Help Wanted!

Abby and I 

Help Wanted!

I need everyone's help!  I am looking for someone who is willing and able to donate a kidney.  So, I will  go over why and how I need everyone's help.

I am in Stage 5 Renal Failure due to a genetic disease called Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD or PKD).  My father, a few of his siblings, and his father had the disease.  It is a 50/50 chance that my sons will have the disease.  I was diagnosed in 1988 after I miscarried my 2nd child.  After the birth of my 3rd child my blood pressure would not go down on its own.  Since 1989 I have been taking anti-hypertensives.

In 2001 I began to experience  severe, almost constant pain.  My physician, G. Allen Bryant, III, was changing me from one analgesic to another to try and alleviate the pain.  We were both frustrated.  I could not stay on analgesics, I had two young boys and had recently become divorced.  Dr. Bryant did some research and proposed that I have cyst reduction surgery.  He said it was a long shot but it was the best option I had for relief.  I had the surgery and I immediately felt relief.  I was told that my surgeon un-roofed about 2000 cysts from each kidney and there were thousands more in my kidneys. I felt so much better!  I haven't had any constant pain since then.  I have pain again, but nothing like it had been.

I remained stable from that time until mid 2013.  My family physician wanted me to begin to see a kidney specialist.  There was a 3 month wait to see one locally.  Dr. Bryant had left my area to fellowship as a nephrologist and had received his board certification and was practicing in Lima Ohio. So, I went back to seeing Dr. Bryant; it may be a long way, but he and staff are worth the trip.  He immediately set forth a plan of how we were going to treat the PKD.  We both knew that end stage renal failure was an inevitability but there were things he could put in place to try to slow it down.  This was more than what other nephrologists had done.  By watching my diet we have been able to at least slow it down.  All of his predictions thus far have been correct.  He told me in the fall of 2013 that in about 2 1/2 years I would be looking for a transplant.  He was correct.  He explained to me the other day that he has been doing everything he could think of to keep me off of dialysis, but he expects this to be unavoidable by the end of this fall.  If I don't get a kidney by then I will start everything for PD, Peritoneal Dialysis.  I can do PD at home and work it around my life.  He feels that it would be the best for me as well.  I am not looking forward to any form of dialysis, but I will do what I must.

So if anyone is interested here is what you need to do:

Contact University of Cincinnati Medical Center Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Unit:





  I can only accept a Type O kidney.  The screening is free of charge and all medical procedures are covered by my insurance plan.  The only thing my insurance does not cover is your time from work.  However, it is covered by your employer on FMLA if you, as an employee, qualifies.

 Please understand medical professionals involved with transplant units do not accept a possible donor if they are doubtful about the donor's health.  If it doesn't feel right to them, they will not accept your organ.  I realize this is a hard thing to think about.  I did not think there was any possibility of me donating my organs once I leave this world because of the PKD, but there may be something that might benefit someone else.  So, last year I signed up as an organ donor. 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions anyone may have.  You may do so at:  sassenach51@comcast.net

Until later!

Deb