Bill's Journey to Find a Kidney

09/22/2022

Hi everyone,

It’s with a heavy heart, and most of you probably know already, but Bill passed away August 27th, 2022. He went to the hospital with several things going on, and declined for about a week. Ultimately, he passed away surrounded by his very close friends, and sons.

My brother and I want to thank everyone who followed, shared, and kept up with my dads journey. It means the world to us to know we have people in our corner and in our lives willing to help any way possible.

We will miss our dad tremendously, but we take peace in the fact that he is in a much better place, no longer fighting, and getting to rest which is something he was not able to do for a long time when it ccame to his health.

Thank you again everyone,

Cameron

06/21/2022

This next episode of Donor Diaries includes information about being a live donor, kidney chains, and kidney vouchers. Ned Brooks was a live donor and continues to help connect possible donors to recipients.

As always, we appreciate your willingness to be an advocate for Bill by liking, sharing, and spreading the word to help him find a kidney!

‎Show Donor Diaries, Ep Leverage | EP 4 - Aug 31, 2021

06/07/2022

All it takes is for one person to like, share, and follow Bills Journey. Thank you everyone for being an advocate for Bill!

06/04/2022

Hey everyone!

Bill wanted to share his thanks and appreciation for this commujity of advocates! Please give the video below a watch, as well as continue to be an advocate for Bill by sharing, following, and liking this page and it’s posts!

Thank you everyone!

“There will be a time where all pieces fit together”
-Nitya Prakesh

05/26/2022

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kidney-manifesting-ep-3/id1570184689?i=1000531099647

Hi everyone,

On this episode of Donor Diaries, we hear a first hand account of how every person on the waiting list has a donor out here for them, the just have to be found.

A lot of recipients do not personally know their donor, and a lot of donors end up being tested because of a story an advocate tells them

We hope that you continue to advocate for Bill, and we appreciate you sharing this page and his story with whoever you can!

‎Show Donor Diaries, Ep Kidney Manifesting | EP 3 - Aug 5, 2021

05/18/2022

Hi all, we are hoping to share more information about how a potential living kidney donor can impact not just Bill, but others as well. Bill, during his second donation, was able to be a part of a kidney swap. So not only did he receive a living kidney, two others did as well!

Here is a shortish video on the history of these kind of living donations: https://youtu.be/26jdQfX12lk

Let us know what you think!

For more information, check out our website https://bit.ly/3NfgCjp

05/14/2022

Good morning! We have wonderful news to share with all of Bill's . We received a call from UIC that so many of you have reached out to be potential donors that you overwhelmed their system. That is a huge success and we are so thankful!

So what does that mean exactly? Those that have volunteered are going to go through some blood work and general questionnaires to identify if they are an appropriate living donor for Bill. Each volunteer takes about 2 weeks to go through the process to determine if they are a match. This does not mean that Bill's donor has been found, but in less than a month we are so much closer! As we wait for those test results to go through, we will have to remove UIC's phone number and website so we do not continue to overwhelm the team there.

This does not mean this page goes inactive or you cannot still volunteer to be a donor. If you are still interested--for Bill or anyone else--please message this page via Facebook Messenger and we will ensure that you are contacted when UIC opens back up. These contacts will be anonymous, if desired! Over the next couple of weeks, we will continue share stories of Bill's journey, facts about kidney donation, and other relevant updates. This coming week will focus mostly on Bill's second donation which was a three-way kidney swap. It was a cool experience.

Again, continue to like, share, and interact with this page so we can spread the word not just about Bill's journey, but kidney donation in general.

-Chase

05/11/2022

Hey everyone,

My name is Cameron Zajc, Bill’s youngest son. We are thankful for everyone that has liked, shared, followed, and interacted with this page. Most posts will be coming from myself or my brother, Chase.

Now that you are here, we wanted to share parts of our dad’s kidney journey over the past 14 years. In this post is a video testimony of dad’s first donor, John Hines. John has been a part of the Zajc family for a long time and, in a way, was Bill’s first advocate. John jumped at the opportunity to get tested to see if he was a viable donor for dad (or Pops, as John calls him). As you will watch, the opportunity for John to be able to help Pops in this way meant the world to not only Pops, but to John as well.

Bill’s family and friends appreciate the continued support from advocates of this page and journey. As always, we ask that you share, like, and help us grow the community of advocates, so we can find his next living donor.

Cameron

05/11/2022

‎Show Donor Diaries, Ep Who Shall Live? | EP 2 - Jun 30, 2021

05/03/2022

Hey everyone,

Todays post is a link to the 2nd episode of the Donor Diaries podcast.

Meet senior transplant coordinator Doug Penrod. Doug is both an expert and a living donor. Join Doug and Laurie as they discuss the controversial aspects of dialysis in America and what is being done to ensure that dialysis patients are informed about kidney transplants as an option. Find out what compelled Doug to become a living kidney donor himself after over 20 years of working with organ donors and recipients. They also talk about donor pairs.

We will be posting a story in the next few days about Bill’s second transplant. It’s a very cool story, that not many people know. Bill’s 2nd donor was a close family member, and the best part about this story, is that two other pairs of donor/recipients were involved.

You see, Bill’s 2nd donor was a close family member, but he did not receive their kidney. Bill’s donor was a match for someone, who had a donor that matched for ANOTHER receipient, who had donor that matched Bill.

We ask that you continue to give these podcasts a listen, become educated on the process on transplant donation, and advocate for Bill by sharing this post.

Sharing this post will allow us to get this need in front thousands of people, and hopefully find someone willing to donate to Bill.

Here are some resources to help educate and provide resources so you can advocate for Bill.

1-312-355-1802 - University of Chicago Hospital
https://www.kidneyregistry.org/
transplantvillage.org

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/who-shall-live-ep-2/id1579920881?i=1000531100532

‎Show Donor Diaries, Ep Who Shall Live? | EP 2 - Jun 30, 2021