12/31/2022
Hello all, I found out some interesting news these past weeks and I wanted to share my story from the beginning...So I found out I had Polycystic Kidney Disease a while ago (2000). I was told I had to just let it run its course. So I did my research and decided to register for a kidney transplant with Columbia Presbyterian in NYC in 2016. I did all my testing and got on the list. So time went by andI kept going to the hospital with kidney infections from ruptured cysts. One final stay at the hospital in April of 2018 and I was told I needed to start dialysis. Now I had a bunch of people test to donate a living kidney since I registered and there was always something that didn't match. Now I had a friend who was going to donate who matched completely but life happened and she had to back out. So a little bit down the road another friend tested and we were all ready to go but when we were going to set a date for surgery there was a change of mind and it didn't happen, that was in 2019. So in walks Christopher Melz of the Kidney Search Foundation. He was starting his own group to help people in need of a kidney. He printed me a shirt and a magnet which I put ony truck for all to see.. So I hoped for the best and waited. In May of 2022, in the parking lot of King Kullen an "angel" appeared (I will call her that for now) as I was walking away from my truck she was reading my magnet. She called to me and asked if I still needed a kidney. She said she was the same blood type and was willing to give me one of hers. So we exchanged info and went out separate ways. I emailed her and sent her all the info about the hospital so she could get tested. Well again time went on and neither of us heard from the hospital on results. I called and left messages and I didn't hear anything. So fast forward to 2 weeks ago, a good friend of mine from the FD called me and said a friend of his had a husband who was in the hospital on life support and she wanted to donate his organs and she wanted one of his kidneys to be mine. I saw this as a huge present right before Christmas! I gave the wife all my info that she needed to start the donation process. My buddy said he would let me know when he hears more. So fast forward to the Saturday before Christmas. My wife and myself took our son's into the city to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and our usual stops all around the city. While there, after dinner while we were walking up 5th Ave towards the tree, I got the call, my friend said I needed to contact my Transplant Coordinators to see if the could speed the process up. So Monday morning I called Columbia Presbyterian to see what they could do. Well I found out more than I was expecting. The lady on the phone said I was no longer a patient there. She put me on hold and then the line went dead. I called back and got someone else, she took my info and said she was sending a message for someone to call me back. Well 5 minutes later I got a call back, the woman told me that my case was closed because I had gone to another hospital. I told her I never registered with any other hospital but Columbia Presbyterian. Again the line went dead, I called back the number and got voicemail so I left a message. No call back that afternoon. So I go to dialysis and call the social worker over and asked if she could help. She said that's why I'm here. Well she comes back and tells me yes, they closed my case for some unknown reason. I never got a call or an email or a message in my app from the hospital. But more disturbing was that she was told that all the blood that my dialysis donor blood samples is not tested and just thrown away. Not even a phone call to my dialysis center to tell them to stop sending the samples. So the next day I get a call from the wife who was giving me her husband's kidney. I told her what I found out from the hospital, she was very upset because she felt I was meant to have it. I then explained to her that this is still a good thing. Someone else would get the kidney and if I wasn't offered it I would never have found out what I did from the hospital and I said I believed that was meant to be. So I started all over again registering with Columbia Presbyterian Transplant Center and made all my new appointments. So I emailed my angel from the supermarket to let her know what I found out. I didn't hear back from her right away. So my wife asked me her name and said she had a friend with the same last name. Turned out it was her brother and he said that I was looking for her. Well she emailed back and said she just started working nights and was trying to adjust. She told me she was still in and that she already had a call into the hospital. So that's where I am now. Have 3 more appointments next week and then we start the countdown if the match goes well!!!! So I will end this for now and hopefully my next story will have good news!
