Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. Thank you for visiting.
As many of you already know, Tim has been dealing with kidney disease for the last 3 ½ years. His numbers continue to drop, and he is getting closer to starting dialysis.
Last Spring he was referred to the Legacy Good Samaritan Transplant Team, to begin the process of appointments and testing to be added to the National Kidney Transplant List. They find a deceased organ donor that will be a match for Tim. He completed the testing and was officially placed on the list last November.
When we started, the transplant process average wait time for a kidney transplant in Oregon was about 2 years, one of the lowest in the country. Since then the system has changed. Now it is a national pool and a lot more complicated. The wait time could be 8+ years. Tim’s health has been good to this point, but as his kidneys continue to fail more issues will arise.
If he develops heart problems, he only has 1 ½ years of eligibility for a transplant, and 6 ½ years before he is too old to get a transplant, which means he would stay on dialysis. Because of that, the transplant team decided his best option is to find a living kidney donor.
For those of you who expressed interest in finding out more about being a donor, here are links and a number to call for more information:
National Kidney Foundation, www.kidney.org (
http://www.kidney.org)
Learn about living donors, www.legascyhealth.org/livingdonor (
http://www.legascyhealth.org/livingdonor)
How can a potential donor get started, www.legacylivingkidneydonor.org (
http://www.legacylivingkidneydonor.org)
Questions, call The Legacy Good Sam Medical Team 503-413-7349.
We will continue to post updates about the journey.
Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, support and encouragement,
Tim and Sandi
