For the Cass-ster

About 5 years ago, Tim was diagnosed with Kidney Failure. We were surprised, but not shocked because 2 of his siblings also have kidney failure and have had to have transplants.

Over the last 5-ish years, Tim has been seeing a nephrologist regularly every 3-6 months as requested by his doctor. They've monitored his B.U.N. and creatinine levels closely and determined late last summer that transplant time was getting close. We then met with a transplant coordinator, social worker, financial coordinator and surgeon. 13 vials of blood were drawn and labs ran. The goal for Tim during this time was to have him ready for transplantation before it became necessary for him to go on dialysis. This included, for us, finding a living donor.

We've talked to many people about donating their kidney to Tim. Not asking anyone specifically, but just throwing it out there so people know what's going on and if it's something they would be willing to do, we'd be willing to take them up on it. So many have said it's something they would think about, and we appreciate SO MUCH that they would even consider it.

At Tim's appointment today, his doctor had his name put on the waiting list for a kidney. Within the next week or so, we'll have the results of his blood work to know if he'll need to start dialysis. (His last labs read that he was at 12% kidney function, dialysis usually starts around 10% funcion.) As he has been feeling pretty good, we're hoping dialysis will be put off for a few more months.

This is where you come in.

Have you seen the billboard on the highway that says something like "Donate a kidney/car to the kidney foundation"? Well, if you've been thinking "hmm... I have this spare car lying around, but I also have a spare kidney.... what to do... what to do..." We'd like to encourage the kidney donation. :)

Here's what you do.

Call Cathy at 801-507-8311 or 801-507-3380.
Cathy is Tim's transplant coordinator. She'll schedule a time for you to get a work up done to see if you're a match for Tim.

What you need to know.

Tim's blood type is A+, however, if you are A+ OR A- you can still be a match. If the sub-grouping is necessary, it will be determined later on.

Recovery time for the donor is 4-6 weeks on average. You would be in the hospital for 5-7 days. You can't drive for 2 weeks or lift anything over 20 lbs for 3 weeks.

Either our insurance or Medicare covers both the donor surgery and the recipient surgery, so there is no out of pocket cost for you.

That's it. So now if you're thinking "I only have one kidney... I'm diabetic... I'm the wrong blood type... I hate hospitals... I'm terrified of needles... Tim? Who's Tim?" I have one more teensy weensy favor to ask to help us out. For all you bloggers out there. Link us! Copy this and post it to your blog, put a link, copy and email to friends and family, whatever. But please help us spread the word and find some new guts for my hubby.

If you do decide to be tested, please e-mail me at tim_and_cas@yahoo.com so we can follow up with the coordinator.

Whew! If ya got through all that, THANK YOU!

You can keep tabs on us and the kidney updates by visiting our blog. www.thedaysofcassie.blogspot.com

Thanks Everyone!

Cassie and Tim