Tag: @BC_Transplant

It’s May’s Green Shirt Day . . . Please give organ donation some thought . . . Check out ex-CFLer’s kidney story

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Vic Morin of Kamloops has added a decal to his car as he searches for a living kidney donor. (Photo: Colleen Bruce)

It’s May 7, which means it’s Green Shirt Day for May.

There is an annual push for Green Shirt Day, and the Logan Boulet Effect, on April 7. But let’s not forget about it for the rest of the year; let’s remember its impact on the seventh day of each of the other 11 months.

It’s all about registering for organ donation, so please do the research, ask the questions, discuss it with family and make your decision.

Also . . . please take the time to learn about being a living kidney donor. Again, do the research and ask the questions. Most of all, learn how you can be a living donor through the Living Kidney Donor Program without having a specific recipient who is the same blood type as you are.

My wife, Dorothy, received a kidney through the Living Kidney Donor Program almost eight years ago. Her best friend wasn’t a match with her, but wanted Dorothy to receive a kidney, so she entered the program. She donated a kidney to an anonymous recipient with Dorothy receiving one from an anonymous donor.

So, please, at least give it some thought.

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Mike Abou-Mechrek, a former CFL offensive lineman who now lives in Regina, is recovering at home after donating a kidney to his father. . . . “Anybody can do it,” Abou-Mechrek told Sam Thompson of Global News. “It is special, I suppose, but it really wasn’t a decision for me — my dad needed help, I could help him, so you do it. . . . When my dad needed a kidney, I said, ‘All right, let’s go get tested.’ If you knew how much good you could do, you would do it.” . . . This actually was Abou-Mechrek’s second experience with kidney transplantation. During a stint with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, his then-wife gave a kidney to her father. “I’ll never forget going to the recovery room minutes after he came out of surgery,” Abou- Mechrek said, “and the man looked like he just came back from Jamaica.” . . . Thompson’s complete story is right here.

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

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Or, for more information, visit right here.

Want an easy win to feel great? Register to be an organ donor today. It will only #TakeTwoMinutes and you could save a life. Great deed and fuzzy feels without any hassle. #Register2Give taketwominutes.ca

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Kamloops wife/mother of three needs kidney . . . Husband starts GoFundMe page

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Julie Dodds is in need of a kidney transplant. Are you able to help?

 

More than a year has come and gone since I wrote about Julie Dodds, a mother of three young boys and a Kamloops resident.

She had just revealed that she has a genetic kidney disease — Medullary Kidney Disease Type 1 — and had reached Stage 4. That is the last stage before a person enters kidney failure.

At that time, she wrote: “My kidneys are failing and I need a LIVING KIDNEY DONOR to have the best chance at life.

“I understand that this is a huge request, but for myself, for my husband, who wants nothing other than to be able to save me from all of this, for my three boys, who still need their mom to be present and healthy in their lives, it would mean absolutely everything.”

She also added this:

“WILL YOU HELP?

  • Any healthy adult can donate one of their kidneys — and, thanks to paired kidney exchange, you don’t have to be a blood-type match to the recipient!
  • 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 after 1-2 days in hospital.
  • The donor will have a separate team of healthcare professionals to evaluate her/him as a living donor. Their job is to help you understand the risks and benefits and look out for YOUR best interests.”

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One of the important numbers to those with kidney disease is the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), something that is found via a blood test. According to the National Kidney Foundation, if your GFR is between 29 and 15, you are in Stage 4. If it slips below that, you are in kidney failure and closing in on dialysis, either peritoneal or hemo.

Today, that is where Julie finds herself.

Allan, Julie’s husband, now has started a GoFundMe page on which he reports that Julie’s GFR is at 13. “Over time,” he writes, “her kidney disease has gotten worse, causing her kidneys not to work well enough to keep her alive. . . . With such a lower function, Julie continues to try and be Super Mom/friend, but energy levels are now a struggle to keep up to her level of Mom-hood.”

In a perfect world, a kidney from a live donor will be found for her before she has to go on dialysis.

In the meantime, that GoFundMe page is right here. Included is a look at the various expenses that Allan is hoping to be able to cover via donations to the page.

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If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

 

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