Kidney Swap

As I prepare to begin the 2016-2017 school year in just three short days (yikes...I’m not ready to have summer end), I thought I’d write my last summertime post to update where I stand right now.

So, as most of you know, I did not get a new kidney during the summer. It would have been an ideal time since I’m on vacation and my surgery and recovery time wouldn’t require time away from work, but that didn’t happen. Waiting for a kidney, or any transplant, can be a long wait. And in all honesty, I’ve only been on the donor list since the end of June, so two months isn’t long in this situation. It can take years.

In my last post I shared that my antibodies caused me to reject the two people who had come forth as potential donors. Well, one of those people opted to continue on in the process of helping me to find a kidney. And I only say one because I don’t know if the other person has or not. I know about one candidate because she has shared this with me. Maine Transplant Program can’t give me information about the other people for privacy reasons. The person who is going forward has agreed to be part of the Kidney Paired Donation (KPD) program. This program is an additional way to find a living donor who is a match for me.

As amazing as it is that I’ve had people come forward to be a living donor, I feel like my friend who is going this route for me is even more amazing. Not only was she willing to donate a kidney to me, but since we weren’t compatible, she’s still willing to give a kidney to a stranger to not only save their life, but to increase my chances for receiving a kidney. She started this process in April when I learned I was being referred to the transplant team. Four months later she’s still going through it. Most recently she had to have further testing such as more blood work, an ultrasound, be injected with dye for a CT scan, have an EKG, and meet with various staff members at Maine Transplant. It’s not official yet because the committee has to review her case and determine if she is a candidate to be part of this process. However, if she is, they will start finding compatible pairs for us. I will then become part of the National Kidney Registry and the Kidney Paired Donation Program which is run by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Yesterday I signed consent that I agreed to be part of this option.

The goal is to find another person in need of a kidney who has a willing donor, but they are an incompatible pair, so my donor could give to that person needing a kidney and then their donor could give to me. Databases help to match people. Sometimes it requires more than a pair and it becomes a kidney chain. My match could be in California and they would fly a kidney to me so that I’d be able to have surgery right at Maine Med.

A paired kidney swap

A kidney chain

I am still on the deceased donor waiting list and as I’ve mentioned in numerous posts, my preference is to get a living donor for a number of reasons. If my donor makes the criteria for being part of the kidney swap, this will hopefully increase my chances of this happening. My test results from this week showed that my kidney function has decreased further in just the past month. So while I am eager to make something happen, I just have to keep waiting patiently. Someone once said, "all good things come to those who wait," right?

When I learned that my friend and I weren’t compatible, I told her she didn’t have to keep going on to this next step. It’s a time consuming, sometimes uncomfortable process. However, she is a runner and she said, “I’m thinking about this like it’s a marathon.” Well, if it happens and it all works out, this will be a marathon where there will be multiple winners crossing that finish line.