My name is Jodie and I want to share my brother’s story with you. We are searching for a living donor kidney for my younger brother, Matthew Myers.
Let me tell you a bit about Matt and all I’m asking in return is that you consider his needs and share this page so we can help a young man find a new kidney.
Matt grew up in the Karns City (Pennsylvania) area on a small horse farm with loving parents, Lynne and John, a twin brother, Jacob and me his big sister. Matt loves soccer and played from kindergarten through twelfth grade without ever telling his teammates he was sick. No one ever knew he had a Kidney disease. He also loves Jeeps and anything to do with Jeeps.
He graduated from BC3 the summer of 2017 with an Associate Degree in Manufacturing and Advanced Technology, just after finding out he was in need of a kidney. He loves hanging out with his brother and his friends, and weight lifting. Matt also loves playing with his 2 nieces and 1 nephew, who call him Mackle.
Matt (and Jake) came into this world 10 weeks prematurely and immediately proved to the world they were fighters. As a result of being premature Matt’s kidneys were damaged and he was diagnosed with kidney disease at the age of 13. At that time, he was told that one day he’d need to be on the transplant list but that was a long time away, he was only 13 after all. He once again proved to the world that he would fight hard to stay off this list until the summer of 2017. At his yearly exam with his kidney doctor he was informed that he needed to start this whole process of dialysis and to be placed on the kidney transplant list much sooner than he was hoping for.
In early May of 2017, Matt underwent surgery to create a fistula. Once the fistula properly matures, it provides an access to do hemo-dialysis. Matt’s fistula did not mature properly and was not accessible for dialysis. He then had to undergo another procedure in July 2017 to place an emergency temporary neck catheter. This catheter was meant to be a short-term thing (only about 6-8 weeks) just until he got his fistula fixed. However, Matt’s fistula was never able to be fixed and he had to get a second fistula. His second fistula was placed in September of 2017 and never worked right either so he had to move onto plan B which was to start peritoneal dialysis. He had to have yet another surgery to place the PD catheter in his abdominal area while continuing to use to temporary neck catheter.
Matt was placed on the kidney transplant list in July of 2017 with a 5 PLUS YEAR waiting period at just 27 years of age. While he waits he’ll continue to do PD dialysis while he sleeps at night and now twice during the day and I and the rest of our family will continue to advocate for a new kidney for him.
We know the best match for Matt would be a close family member but we are looking into other options as well. The best match would be an identical twin (which Matt has but they will not even consider his brother Jake because he has a disability himself).
A cadaver kidney transplanted will last 7 years for the recipient but a living donor kidney will last 20 years for the recipient.
Anyone interested in becoming a living kidney donor, should please complete the form at https://livingdonorreg.upmc.com/ and a member of the UPMC transplant team will reach out to you.
If you are willing to help Matt in anyway here’s a list of things you can do...
· Like and share this page with your friends
· Read some of the links and info that have been posted about living kidney donation
· Think about becoming a living donor
If you have any questions please email me at mmyersbenefit@gmail.com or leave a message or comment here.
Thank you for your time and all the likes and shares.
Please help us to find Matt a living donor kidney!!!
Jodie
