New Transplant Blog Posts

@kequick HOLY SMOKE!!! What a testimony. It touches my heart & sooo many issues that words defy explanation. 1st of all - and we think we have problems (I know some are swearing Yes we do). Is there any better example of sickness & the will to survive, of humbleness & greatfullness, of humanity & teamwork? Most anyone else would have died or tried again instead of facing the consequences of a bad decision born of acute suicidal ideation depression. Pay severely for the next 10 yrs then (as he said) the rest of his life. 18 different spealities, plastic surgery computer model engineer, media, nonprofit organization, multiple donors, 56 hrs of transplant surgery & a post surgery, plus 3 years of fine tune learning and 30 practice surgeries to mention many elements that were involved in this miracle of life. As much as I care about & advocate for people I do not hold a candle next to their illuminating sunshine. WOW Thank you for sharing what living is really about - giving.

@downtownsbrown My apologies for hijacking this post? I'm not sure what post you are referring to but I am in the process of becoming a kidney donor. I post in " Transplants- Kidney: Journey From the Donors side" most often. I should be finished with all my pretest by the beginning of July. I am a universal O donor. So far I'm moving forward as an altruistic (non directed) donor & am going through Mayo in Jacksonville. I would love to know my kidney recipient as do directed donors but have accepted the fact that may not happen which does cause the normal emotion of sadness on occassion.

@downtownsbrown welcome to Mayo Clinic connect. I’m type 1 diabetic and had a pancreas transplant in 2005 and that has helped to preserve my kidney function until about 2016. Since then I bounce between stage 3 & stage 4 CKD with GFR ranging from low 30’s to 14. When it was 19 I went through pretransplant evaluation. I was approved, accepted and listed for kidney transplant. Given that could take awhile I’m also looking for a living kidney donor. I’m type O - and I’m working with Mayo Rochester. Colleen, Kristen, Theresa and Rosemary are always helpful and provide links to great information. @beckyjohnson there should be more people like you. Hooray for folks willing to be living kidney donors! If you haven’t already learned, there is more to matching recipient & donor than blood type. There are at least 6 other factors having to do with antibodies and there is a cross match or tissue typing that is necessary as well. @beckyjohnson, those things might not concern you if you are an altruistic donor because if you are approved/accepted after the pretransplant evaluation it will be up to Mayo Jacksonville to match you with a potential recipient. Have both of you heard of paired donation exchange? This is when a recipient-donor pair don’t match but agree to trade with another pair that has the same situation. Whole chains of folks have come together in what turns out to be a kidney swap meet! The potential for good healthy matches and transplants is amazing. Not all transplant centers are equipped to offer this but the Mayo system does and has more information on this if you are interested.

Hello everyone,
I hope everyone is enjoying this beginning of summer. Here in Minnesota we have beautiful weather mixed with some needed rain. I hope you all are finding time to enjoy the outdoors where you live.
Our blog today is about innovations in transplant at Mayo Clinic. We have given just a brief description of a few things that have already happened and some that are in the works. Our hope is to inspire you to learn more about transplant, but also to keep the faith that new ideas and treatments are coming every day that could help people who are waiting for an organ.

Learn more from our blog this week!
https://mayocl.in/2Mlje0C

-Kristin

Morning! Today's blog post is a deep dive into the living donor evaluation process. Many thanks to Living Donor Coordinators Lisa King, R.N. and Kay Kosberg, R.N. from our Rochester, Minnesota campus, for participating in this interview! We've seen a lot of recent dialogue in the discussion group on the eval process so we hope this post is helpful to readers who are just starting or in the midst of the process. Have a great day! https://connect.mayoclinic.org/newsfeed-post/what-to-expect-during-a-living-donor-evaluation/

Thanks, Lisa King RN and Kay Kosberg RN. for this interview. As a non-living transplant recipient, I am in awe of the process for living organ donation. It was not an option for me when/where I was first a patient. I am happy to see how medical advances continue to improve the lives of so many people.

Sharing a link to our latest blog post, which rounds up three entries from the archives on living organ donation. If you have a passion for educating others about living organ donation, this is a great post to share with the people around you! https://connect.mayoclinic.org/newsfeed-post/three-cant-miss-posts-if-youre-considering-living-organ-donation/

What other topics related to living organ donation would you like to see us cover on the blog?

I have not posted for a long time but I have been following discussions when I have time. I just thought I'd let people know that I'm now on the transplant waitlist with a GFR of 19. I'm also actively seeking a living kidney donor as I have no family members that are able to donate because they have PKD (my genetic kidney disease) or they have already donated a kidney. I feel good but I'm very busy with family commitments and seeking a donor so I do not have time to stay active with Connect. I do want to thank all those on Connect for their support and all I learned from them. I do champion Connect on my website that I am using to find a kidney because I think Mayo and Connect is a great source of information and support. All the best!

I'm so glad you took the time to update everyone. I too had PKD and I understand that it can be especially difficult to find a donor. I was blessed to have a lot of potential donors but many were disqualified for various reasons and was losing energy and hope as my kidney function declined. I was reluctant to tell people because it was hard to deal with and I didn't feel worthy. I happened to mention I was sick and needed a kidney to a coworker and she immediately asked if she could donate. By some miracle we were a match and 6 weeks later we were in surgery. I was able to have my PKD giant kidneys removed at the same time I got my new kidney and have been healthy ever after. Hope it out there!!! Keep the faith and know good things will happen. Prayer helped me cope during the helpless, lonely times. Good luck and keep us all posted.

@jolinda, I am happy to welcome you to Connect. It is an honor to meet you and to greet you first thing this morning! As a recipient, myself, I know how much your words of encouragement can mean to someone who needs a transplant. Your amazing story is proof that miracles do happen! Thank you for sharing it.
I want to invite you to read and to participate in any of our discussions. Feel free to join in and ask a question, make a comment, answer a question.

Jolinda, How long ago did you receive your kidney transplant?
Rosemary