Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated on Ron's quest for a kidney. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
7/24/18 - Facebook posting to friends; casting our bread on the water:
My brother Ron Stanford needs a kidney transplant as soon as possible. If you know anyone who has ever considered kidney donation, please pass this along.
The good news for Ron is that he doesn’t have a severe kidney “disease,” so any kidney that he is fortunate enough to receive will not be attacked by his body. Ron’s kidneys were damaged by long-term exposure to a medication that he is no longer required to take. He has transitioned to a more kidney-friendly medication, but the damage has been done; his kidneys have weakened to the point that he is approaching what they call “End Stage Renal Failure.”
Ron’s officially been “listed” on the national register waiting list for a new kidney, which, at this time, estimates that his wait time for a donation to be approximately four years. A kidney donation will save Ron thousands of hours of dialysis.
However, there is a way for Ron to get a kidney immediately. It’s called a “directed donation,” where the donor specifically lists Ron as the recipient of the donated kidney.Ideally the donor’s kidney will be a “match” to Ron in several areas (blood type and a few other markers), but even if Ron doesn’t get his donor’s exact kidney, a directed donation into the system will put him at the top of a domino list for the next available matching kidney.
It’s a longshot that someone who doesn’t know about kidney donation will say “sure, take one of mine!” It sounds scary to give up one of your kidneys, but it’s not like giving away one of your lungs – you can function just fine with one kidney.
However, for most, it’s a very long road before you can get your head around kidney donation. It took me quite a while to agree to give him a kidney, and I’m his brother! Unfortunately, I learned that I am not a candidate as I have Stage Two kidney disease. “Nothing to worry about” just yet (they tell me) but I’ll save this missive just in case I need to update it for myself in a few years.
If you are interested in learning more about donating a kidney to Ron, please use the link below. There are a series of questions that may eliminate you right out of the gate. If the system accepts your information, then it means that there are no immediate insurmountable hurdles.
IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS QUESTIONNAIRE IS COMPLETELY PRIVATE, and nobody but you (and the Mass General Transplant Committee) will know that you inquired. There is (of course!) no obligation to donate a kidney just because you filled out a form, but this information helps the committee prioritize donor candidates.
HERE’S THE FORM: Mass General Hospital - Living Donor Program -
https://www.mghlivingdonors.org/#_ (You’ll also need to input Ron’s birthday; it’s May 1, 1961.)
Feel free to share this with your personal friends and family, but please do NOT post this to a public page. It’s a fine line that we need to walk between getting the word out to potential donors and getting inundated by scammers.
You can follow Ron’s quest for a kidney as we post updates to the Caring Bridge website -- pop in any time and say hi, and to wish Ron well in this challenge.
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ronstanford (
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ronstanfordThanks)
Thanks friends!
P.S. If this is your first look at kidney donation, here’s an uplifting National Kidney Foundation story that you might enjoy:
https://youtu.be/Sha28Fgl5Ok 
