got her kidney, he had his color back, energy, and a new lease on life. For years and much to my sister’s dismay, I loved telling people we hardly knew that my sister donated her kidney. After all, she’s my hero. Not once while telling her story did I consider being a donor.

Fast forward 14 years. My sister and I were out at event in Boulder, Colorado, called Ignite. One of the talks  that night was by a woman named Sue who told the story of how her brother’s life was saved by a stranger who donated a kidney to him. I’d never heard of donating your kidney to a stranger. As soon as I heard it, I was compelled to do it. I’d like to tell you that I was overwhelmed by the thought of saving someone’s life, but it wasn’t like that at all. I just heard it and knew I would do it – that simple.

Wheeling into surgery

Just over a year later I became a non-directed donor (NDD). My kidney went to a stranger who had a donor that didn’t match them. That person paid it forward to someone in the same situation, and that happened again resulting in three people getting kidneys the day I donated. When you donate to a stranger, part of the screening process involves talking to a social worker to make sure you’re okay with never knowing who has your kidney. In an NDD situation, both the donor and the recipient must agree to have contact to meet. In a situation like mine, the recipient had a donor and it’s not uncommon that they will never reach out. At first, I had a slight disappointment never hearing from my recipient, but that feeling was soon forgotten when I started on a trajectory I could not imagine.

The week I donated, I completed a graduate certificate in positive psychology. That’s that study of happiness. In that class we learned about the benefits of habits such as kindness, gratitude, optimism, mindfulness and forgiveness. Those benefits are for the person performing the acts, not for the recipient. Unbeknownst to me, the benefits I would receive from my donation would have a direct impact on my happiness for years to come. It would alter my life. Doors would open, friendships would blossom, opportunities would present themselves, and my life would change in unbelievable ways. For the sake of time, I’ll skip some of those details but a story for another time was when I stayed at a monastery in India to personally meet the Dalai Lama, who thanked me for my donation.

I’ll get to the very best part of the story … the friendships I’ve made.

Even before I donated, I started getting connected to donors. The first donor connection, made by my sister Sarah, was to a male model named Kristian. His story goes like this. He was working out at his college gym and saw someone he recognized (Dwight) come in that he hadn’t seen in a while. The guy looked terrible, and Kristian asked if he was ok. Dwight explained he had gotten sick and was in kidney failure. To be clear, Kristian didn’t know Dwight, he had just seen him around at the gym. Kristian gave Dwight his kidney and then started a nonprofit called Go Save a Life to help others in need find kidneys.

At one of Kristian’s Go Save A Life events

Kristian decided he wanted to do a story about Sarah and me before and after my surgery and he connected us to a man named Chuck. Chuck was a filmmaker volunteering to help Kristian out. We met Chuck for interviews and learned Chuck needed an O+ kidney just like mine, but mine was already spoken for. Chuck was kind, personable and eager to help raise awareness for donation. He came to my kidney’s going away party to film it, and he was at the hospital at 5 a.m. the day I donated to interview us. At my kidney’s farewell, a friend of mine named Toni sensed that Chuck needed something and asked about his story. The next month she stepped forward to start testing to be a donor but, sadly, Chuck died a few weeks later. I was surprised how hard we all took the death of this man we hardly knew. Prior to this, my sister didn’t really tell many people she was a donor. After Chuck’s death, advocacy took on a whole new meaning and we learned quickly that telling our stories was going to help people step forward to be donors. One of the first ways I did this was to give my own 5-minute Ignite talk about my donation: https://youtu.be/4XsBKoIWoiQ

In the next few months, I started connecting with other donors and talking to people interested in donation. One of those donors was a Wisconsinite ultrarunner named Tracey Hulick. Tracey was moving to Denver and coming out for a visit to find a place to live. Like me, Tracey is a non-directed donor who heard about donation and decided she was going to donate. A big difference in our stories is that Tracey was in 7th grade when she heard about donation and thought about doing it – which still blows my mind. Before we even talked on the phone, I invited Tracey to stay with me while she was in town and the rest is history! We became fast friends with so much in common having nothing to do with kidney donation. Until I met Tracey, I could count on one hand how many times I’ve met someone I’ve instantly clicked with. Lucky for me she lived in Denver for a couple of years and that’s where we really started growing our donor community.

Jose, Patty and Tracey at the first ever One Kidney Club

That summer of 2018, Tracey and I met another donor named Jose for happy hour margaritas. We had such a great time and one of us said we should try to get more donors to come next time. Well, we did and now there are over 100 local donors that connect in Colorado and 27+ “One Kidney Clubs” all over the world three years later. Clubs meet in person and on Zoom for events and happy hour. I’ve made instant profound connections in this group of donors. (https://onekidneyclubs.com/)

That same summer, Tracey thought more about the fact that she struggled to find other athletes to connect with prior to her donation. She knew that she could find a way to support other potential donors by increasing visibility around the fact that you can still be athletic and active after donation. So Tracey participated in a couple ultramarathons and she started a nonprofit called Kidney Donor Athletes (KDA). Three years later, KDA has gathered 1000+ athletes from all over the world and it’s the only organization in the world that focuses on what you can do with your body after donating a kidney. (https://kidneydonorathletes.org/)

Without even looking for them, the connections kept coming. Next up was the fabulous journalist Jen Reeder, founder of Rock 1 Kidney (https://rock1kidney.org/). Jen’s story was even more different than mine. When her husband, Bryan, was suddenly in kidney failure, it was a no brainer for her to donate. After her donation, she made it her mission to spread the word about organ donation and tell the stories of people who have donated to destigmatize being a donor. That’s when she started Rock 1 Kidney. Jen and Bryan are two of the funniest and kindest people I know. If you’ve ever seen “The Grinch” you’ll remember at the end when his heart grew all those sizes. I swear to you, that’s the everyday heart size of these two. As fate would have it, I had recently moved to Denver only blocks away from Jen and so the first time we ever met was down the street at a bar for – you guessed it – margaritas.

Colorado One Kidney Club event

That fall I was traveling to Seattle for vacation and somehow, I got connected to a man named Bobby McLaughlin who was set to donate in January of 2019. I suggested we meet for coffee and that he bring others connected to donation. What we didn’t know then is that would be the first One Kidney Club Seattle meetup. Even though Bobby wasn’t a donor yet, he invited another awesome NDD named George, which made it official. That day in a Seattle Starbucks I couldn’t have imagined that Bobby would end up being one of my best friends. Bobby did in fact donate his kidney to a stranger in 2019. His story started with a bike accident where he needed surgery and he was given donor tissue. It was then that he learned about organ and tissue donation. Eventually he met his recipient who, thanks to Bobby’s kidney, lived three more years to raise his kids before he died of Covid. A fact about organ recipients you may not know is that they spend the rest of their lives on anti-rejection meds and immunosuppressants, so their body doesn’t attack the foreign organ. For this reason, they are immunocompromised and even though they can get vaccinated, their medications cause their antibodies to go down quickly making them susceptible to infection.

First ever Seattle One Kidney Club when Bobby still had two kidneys

Bobby is one of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met and he hikes like a mountain goat. It’s not abnormal for him to hike 20+ miles in a day and think nothing of it. He joined the KDA group immediately and was part of the formation of the board of directors. In no time, he was visiting Colorado, climbing our mountains and making donor connections. That’s around the time Bobby, Tracey and I joined the team at National Kidney Donation Organization (NKDO, formerly Donor to Donor). NKDO is a donor-led organization with the mission of advocating for the rights of donors and raising awareness about donation. All three of us began volunteering with them and were there at the start of their donor mentor program. Now we help mentor potential donors from all over the country. I love being a mentor, but what I love even more are the friends I’ve made through that organization. People who are not only passionate about saving lives through organ donation, but who are full of love and kindness. One thing I would say about all of them is that they’re all your everyday extraordinary people. None of them would consider themselves heroes or special.

Kilimanjaro training climb with 8 of the 22 climbers

I could go on and on and on telling stories of the twists and turns my life has taken since I donated, like how it led to me quitting my college teaching job after 20 years, but I’m going to jump ahead to how I got here, ready to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. That part is easy. When some of your best friends embark on the advocacy trip of a lifetime, you tag along! You join them even if you don’t like camping or being cold. You sign up even if you aren’t a climber. You say yes even if you live in a state with 50+ peaks over 14,000 feet and you’ve only climbed the easiest one once (and didn’t enjoy it). You jump in even if you previously had no interest in even climbing anything close to that high. You go even if you prefer beach vacations. You raise money, get a packing list, and you make it happen. You do this because, just like when you donated your kidney, you’re compelled by something much bigger than you.

Giving away my kidney was a small price to pay for the profound impact it’s had on my life. It’s helped me learn to trust in the goodness of others and in myself. It feels like the ultimate proof that kindness benefits the giver more than the receiver. My life is much more meaningful, rich, and vibrant, and the connections I’ve made are more profound than I could have imagined possible. Grateful doesn’t begin to describe how I feel. I am in awe every day that I get to live this life with the most incredible people in it … and it only cost me a kidney.

Right now, around 100,000 people are on the transplant list and around 13 die each day waiting. There are ways you can help without donating a kidney. If you’re looking for a way to be an advocate for donation, check out the National Kidney Donation Organization (NKDO) https://www.nkdo.org/. It’s free and easy to become a member and the more members we have, the more we can advocate for donors and donation.

If you’d like to follow our climb, join/follow our Facebook group for live streams https://www.facebook.com/KidneyDonorAthlete. And you can always check out Kidney Donor Athletes for inspiring stories at: https://kidneydonorathlete.org/

If you have questions for me, please reach out at: p.graham@nkdo.org

In 1972, blood donation became an all-volunteer bank. Prior to that time, people were paid to donate and giving blood was considered outside the realm of normal behavior. Now giving blood is an ordinary way of helping others have better health. We need to make kidney donation ordinary. We need to stop labeling donors as heroes and normalize that helping others is part of our role here on Earth.

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” – Dalai Lama

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


How Christie Is Rocking 1 Kidney

Christie with Mesook’s family the night before the transplant seven years ago

My name is Christie, age 43, and I am from Tucson, AZ. I donated my kidney March 3, 2015 (when I was age 36), to a woman named Mesook from Korea. What is remarkable to me, and what I remember of all of that so clearly, is the happiness, joy and peace that day. There was zero fear or hesitancy for me, and from the moment that our story begun, it was that way. One of God’s greatest gifts to me in my life was His permitting me the Blessing of being a living kidney donor and His Gift of continued life to my dear Mesook. Our story is one of tremendous faith and the Power of His Living Grace.

I will try to make a very long story short. At this time, I had been attending daily Mass (seven days a week), and I could not go to the typical parish I was going to for daily Mass (St. Mark) so in order to attend, I went to another that had a later Mass (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton). I remember Mass that day being extraordinarily powerful and moving and how Jesus had seemed to make me at one with His Soul. As I was leaving the Adoration Chapel, I felt the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to get the bulletin. I ignored this inspiration and continued to walk out the doors. I continued to feel the tug of His Holy Spirit, and made it all the way to my car, still intent on leaving as I did not attend that parish regularly so there was no need for me to have the bulletin. God’s Operative Grace did not permit me to leave, and the inspiration gripped me so strongly, that I went back inside to get the bulletin. I will never forget that morning when I returned home. I remember the exact spot I sat at outside in front of my house, near where my Mother Mary angel statue is. I looked up to the Heavens and said to God, “Okay God, what is it that You wanted me to see in here?” I opened the bulletin and saw the tiny ad of a parishioner in need of a transplant. Instantly, I knew.

I remember placing that call, and I did not know the first time I spoke with her, or even initially when we met, that it was Mesook of whom I had that initial contact with (I had figured it was someone facilitating on her behalf), and I was asking if the person was still in need of a transplant. That ad had been in the bulletin for several months, without a single call. She had several individuals that had been tested and excluded as a donor, and was end stage. I knew in the moment I opened the bulletin, there was no doubt in my mind, but in prudence I had said I am interested and willing, but let me pray, discern, and talk with my Father (priest) and family first. My family, though hesitant, supported me. My dad recalls me telling him, “If God doesn’t want me to do it, then I won’t be a match.” To me, it was as simple as that, but yet, in my heart, again, I already knew and there was zero fear, for so strongly was it placed in my soul it was His Will for me. I remember when I called her to tell her, yes, I will do it (that would mean testing to see if I was a match), and at that very moment I had called, she had been in front of Jesus Himself in the Blessed Sacrament in that very same chapel I had been in, and she had been praying to Mother Mary, when my call to her came.

What is far more remarkable than my willingness to be a kidney donor (God asked it of me, it was that simple), is the strength of her incredible faith. AFTER I had said that I would do it, but BEFORE I went through the testing she got a phone call from the Mayo clinic, they had a kidney for her (she was next on the list, and a man who had died in a motorcycle accident – God bless his soul and his family for being willing to donate his organs – was a perfect match for her). Mesook turned down a GUARANTEED kidney and GUARANTEED shot at life because so strongly in her heart did she believe that God wanted it to be me. As far she knew, I could have been excluded just as everyone else was. (That kidney she turned down, then went to the next person on the list, thus, another person granted the gift of continued life.) When it did come time for me to go through the testing, which is quite extensive, not only was I a match, but the doctor said that I was the PERFECT match, that I could not have been a more perfect match than what I was.

Fast forward to the time for our surgery, we had many graces, prayers from all over the world going for us, from all faith backgrounds – I still remember how touching, the photograph of Mesook’s family in Korea they took for me, all making hearts with their hands. When we had our surgery, we defied medicine and science, and broke the records at the Mayo Clinic, the moment my kidney was placed in her body, it began functioning immediately. Never for a single solitary second will I ever have even a scintilla of regret, that moment was one of God’s Greatest Gifts to me, and I will be eternally and forevermore grateful that her and I, are united so.

 

Christie and her family

How Sully Is Rocking 1 Kidney

Purpose in Life         

It was harder for me to define the purpose then to identify the task. That was the case at the age of 57 when I became an altruistic donor and is now the case as I put pen to paper. I knew that donating was the right thing to do, but I never gave much thought as to why it was the right thing to do. I wanted to share my experience, but for what reason? So after a little over a year, I offer my story to enable both an awareness of living donation and hopefully a future bond with brothers/sisters that I have yet to meet.

I hope that my experience reaches those that are exhausted and might feel helpless in the fight against kidney disease. Additionally, I hope that it reaches those that are simply waiting to be in the right place at the right time.

A Family Effect

My heart breaks for those that have experienced the effects of kidney disease, both as a patient and as a caregiver. Kidney failure is more than four hours of dialysis three days a week. The other 20 each day often expose a quality of life that is in a downward spiral. Spouses and children feel helpless and scared.

Life Changed

I had never been exposed to end-stage renal disease before my spouse was diagnosed in 1997. Dialysis began in 2001 followed by a transplant in 2002 from her sister. That transplant unexpectedly failed and she began dialysis again in Jan 2017. This time there was no direct match. I realize now that it was not by chance that I learned of living donation through the University of Washington. Having witnessed her go through this once before, living donation was the lifeline for our family. My spouse received a kidney from a non-directed donor in April of 2019 and both are doing very well. I became a non-directed donor in January of 2020 and have never met my recipient, but I believe that was the spiritual intent all along.

The Journey 

Prior to surgery, I never gave much thought to donating because we were in survival mode. After surgery, I was focused on recovery. I felt fairly recovered after a year when something unexpectedly was loaded in my rucksack. That something was asking me why I became a living donor. The answer seemed easy: it was to help my spouse. Although correct in every aspect, I discovered that there was something more to the answer.

Purpose in Life      

I learned that help is an important task along the journey, but having to answer the question of why was the start to understanding and fulfilling a purpose in life. Living donation has enabled a beautiful spiritual journey. We have the opportunity deliver the kindness in mankind and exercise humanity as part of the human race. Do we risk our moral existence by not seeing and helping those is need?

So how am I Rocking 1 Kidney? Unexpectedly, I have come to appreciate that nothing in life is simply a coincidence. Living donation has enabled me to unlearn life and for that I am grateful.

To those that are still fighting for a loved one, please reach out when needed and know that that there is hope.

To those that are contemplating living donation, just look up because we are already in the right place at the right time.

My hat is off to Jen Reeder for her vision with Rock 1 Kidney. With humility and respect, I say “Thank You” for the opportunity to share my story.

— Sully



How Tom Is Rocking 1 Kidney

Right kidney for the trail

On a special day, February 8, 2020, I ran my first serious run since donating my left kidney on October 16, 2019 – just 16.5 weeks. At 73 years old, a half marathon trail run (my first Trail Run) on one kidney is a significant achievement. This the Rotorua Ultra Half, one of the more picturesque trail runs in our country, renown for inspiring runs.  Special, first because this is the last 22 km of The Miler, a 100-mile run my son would finish 24 hours later.  Special too because with me on our 22k was Amanda (my daughter-in-law) and Andrew (her brother). I finished in a satisfactory 177 minutes. Just a little irony I ran my best road marathon nearby, finishing in 178 minutes, 31 years ago. To counter, I managed to finish (a few minutes) ahead of Amanda and Andrew.

 I was especially conscious of having only one kidney and the extra need to keep hydrated. With a 9.5 gap between aid stations I chose to carry water – normally unnecessary for me on a half marathon.

Today I’m 13 months post op.  A 73-year-old, 71-kg (skinny) male with a long history of Orienteering, including Mountain Marathons (similar to today’s rogaines), a few road marathons and numerous half’s, road cycling including 160 km events and a 100k with 2500m of climb. Multi day tramping (wilderness hiking) and other New Zealand (NZ) native forest activity such as 2.5 – 3.5 hour, exotic pest baiting on lines in rough terrain forest. 3 hours approximates a road half marathon.

Let’s pause and reflect, from whence I have come, to be on the path to donate a kidney.

I began donating blood in 1970, this week was my 440th donation, mainly plasma.  Perhaps 20 years ago I registered as an organ donor; our family know the hospital / research gets to take all the useful bits and family get the ashes of the rest.  Although I had not considered live donation it was a small step, not a giant leap.

As the recently elected treasurer of an endangered species restoration group, I, on Monday, October 8, 2018, met to discuss account options with Chantelle, “The Good PA.” I’d known Chantelle through a local business group for some eight years. Over that time we built a comfortable, friendly relationship. On that morning it was appropriate to ask about a scar on her neck from recent surgery. She told me of thyroid gland surgery related to poor kidney function, a genetic condition; that she has dialysis several times a week. “But it is part of life,” and she simply gets on and does it, as the other option is not attractive.  Words to effect, “If I don’t do dialysis I die!” She then had been on the waitlist for a kidney for six years.

A surprise to me: Chantelle, such a positive, pleasant, go-get person has also to contend with the rigours of regular dialysis.

I got to thinking about this. Considered could I spare a kidney? While the initial idea gelled almost immediately the subsequent SWOT analysis took some weeks to precipitate.

I am good at looking after myself, so well equipped to care if I have just one kidney. At 72, if I’m going to do this I better get going!

So began the process.  In January 2019 I wrote to siblings and children. “I’m planning to donate a kidney; are there any family members who may now or in the next 5 to 8 years need a kidney?”  Unanimous “No” and only one, the one who does donate blood, questioned how well I had considered donating a kidney.

I chose not to share my plans with Chantelle perceiving it a conflict of interest as our restoration group was in business with her, ‘The Good PA.”

The next step: determining if > 72 year old’s are suitable kidney donors.

I’m confident, if Chantelle accepts it, she will care for the kidney even better than I have.  About the time I got the age ok I received information on donating which included the remote chances of matching a non-family recipient. At this point my impression was about 50:50 – later I found the reality is more like 20:80. Do I want to donate a kidney anyway, if not to Chantelle to whomever? By the time I have crossed all the hurdles another match may have appeared. Reading the Live Kidney Donor literature; already preparing me for the three options: Direct, Paired Exchange, Non-Directed. From the outset in October 2018 I had in mind donating to Chantelle. From Feb. as I learnt more about the process my first option was a direct donation to her, second option a paired match donation including Chantelle and very much the third option a non-directed donation. Clearly I would like some confidence that the recipient is going to care for it, with a life-style similar to the kidney’s previous owner!

Sometime about May my clinical nurse specialist (CNS) suggested I may not be a match for Chantelle. “Not a match!” confirmed in June with words I heard as, “Your kidney would be immediately rejected by Chantelle’s body!” I requested that we not share this with Chantelle as I could see no benefit to anyone while Chantelle remained on the kidney wait list. For now Chantelle’s inspiration in my kidney story remains confidential to three in the renal unit and Jill, my wife.

Gutted to be told on June 4 by my renal physician that I could not participate in the paired kidney exchange donor scheme as we had “run out of time”!  From July 1, 2019 the scheme pool would include Australia and the Aussies weren’t accepting donors older than 70 – therefore we (New Zealand) would not accept paired donors over 70 either.  I felt let down by the system and said so! Renal physician and Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) assured me they only knew within two weeks of telling me.

Knowing my body, so quietly confident, I cleared all the remaining hurdles for non-directed donation in the following four months, including an Aussie flu three weeks pre-op.

It is now the afternoon of October 15, 2019.  With Jill (a retired nurse), I’m undergoing my pre-op assessment in Auckland Hospital Outpatients. An opportunity to check the hand size of the surgeon. He will incise a cut large enough to put his hand in to lift my left kidney out.  He draws a large purple arrow pointing left on my lower abdomen “in case I forget”; to ensure he takes the correct kidney not the right one.  Then gives me the pen with the instruction to retrace the arrow again after my pre-op shower.

Forgive me for thinking the arrow pointed to where he would put his hand in to remove the kidney. Following the op and regaining compos mentis I’m pleasantly surprised to find the 80 mm incision is handsomely central from my navel down.

Post op 2.5 days, I’m out of hospital, staying locally for 10 days, “just in case.” Green script: lots of walking. Not scripted: hills added from day four. The CNS was aghast when I told her Jill and I had been walking up and down Mt Eden. “But hardly a mountain” say those who know it!  She would barely consider it on her very best day!

On post op day 7 Jill and I went orienteering (walking pace) in an Auckland city park I know very well. However I forgot there are fences to climb – very gingerly!

Home in time for Labour public holiday weekend with grandchildren.  For the following week I was flattened by a Kiwi flu bug. Somewhat worse than recovering from the nephrectomy.

Into my fifth week post op. Returned to Brolates (Pilates for guys), road bike for three gentle 30 k rides, an 8 k track walk including steep section and an organised 6 km Round The Bridges street walk. Also my first short, flat, sidewalk jogs; 4 x 100 m in a 3 km walk including some moderate street hills.

Most special part of this week was the very emotional, news that Chantelle received a donor kidney on Tuesday, November 11. At last I could say, “Chantelle, You are My Inspiration!”  “Congratulations on the new kidney!”  To receive her email reply, and to realise we can now share our kidney stories. Today we coffeed to celebrate her 1-year kidneyversary.

Our stories are well told by our local newspaper; The Te Awamutu Courier:

https://www.teawamutu.nz/courier/archive/2020/2020-03-12.pdf


How Shawnna Is Rocking 1 Kidney

Shawnna displays her scar
Shawnna rocks one kidney up in the mountains.

“You’re donating your kidney to a stranger? Why?” was the most common response I received when I told friends and family that I had decided to become an altruistic kidney donor.

The truth is that without organ donation I likely would have lost my brother after he was diagnosed with a rare liver condition in 2012. He has since received 2 liver transplants and I’m elated that he is finally able to live a healthy, active and fulfilled life.

His journey was my original impetus for donation, which continued to evolve as I began researching the statistics:

• Currently, the kidney transplant waiting list exceeds 100,000 people.
• 14 new patients are added to the kidney waiting list every day – exceeding 3,000 each month.
• Every day, 13 people die while waiting for a kidney transplant.

Bottom line: it’s horrible to need a kidney. Because donors are faced with little to no risk post-op, there was no question in considering the right choice.

After months of preliminary testing and evaluation, on 6/24/2020 a surgical team at the University of Colorado hospital in Denver removed my left kidney. My kidney was then flown to Cleveland, Ohio, and transplanted into a male recipient I’d never met and whose name I didn’t know. As a non-directed “bridge-donor” my donation initiated a chain of kidney transplants for incompatible donor/recipient pairs and resulted in three successful transplants.

While I experienced a few days of intense pain and discomfort, I am gratified to know that the recipient and other recipients/donors within the chain will be afforded another 10-15 years of life without having to experience the harrowing and debilitating treatment of dialysis.

We can do more than we think we can.


How Greg Is Rocking 1 Kidney

Golfing buddies Greg and Adam

Adam and I have been very close friends ever since college at the University of Oregon from 1996-2000. We are both passionate golfers, so it was shocking to hear that Adam felt too sick to play all his rounds at our favorite golf destination, Bandon Dunes, back in Nov of 2016. Upon returning home, he went to the doctor as he had been feeling really crappy for a while and couldn’t shake it off.

He would soon discover that his life would never be the same. He suffered from a rare autoimmune disease that silently destroyed both his kidneys to the point of total failure, and he immediately needed to begin dialysis. He opted for peritoneal dialysis as it would allow him a higher level of freedom, and he was able to more or less get by for a while waiting on the transplant list.

It was about 8 months after his diagnosis that my wife and I had our 4th child, so we had our hands full with all that. As time went on, I would see Adam about once a year as I live in Denver and he lives in Portland, and with that amount of time passing between seeing him, I could see very clearly how his health was slowly but steadily deteriorating.

In September of 2019, we spoke on the phone to catch up, and he told me he was having to quit his job as physically he couldn’t do it anymore. He was getting worse. The best way I can describe what happened next was that God just put in on my heart that I needed to do something, that this was my calling. I brought it up to my wife on her father’s birthday, who was a saint in his own right and had passed away from kidney cancer 6 years prior, and she was immediately supportive of the idea.

I started the process soon after to see if I was a viable donor. Beyond all that, I of course wanted to find out whether we were a match. There were stops and starts throughout the process and by mid-December I finally had the news that I was healthy enough to be a donor and that we were match as good as siblings. I broke down crying, and on March 9, 2020, the transplant was successfully completed.

It was a huge success, and Adam is convinced he got the better of my two kidneys as his numbers from his blood tests have been excellent. It truly has been one of the most amazing blessings of my life, and I’m happy to report that after about 7 weeks post-surgery I was back out on the golf course playing just about as well as I was pre-surgery. Since then, as of this writing in August 2020, I have won two golf tournaments and a long drive prize at a tournament, so I haven’t skipped a beat. Next week Adam and I will be returning to Bandon Dunes to share a special week together at the place where it all started.

 


From Kidney Recipient Amanda Page

Hi All,

Just a little note to say “I’m a Kidney Transplant Recipient of 33 years!” March 10, 1986 was my luckiest day! After being diagnosed with a kidney disease I didn’t let life stop me. I attained a Nursing degree, managed to work full time as an RN as well as a wife and mother along with doctor appointments and dialysis. I knew one day in God’s hands I’d have a kidney! Sure enough I was blessed. I have continued to work full time, raise my beautiful daughter that I’m so proud of and cherish my two grandsons and loving family at now age 62! I’m still working full time and enjoying my family, friends and many hobbies! I hope my little story will inspire all.  Amanda Page


How Tracey Is Rocking 1 Kidney

Distance runner Tracey Hulick donated a kidney to a stranger and started a donor chain that saved four lives! Then she ran a 50-mile ultramarathon and found she was faster with one kidney than two! Now she’s founded a nonprofit called Kidney Donor Athletes to inspire others to donate. Rock on!

https://folks.pillpack.com/donating-a-kidney-only-made-this-ultramarathoner-faster/


How Dan Is Rocking 1 Kidney

Bryon and Dan celebrated 30 years of friendship with a successful kidney transplant!
Bryon and Dan celebrated 30 years of friendship with a successful kidney transplant!

My story started as an innocent conversation over lunch with one of my best friends and work colleagues over the past 30 years. He told me he was in stage four renal failure, and the following week he was going to the University of Minnesota and would be placed on a waiting list for a kidney.

I went home, did a bit of research about stage four renal failure, the University of Minnesota’s transplant center and found out that Bryon was one sneeze away from dialysis.

I took an online survey from the University of Minnesota in November of 2017 and to make a long story short, became a living kidney donor to Bryon on May 17, 2018.

My life has been blessed in so many ways prior to and post donation. I was and continue to be a healthy 59 year old. I still enjoy CrossFit, hiking and all of the activities I did prior to my donation.

In October of 2018 I had the great privilege of sharing my story on The TEDx stage in Omaha, Nebraska.

– Dan Howell

To watch Dan’s funny and uplifting TEDx talk, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLuhFZX_jf4