A Kidney For Matt

11/20/2022

Success! The surgery was a total success, the new kidney is working great and I'm recovering well. Hopefully heading home sometime this week. Thank for all the support from everyone!

11/09/2022

*A message from Chloe, friend of Matt & Shona's:*

Hey everyone! Thank you for being part of this page and showing Matt, Shona, Rowan, and Bonnie so much love and support these last few months. As we count down the days to Matt’s transplant (a week today!), many of you have asked how you can support from near or far.

One of the most critical dependencies for a successful surgery is the whole family being illness-free, a tall order with all of the viruses going around these days. Matt’s surgeon has advised that the family isolate from others (including daycare) for 10 days leading up to surgery and several weeks after. I’m sure we can all imagine the tough road ahead, juggling recovery, isolation with two littles, driving to appointments, and keeping everyone fed and healthy.

Here are a few different ways you can help:

1. Participate in the meal train (and double the recipe if you can, as they really want to support the lovely donor’s family during recovery and they will drop off meals a couple times a week): https://mealtrain.com/zoyk5o

2. Gas gift cards to get to and from many follow-up appointments in Hamilton. This is a big one as they’ll be going every other day for the first month post-discharge and then weekly, biweekly, and monthly after that. These can be delivered digitally to shonaforrest@gmail.com.

3. Activities to help keep the small humans entertained and the big humans sane: https://www.amazon.ca/hz/wishlist/ls/F16BPFLA2QKB?ref_=wl_share

4. Skip the Dishes/Uber Eats/Door Dash gift cards for those on-the-go meals on appointment days and any days that aren’t claimed in the meal train. Can be delivered digitally to shonaforrest@gmail.com.

5. Last but certainly not least, keeping the Forrests, Matt’s donor & his family, and all of the incredible healthcare professionals making this happen in your hearts, thoughts, or prayers!

Thank you all so much for pouring your love into this wonderful and deserving family. Every ounce of it is so appreciated.

11/08/2022

New Surgery Date!!

We have a new surgery date, November 17th. Me and family are doing everything to ensure it happens this time. The kids are staying home from daycare starting now until the surgery date. The grandparents are helping out with the kids so we can all keep our sanity. We are keeping a ‘covid’ bubble and isolating from everyone so we can all stay healthy. Just 10 days to go and 4 dialysis treatments to go!

10/25/2022

Everything was going well on day before surgery. I was in the hospital in Hamilton, final test being done. Then they asked if I had been exposed to anything, and of course that afternoon our son was sent home from daycare with a potential case of hand foot & mouth. And that was enough to shut everything down. The doctors were concerned that I may have contracted it but was jut not showing symptoms yet. With a suppressed immune system, like I would have after the surgery, hand foot & mouth can be a very serious and potentially cause brain damage. Our whole family and donor are disappointed we could not get it done but understand the doctor’s decision. Now we wait for a new surgery date and life is on hold.

10/18/2022

Just two days to go! I’m nervous and excited about it. Nervous about the actual surgery but excited to feel normal again. Although, I’m not sure what normal is even anymore. My wife has a hotel room close by the hospital for the five days I’m expected to be there. It will be great to have her close by. Thank you to everyone that has supported me and our family over the journey of the past two years. Next update will be with a new kidney!

08/25/2022

Today was the day we had been waiting for. I have a donor! He is one of my best friends that I’ve known for over 20 years. The surgery date has been set for October 20th. I’m grateful to my donor, I can never repay him for this gift. This will be life saving for me and my family. Now the job is to stay healthy until the surgery date. Thank you buddy.

08/04/2022

Time for an update: The dialysis has been going well and I’m feeling so much better. It’s actually amazing the improvement. The dialysis has taken off 35lbs of excess fluid that my kidneys couldn’t get out of my body. I could feel the weight but had no idea there was so much – I thought I was just getting a bit tubby. Blood pressure is improving and my energy is better. I’ve been getting outside with the family a bit now so the summer is going by quickly. It feels great to be doing some normal activities. I’m on an evening schedule three times a week, which has been hard for my wife. She has to be managing the two kiddies bed times after long days at work – she is a trooper. The news on the donor front is that I am approved for surgery and two donors are getting close to completing the work up. The final tissue matching stage will determine if either can go ahead. Fingers crossed there is another update soon.

06/03/2022

The last few weeks have been tough. It finally happened, I caught COVID in early May. Surprisingly, my symptoms were mild – just a runny nose, sore throat and pretty tired. I have had four shots, the vaccines worked for me. I thought I had dodged a bullet but the effects of COVID lingered on. My weekly lab work was showing my kidney function had deteriorated. I'm now sitting at 5 eFGR and the amount protein in my blood had shot up. That was bad enough, but then the rest of the family comes down with COVID as well. My wife, Shona, the rock of the family had it bad. Rowan was home from daycare and Bonnie, just a little baby, was coughing through out the nights. It has been a dark two weeks. Thank you to all the family and friends that have dropped off food. Once the doctors reviewed my lab results the phone came that I had been dreading – you need to start dialysis. “It's time” she said. My body is retaining too much water and weight has gone up almost 15 pounds, legs feel like bricks, and the worst fatigue I’ve had yet. So it was scheduled. On Tuesday I had catheter put in my neck to begin hemodialysis. Not the outcome I wanted but hopefully this will help me get in decent shape for the upcoming transplant, whenever that will be. I’ve had two dialysis runs so far with no issues. The silver lining is that I can re-introduce some more protein into my diet. It is very exciting for me to have some chicken, fish and eggs after being essentially vegan for the past year and a half.

05/07/2022

It's been roller coaster since the last update. My parents have been ruled out as donors for different health reasons. That was tough for me and them. I think we all just wanted it to work quickly with my mom or dad. That was the drop. Then I heard from the transplant clinic that there have been over 40 living donor questionnaires submitted! That’s an unbelievable number - which I had never thought possible. It gives me hope that at least one person will work out to be my hero. That was certainly the high. The number of positive messages on Facebook and through the website has been amazing and inspiring. I don't feel as if I, or any one person, deserves it. Or maybe it's that everyone searching for a kidney deserves the same kind of response. I wish that were the case.

The Grand River Hospital Foundation is raising funds through the sale of green t-shirts, the colour for organ donation. Please consider supporting the amazing people and programs at GRH: https://grhf.ca/collections/shop/products/organ-donationt-shirt

04/19/2022

Update from Matt: Thank you to everyone who has supported our family over the past few weeks. More than 20 people have filled out the questionnaire to see if they would qualify to donate a kidney. This is a big deal and we feel so grateful to everyone who has considered giving this life-saving gift. I've gotten some questions about why my feet are up in the air in one of the photos we’ve shared. The excess fluid that my kidneys are unable to process is pooling in my body and lying upside down helps to drain them and ease the pain. It's been a tough few days, sleeping a lot and feeling nauseous and sick but all of the positive thoughts and energy are keeping me going.

04/14/2022

Thank you Waterloo Region Record for featuring Matt's story and giving us a great reason to wear something other than PJs 😉.

The 39-year-old has a window of six months to two years to get a transplant

04/13/2022

Thanks to CityNews Kitchener for helping us get the word out about Matt's urgent search for a live kidney donor!

The father of two received a grim IgA nephropathy diagnosis

04/11/2022

Today we are sharing an incredible ask, knowing that our community is full of incredible people. Rowan and Bonnie’s dad, Matt, needs a kidney to live. And we need your help to find Matt his living donor.

We know for many even the thought of donating an organ is overwhelming, but we also know how strong the desire to help can be, and this is a man and a family so incredibly deserving of our help. There is no greater gift than the gift of life.

Last year, this 39-year-old husband and father of two beautiful children under 3, was diagnosed with an aggressive incurable auto-immune disease, IgA Nephropathy. In early 2022, the news came that Matt’s kidneys are so severely damaged that he needs a kidney transplant to survive. The more possible donors that step forward, the better Matt's chances of getting the transplant his life literally depends on, as quickly as possible.

Please visit AKidneyforMatt.com for more information and share this far and wide, so that this incredible father, husband, friend, and human can have the chance to watch his children grow and experience all that life has to offer.

04/11/2022

Update from Matt: April 10, 2022

Rowan's third birthday is coming up on May 19th. Seems like yesterday we were taking him home from the hospital. Right now, that is my motivation to get through each day – stay out of the hospital, off dialysis until his birthday at least. He has no idea how bad I feel, the beautiful naivety of childhood. He just knows that daddy does funny leg stretches up in the air. Sometimes he joins in and we have a laugh together.

04/11/2022

Update from Matt: April 6, 2022: I’ve reached stage 5 kidney failure

It finally happened, 7 eGFR – stage 5, kidney failure. Now I have been told there is no choice to have a kidney transplant at some point – but how and when are huge overshadowing questions. Dialysis is looming on the horizon, a terrible proposition only better than the alternative, because there isn't one. I had been attempting a return to work. Should have listened to my wife, Shona, I couldn't do it. The spirit was willing but my body isn't. Long-term disability is now the only option until I’m able to receive a transplant. I think Bonnie is about to get some teeth, would love to see those come in soon. She is due and such a cute milestone. Trying to look for all the positives in daily life and smile as much as possible.

04/11/2022

Update from Matt: March 31, 2022

It's been one year since my diagnosis. Nothing has been predictable. My kidney function was at 42 eGFR (estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate) when my kidney disease was discovered through a biopsy. Most people have an eGFR of 90 or above. Over the year I have steadily declined; 35, 32, 23, and now 16. Any lower and I'm considered in kidney failure. The doctors can't explain it, just that I have an aggressive form of the disease. It's hard news to digest when every update is worse than the last. There seems to be no let-up of bad news. My wife is a rock of support for me and the family, holding everything together. I don't know how she does it.