Save Trish-Donate a Kidney!

Everyone loves a rollercoaster!

2009-01-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

This is Emily. I'm very frustrated with the ups and downs. Today, we found out that Trish's donor cannot go through the surgery due to health complications.

This has happened before. And each time, I imagine what my mom's surgery will be like - how she'll feel when she wakes up and her blood is being properly cleaned for the first time in years; her thoughts are less cloudy and she can think more clearly; I think of her being able to take walks with me around the neighborhood again and being able to exercise and get fit and healthy. And then we find out it isn't really going to happen this time after all; something else went wrong.

It's a rollercoaster of emotions; of hopes and anticipations and disappointments, sadness and despair. The reality is, my mother is very, very ill, and I can't help her, but someone else could. From the bottom of my heart I thank those people who have offered and been tested. They are heroes. I know others will do the same. And, once my mother gets a kidney, there are still three uncles left to go and, unless there's a cure, many of my cousins.

There's really no choice but to keep trying for all of them.

Why we need to Save Trish

2008-09-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

Our mom, Trish, has Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), the most common, life-threatening genetic disease in the U.S., which eventually leads to kidney failure.

This disease affects more than 600,000 people in the United States - more people than Down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, and cerebral palsy - combined. (You can read more about PKD here by visiting www.pkdcure.org).

A person's kidneys are responsible for filtering toxic wastes and impurities from the blood and creating urine, as well as regulating important vitamins and nutrient levels in the body.

Our mom's kidney function is now virtually nonexistent, at 10 percent or less. She is in the final stage of kidney failure.

Due to her decreased kidney function, she has become extremely tired; she cannot exercise; she has trouble sleeping due to restless legs syndrome, which affects many people with kidney disease; and in order to stay alive, she either needs one kidney transplanted from another human being or dialysis, a system in which she will be connected to a machine for up to 10 hours per day (depending on the type of dialysis she can do), supplementing her current kidney function by up to 30 percent.

And yet - Trish still works full-time, going into work every day regardless of how she feels.

She is currently on the list for a transplant through the University of Michigan’s Organ Transplant Center. Yet, the wait for a transplant can be anywhere from three to seven years - and each year, thousands of people die while waiting for a transplant.

Everyone knows that kidneys are vital to living a healthy, normal life, yet not everyone knows that each of us is born with two kidneys, or 200 percent of what we need.

Neither of us can donate a kidney. We are reaching out to others in the hopes that we will find a donor for our mom.

There are several factors involved in donating a kidney to our mom - but first and foremost, your blood type needs to be B or O, positive or negative (she has blood type b+). Then, you need to be fairly healthy - no high blood pressure. And, you need to go through a series of tests to make sure you are a good candidate for donation and you are a match so our mom's body won't reject your kidney.

If you are interested in donating a kidney to our mother or learning more about this lifesaving process, you may contact Chad Abbott, our mom’s donor coordinator, at U of M, at 734-763-4228. You will need to tell him you would like to be tested as a donor for Patricia Coyle.

The process by which someone can be tested as a potential live kidney donor can be completely anonymous, if you want: neither we nor our mother will know if you contacted the center, if you were approved or rejected as a donor, or if you are approved as a donor and decide you can’t go through with the process. It is a process that occurs solely between you and the transplant center. Of course, you may also contact us directly (emily: ecoyle01@gmail.com or maureen: maureenpark@gmail.com) if you are considering being a donor.

Thank you for reading this and helping us to spread the word about our mom and our efforts to find a kidney donor.

Emily and Maureen

What happens when you donate a kidney?

2008-09-06T11:09:00.000-07:00

Donating a kidney is a big decision, and it's a decision people shouldn't take lightly. Fortunately for our mom, several people - friends and family members, and even some wonderful strangers who answered a Craigslist post - have offered to donate a kidney to her - and to them we are truly grateful. However, none of these donors are a match for Trish - meaning her body would reject their kidney due to blood type incompatibility, tissue typing mismatch or the donor's own health condition (high blood pressure, emphysema, etc.).

It's not exactly common knowledge that people can live healthy lives with one kidney. This great article from the Grand Rapids Press is a shining example of one woman's gift to a person she barely knew - a kidney to the parent of her child's classmate. On Sept. 6, both the donor and the recipient participated in a triathlon - running, biking and swimming - each with one of her kidneys.

http://www.mlive.com/grandrapids/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-43/1220163352149230.xml&coll=6

But, more specific information - such as long-term effects to the donor and a Q & A are available from the National Kidney Foundation:
http://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingDonors/infoQA.cfm?id=6#6c

From everything I've read and heard, the long-term effects and health risks of donating a kidney are fairly simple and straightforward: you may have a slightly increased risk of high blood pressure later in life, and a 3 in 100,000 chance of dying in surgery. Aside from that, your one remaining kidney grows larger to compensate for the loss of the donated kidney, and you still have 100 percent kidney function.