Greg Has a New Kidney

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Draper, UT
Greg Has a New Kidney

Greg Sealy received a donated kidney on April 28th, 2022! It’s genetically acquired, and there is nothing that I can do to change the fact that I have it.
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You have likely gathered or heard that I have a problem with my kidneys by now, technically, I have polycystic kidney disease. I inherited it from my mom, and she inherited it from her mom. Although I’ve had the genetic mutation for the disease since birth, I was diagnosed with it about 15 years ago in a routine health screening. Because the disease is hereditary, there was no way to prevent it. And, even having it, there is no known way to slow its development aside from maintaining my general health. My doctor and I watch my kidney function very carefully. My kidneys are functioning at 18% now and I am hoping to receive a donated kidney. If I do not get a new kidney soon, I will need regular dialysis treatments three times a week for four hours at a time to help my kidneys do their job and keep me alive. A transplant will offer me the ability to live a longer, healthier, more normal life. About 20 years ago, my mom received the gift of life from an organ donor, and I saw firsthand the life she was gifted by her donor. She was given her life back in many ways after enduring the many hours and side effects of dialysis. A transplant will allow me to continue to serve my family. I am a stay-at-home dad so my family relies on me for most everything around the house, getting the kids from here to there and caring for them daily, from wrestling with Stone and Levi to doing Grace’s hair for ballet. They are 9, 7, and 5, so it takes quite a bit of energy to keep up with them and I’m sure they have no plans of slowing down! I hope to have the ability to care for them, as any dad would, for many years to come. Finding a kidney for a transplant is not easy. There are nearly 100,000 people on the waiting list for a deceased donor kidney. Time is not on our side. Some wait for years; many will die while waiting. The wait time for a kidney from a deceased donor is estimated at 7 to 9 years for me. However, there is another option: receiving a kidney from a living donor. It’s odd writing this. There is no greeting card for organ donation, and there are no social rules about the topic. Asking a family member or a friend to consider donating a kidney is difficult, but it greatly improves my chances of getting a transplant. A living kidney donation typically lasts longer and has better function, too. You might not know a lot about living donation - I know I didn’t before kidney disease affected my life. Understandably, some people are afraid of the surgery and what living with one kidney will mean for them. Here’s some basic information about kidney donation:
• You only need one kidney to live a healthy, long life.
• Most donor surgery is done laparoscopically, meaning through tiny incisions.
• The recuperation period is usually fairly quick; generally, two weeks.
• The cost of your evaluation and surgery will be covered by my insurance. The hospital can give you extensive information on this.
• You will have a separate team of healthcare professionals to evaluate you as a living donor. Their job is to help you understand the risks and benefits and look out for YOUR best interests.
• You can also learn more about living donation on the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) website: www.kidney.org/livingdonation or by contacting the NKF’s free, confidential helpline at 855.NKF.CARES (855.653.2273) or nkfcares@kidney.org. If you want to talk to someone who’s already donated a kidney, NKF can also help. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. If donating a kidney to me is something you would like to consider, you can start the process by filling out a questionnaire at https://www.uofulivingdonor.org/ . After that, the living donor coordinator will call for more information as needed. Everything is confidential and they will help you at each step of the way. Lastly, we would ask for your prayers in this trying time. We know that God is the one true healer who walks with us through all things. Greg Sealy

05/25/2022

Worry is a crippling thing. It robs you of joy and destroys relationships. I was beginning to worry about my health and my kidney and fear of loss began to set in. I needed to pray, and worry takes a lot of prayer to get free from, so I decided to take a walk and pray. Maybe I can make ¼ mile. I pulled out my phone, began to track my distance, and began my walk. As I prayed, freedom sat in and joy replaced fear and peace and thanksgiving replaced worry. The app in its bland voice said, “One mile complete”. WHAT…? I wasn’t home yet! My crippled slow walk had become a healthy stride! “Praise GOD” filled my heart, HE IS GOOD! I got home to the tune of 1.47 miles! The physical and mental and spiritual chains of worry have gone! God answers prayers and provides freedom to those who ask. I say these things, not for my own accolades but to give God glory for who He is and what He has done!
Blessings to you all and thank you for your prayers through this amazing part of my life! Praise His name whenever you read this, GOD IS GOOD!

05/14/2022

The transplant surgery went well but about one week after returning home I started to show signs that something wasn't right so on the 10th I returned to the hospital. I am still in the hospital as of the14th as the transplant team searches for why my kidney (named her Lea after my wonderful donor) isn't performing as expected. Lea is a very healthy kidney. There are theories coming together but no direct answers yet.
My stay here began with fear on my part which is, of course, a natural reaction to situations like this but yesterday this changed. Susanne Foltz Sealy shared a song with me that reminded me what an amazing God I follow and serve. There is truly an incomprehensible peace that comes from Jesus' presence in my life. I now have joy and peace over all that's going on. God is good even when the situation I'm in is not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VukxLl6HLE

Listen/Stream "In Jesus Name (God of Possible)" (Piano Version) at https://fanlink.to/IJNPianoFollow me here:https://www.instagram.com/katynicholemusichttps:...

05/03/2022

On April 28th I got a new kidney!

04/08/2022

My transplant will be done in 3 weeks!

02/14/2022

My new transplant date is April 28th!

01/11/2022

Since my last post, I found that the transplant has been postponed without a new date. I'll continue to update everyone and let you all know when another transplant date has been set.

12/15/2021

Last night I got a call from a friend, I'll be getting a transplant in a couple months! God is good! Please continue to pray for the upcoming surgery and for the donor and their recovery after the surgery.

10/11/2021

This month's test results show that my kidney function has risen 1% from last month's 13%. I am still in the range of needing a transplant but I do not need to start dialysis yet. Thank you all for your prayers and love.

09/11/2021

I recently saw my nephrologist and found that my kidney function has dropped to 13%. We discussed dialysis but fortunately my kidney function is just above the level where dialysis is considered necessary but I think dialysis is going to be needed sooner than later unless a transplant takes place before then.

Through my battle with kidney disease and my brush with death last summer, I’ve seen that life goes on even in the shadow of poor health and suffering; God and his love are present in both and that’s enough for anything we could face.

Thank you all for your prayers.

08/11/2021

I'm officially on the deceased donor list but on hold to see if a living donor works out!

07/28/2021

I'm almost on the deceased donor list, my insurance just needs to approve it!

07/10/2021

I recently had an ultrasound to image my kidneys, they were measured. The average kidney volume is ~190cm^3(this is on the large side of average), my left kidney's volume is ~3024cm^3!

I'm looking forward to my transplant whenever that's going to be! I have more people being tested to be a live donor and I'm almost done with all the testing to determine if I'm a good candidate to be placed on the deceased donor list.

04/27/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhht9kslq04&t=309s

It was an ordinary day for a retired businessman until he listened to a podcast and found that the subject resonated with him well beyond anything he could h...

04/23/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIabcrqiNC0

Also, check out www.livedonortoolkit.com for more helpful information.

Welcome to the Living Donor Financial and Medical Toolkits, sets of chapters about living donation. These toolkits were designed to add to the general information about living donation that you can find on transplant living or may have received from your transplant center. They were designed for peo...

04/22/2021

A kidney donation recovery story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2b3nUUNe2g

This video details recovering from kidney donation surgery at home, from about 3 days to 8 weeks post operation.I donated my right kidney in an open nephrect...

04/20/2021

This is a great TED talk about being a kidney donor!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNs0GKxkmpE

I'm hoping to educate people about the donation process from the donor's perspective. I had so many questions about what my life would look like post donatio...

04/15/2021

https://www.uofulivingdonor.org/
Yesterday I found out that the surgeon will be removing my native kidneys while transplanting a donor kidney, this is great news! My kidneys don't work well and are getting worse and they hurt. I can't wait for the overhaul; I'm still looking for a living donor.

04/14/2021

The time is finally here! Here's the link to go to to see if you can be a potential kidney donor: www.uofulivingdonor.org

03/31/2021

My kidney function is now at 17%. Here we go!

03/30/2021

I just had my psychological evaluation prior to my April 14th meeting with my transplant team. One more step closer to kidney-ing it up!
https://www.uofulivingdonor.org/

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Draper, UT

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https://www.uofulivingdonor.org/

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Videos

A Pocket-sized Revolution in Kidney Research

This is amazing! I hope it returns some useful information!

Donor Information video

I found this very informative. It provides a lot of detailed information to potential donors. It's from Australia and it lines up with the donating process in the US. I recommend you watch the whole video.

Kidney Transplant from donor's perspective.

This was very informative!

Damon Danieli: Kidney Transplant from patience perspective

This was educational and a good prep for my eventual transplant.

James with Three Degrees Off Center Productions on Youtube: My...

A very Inspiring video

Valen Keefer - Living with PKD_PKD Awareness

Polycystic Kidney Disease. Kidney Size

With Polycystic Kidney Disease, kidneys can grow to the size of a football. They are normally the size of your palm. This can have many negative effects on the body including hernias. When they get to this size, removal of the kidneys before, during or after a transplant may be necessary.

George Lopez: Needing a Kidney

Comedian Alonzo Bodden Roasts Kidney Donation

This amused me. Forgive the minor language.

What is Polycystic Kidney Disease (pKD)

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