Dear everyone,

Some of you may know that my wife, Melanie has kidney disease. Over time, her kidney disease has gotten worse causing her kidneys not to work well enough to keep her alive. This is what she is facing now, and her treatment options are limited to dialysis treatments or a kidney transplant. Getting daily dialysis treatments, usually for ten hours at a time, will help her kidneys do their job and keep her alive, but a transplant would offer her more freedom and the ability to live a longer, healthier, and a more normal life.

A transplant would also give her more time to do the fun things she enjoys most, like spending time with family and friends. However, finding a kidney for a transplant is not easy. Just ask the 100,000+ people on the waiting list for a deceased donor kidney like her. Time is not on our side. Some wait for years; many die while waiting. The average wait time is five years or more for a kidney from a deceased donor. However, there is another option: receiving a kidney from a living donor. Asking a family member or a friend to consider donating a kidney to her is difficult, but it greatly improves her chances of getting a transplant. A living kidney donation typically lasts longer and has better function. You might not know a lot about living donation - I know she didn’t before kidney disease affected her life. Understandably, some people are afraid about 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 her 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 her story. If donating a kidney to her is something you would like to consider, she and I would be happy to tell you more about her story and explore the process of determining if you are a match for her.

You can also contact her transplant center directly at Penn Medicine, St. Barnabas and Hackensack University Medical. PM me or her for details. However, we know living donation may not be right for everyone — but you can still help! Consider being an organ donor after death and also, help her by sharing her story with everyone you know. At the very least I want to bring awareness to kidney disease and living donation. We are hopeful that our efforts will help her receive a kidney sooner and encourage others to consider helping the many people on the wait list.

Thank you,

Melanie & Jose Amaral