This is my 70th post! I don't know if 70 is perceived to be lucky like 7 but I hope so, because this is probably the most serious thing I have ever written about.
20 years ago, my uncle Danny needed a kidney transplant. He was able to get a matching kidney from his mom, and for two decades it worked great! It is great that it worked for as long as it did, but while I was in Australia he started going into kidney failure again. People on both sides of our family started getting tested to see if they could be potential donors for Danny.
It is harder to find a match this go around because of the 2 different kidneys, his and his mom's. My mom told me I would probably not be a match, but I wanted to make sure. I knew going into this that I have a history with needles and such, so it was no surprise to me when I passed out and woke up in the ER of UTMC with an IV. Great, just great. I was informed a week later by the nurse that I was not a match either which is a huge bummer.
There have been 2 new options for Danny. One was a nationwide donor "pool" which was basically a group of 9 people who all needed donors, and the donors were all close-ish matches. It fell through recently when one of the donors backed out. Also, bummer.
Currently, we are hoping that an experimental therapy in Maryland works out. What I understand (and how my mom explained it) is that they give him a drug that "tricks' his immune system into accepting the close matches, which there are 2 of here in Knoxville. It is all very preliminary right now and we are all hoping to hear more news soon.
Danny is an engineer and is married to my mom's youngest sister Devah, who teaches kindergarten. They have 2 awesome and hilarious kids. Chloe is in 7th grade and is a smiley, peppy little cheerleader! Molly is in 5th grade and reminds me so much of myself when I was younger. She calls me Big M and she, naturally, is Little M.
I can't even imagine to be going through what they are currently, and especially during the holidays. Anyone who reads this please keep my uncle Danny and his family in your thoughts and prayers that he finds a match soon and is healthy in 2010!
