A couple weeks ago I received some bad news. It wasn't surprising, but it was sad; my friend Jim passed away.
I only knew Jim within the context of my donation. He was the recipient, I was the donor. I texted and spoke with him only at intervals so we could keep each other aware of donation status. The medical team can't share information due to medical privacy laws, so it is up to us to share with each other whatever we wish. I didn't want Jim to worry, so I kept him informed. He seemed vigorous, and he had at-home dialysis, so he was able to get treatment frequently. But he passed.
As with most medicine, the scientific community is trying to determine what the effects of long-term dialysis are on the human body. But one thing at least is clear; being on dialysis ain't healthy. It beats the alternative, but it is vastly inferior to having a kidney.
The body is intended to extract waste from the bloodstream constantly, and dispose of that waste several times per day. But dialysis doesn't work that way. It is done intermittently. Typically, waste is only removed every couple of days.
Unfortunately we have far too few willing donors at present to get people off dialysis quickly. And the scientists generally agree that long-term dialysis is beneficial for your overall health; it is associated with increased risk of a multitude of potentially lethal health conditions. The longer you are on dialysis, the more chance that some other health condition will kill you. Also, the longer you are on dialysis, the sooner your body will reject a donated organ.
We need to get these people off dialysis as quickly as possible.
Do something for me. Open your map software on your phone and search for "Dialysis." If you live in any sort of population center, you will likely see several pins appear near you. Every patient who walks into that dialysis center visits for one reason only...because they must. They need dialysis to remain living. But that doesn't make long-term dialysis healthy.
I took my father to the emergency room recently. It was standing-room-only that night, and we were just receiving initial processing. The technician was reading my father's blood oxygen levels with a disposable optic sensor taped onto my dad's finger. The tech had a good poker face and cool demeanor, but I could tell by the flurry of texts and brief calls that the reading wasn't good. We were rushed to the back rooms despite the crowd, and my father was given oxygen and fluids.
When we returned home, we were given a portable bottle of oxygen, and that morning a man dropped off an oxygen generating machine--a big, humming plastic contraption with 100 feet of plastic tubing that he could breathe concentrated oxygen through, and a port he could use to fill portable bottles. Within 24 hours, my father had the medical treatment he needed at home. He could take care of himself.
This is the kind of treatment we need for our friends and neighbors who have failed kidneys, but they need more. They need kidneys as soon as possible. The sooner the better.
I need a new plan. At the moment I am thinking I will go non-directed....simply give my kidney to a stranger, just as the title suggests. But I need to move forward, because these people are dying every day by the hundreds. In the USA kidney related disease is credited with over 50,000 deaths annually. That's over 130 people per day. Last year it was a member of our symphony. A few weeks ago, it was a man who runs a landscaping business. Tomorrow it will be somebody else and so on. Even if my kidney just gives somebody a few extra years to spend with their grandchildren, to talk to their friends, to tell somebody that they love them, it's worth it. It will a relatively small cost for me personally, but to them, and the people they love, it will mean the world.
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