Tom's Kidney Crusade

07/25/2025

Family and friends describe me as an outgoing, gregarious, and happy person who enjoys life with friends. Nothing is more important to me than spending time with Diana who I’ve been married to for 36 incredible yearsand my grown children. I love getting down on the floor to play with my grandsons and letting them swim in our pool. I’m blessed to have one of my sons live with us and we enjoy travelling together. When I have the energy, I enjoy being active in the outdoors, golfing, and hiking.

A new kidney will allow me to spend more time with family and see my grandsons grow up. I’ll be able to live freely without the constraints of dialysis and not be tied to a machine. I’ll be able to enjoy the active retirement lifestyle that we moved to Tennessee for.

A living kidney donation would allow me to get back to living a normal life. To learn more about living kidney donation or start the testing process on my behalf, please contact Vanderbilt University Transplant at 615-936-0695 option 2. Thank you!

07/23/2025

Did you know? Life expectancy for a living donor is typically longer than the average person. For many years, I suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes. Uncontrolled high blood pressure and diabetes are the two leading cause of kidney failure in the United States and can damage the kidneys in a short period of time. After six hospitalizations in seven months, a triple bypass, and a recurrence of swelling in my legs and abdomen, doctors diagnosed me with end stage renal disease. There are only two treatments for people living with kidney failure: dialysis or transplant.

Help me educate others about living kidney donation by sharing this post.

I need a kidney transplant to save my life. A living kidney donation would allow me to get back to living a normal life. To learn more about living kidney donation or start the testing process on my behalf, please contact Vanderbilt University Transplant at 615-936-0695 option 2. Thank you!

07/21/2025

People in kidney failure are very sick. I’m in kidney failure. I may not look sick but I am. My kidneys are unable to perform the vital job of filtering the toxins out of my blood.

While I wait for a transplant, I must do dialysis treatments to stay alive. For the last 16 months, I have and continue to spend 16 hours each week on dialysis. I’m hooked up to a machine 4 days a week for 4 hours at a time to filter the toxins out of my blood. Dialysis is hard and limits my quality of life. Dialysis isn’t living, it’s existing.

I need a kidney transplant to save my life. A living kidney donation would allow me to get back to living a normal life. To learn more about living kidney donation or start the testing process on my behalf, please contact Vanderbilt University Transplant at 615-936-0695 option 2. Thank you!

07/19/2025

It can be done!

Bruce Gamble has been flying out of Birmingham, Alabama, since the late ‘80s for his job as a consultant at car dealerships. He didn’t know a personal connection he made at the airport would save his life.

07/18/2025

A person on the kidney transplant list with an incompatible (blood and tissue type don’t match) but willing and approved donor can receive a living donor transplant through the paired kidney exchange program. This means a donor could save at least two lives.

The testing process begins with a simple blood test. A living kidney donation would allow me to get back to living a normal life. To learn more about living kidney donation or start the testing process on my behalf, please contact Vanderbilt University Transplant at 615-936-0695 option 2. Thank you!

07/16/2025

Did you know? Most living donors are discharged from the hospital 24-48 hours after surgery. Time is not on my side. The wait times to get a kidney from a deceased donor can be 3-5 years. My doctors and transplant team have advised me to look for a living donor.

A living kidney donation would allow me to get back to living a normal life. Ready to learn more about living kidney donation? Please contact Vanderbilt University Transplant at 615-936-0695 option 2. Thank you!

07/14/2025

Average wait times for a deceased donor kidney are 3-5 years and can be up to 10 years in some parts of the country. A living kidney donor can help me get “off the list” sooner and on to living my life.

I, Tom Bradley, am a loving husband and father. I need YOUR help. I’ve been diagnosed with end stage kidney disease and need a kidney transplant to save my life.

Please share this post. A living kidney donation would allow me to get back to living a normal life. To learn more about living kidney donation or start the testing process on my behalf, please contact Vanderbilt University Transplant at 615-936-0695 option 2. Thank you!

07/11/2025

While I wait for a transplant, I must do dialysis treatments to stay alive. For the last nine months, I have and continue to spend 16 hours each week on dialysis. I’m hooked up to a machine 4 days a week for 4 hours at a time to filter the toxins out of my blood. Dialysis is hard and limits my quality of life. Dialysis isn’t living, it’s existing.

Family and friends describe me as an outgoing, gregarious, and happy person who enjoys life with friends. Nothing is more important to me than spending time with Diana who I’ve been married to for 36 incredible years.

A living kidney donation would allow me to get back to living a normal life. To learn more about living kidney donation or start the testing process on my behalf, please contact Vanderbilt University Transplant at 615-936-0695 option 2. Thank you!

07/09/2025

Most living donor surgeries are done laparoscopically, and the donor goes home 24-48 hours after surgery. A new kidney will allow me to spend more time with family and see my grandsons grow up. I’ll be able to live freely without the constraints of dialysis and not be tied to a machine. I’ll be able to enjoy the active retirement lifestyle that we moved to Tennessee for. I look forward to getting my golf handicap back down to where it was before I got sick, volunteering with the Smoky Mountain Service Dogs, and traveling with Diana.

Please take a few seconds and SHARE this post with your friends and family.

A living kidney donation would allow me to get back to living a normal life. To learn more about living kidney donation or start the testing process on my behalf, please contact Vanderbilt University Transplant at 615-936-0695 option 2. Thank you!

07/07/2025

There are two kinds of living kidney donation: direct and non-directed/paired exchange
donation. Today we will talk about direct donation. A direct donation occurs when a donor who steps forward is compatible with the intended recipient’s blood and tissue type.

A living kidney donation would allow me to get back to living a normal life.
To learn more about living kidney donation or start the testing process on my behalf, please contact Vanderbilt University Transplant at 615-936-0695 option 2.

07/04/2025

Dialysis treatments are very time consuming. Some people spend over 40 hours each week on dialysis, the equivalent of a full-time job!

A living kidney donation would allow me to get back to living a normal life. To learn more about living kidney donation or start the testing process on my behalf, please contact Vanderbilt University Transplant at 615-936-0695 option 2.

07/03/2025

Happy 4th

Did you know? Average life expectancy for someone on dialysis is 5-10 years. Be a living kidney donor and you could help them get off dialysis and give them a second chance at life.

A living kidney donation would allow me to get back to living a normal life.
To learn more about living kidney donation or start the testing process on my behalf, please contact Vanderbilt University Transplant at 615-936-0695 option 2.