Coach Mike
Mike Needs A Kidney
MIKE NEEDS A KIDNEY TRANSPLANT |
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Send Mike Frandsen an email
Summary: I am in urgent need of a kidney donation because of a genetic kidney disease. I have volunteered or worked with kids with autism and other disabilities for 13 years. See my kidney videos: Please "Like" my Facebook Page. I'm looking for someone of blood type O to donate a kidney for a transplant that I'm going to need as soon as possible. I have polycystic kidney disease - stage 5 kidney disease with severe kidney damage. PKD is a genetic disease - my mother had a successful transplant and is doing fine in her late 70s - and my kidney function has been declining for a while. If you're interested in getting tested, contact me at mikefrandsen@hotmail.com. You have two kidneys and only need one. You only need to spend 1-2 nights in the hospital to save a life. Donors live longer than people who don't donate, because you won't be accepted as a donor unless you're healthy. With PKD, fluid-filled cysts grow on the kidneys and interfere with kidney function, to the point where the kidneys eventually fail. But transplanted kidneys dont have this problem. Here's a summary of PKD: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most frequent life-threatening, hereditary disease. ADPKD is more common than sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, Down's syndrome, and Huntington's disease combined. ADPKD is a multisystemic disorder characterized by the progressive development of renal cysts and marked renal enlargement. Structural and functional renal deterioration occurs in ADPKD patients and is the fourth leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in adults.* If I get a transplant now, I can live a normal life into my 80s with no major problems. However, with every month that goes by that I don't get a transplant, I may have a year taken off my life span because of the amount of time I have spent with a kidney function of less than 10%. Some of the effects, according to surgeons, may be irreversible. I believe that if you help, somehow it may come back to you in some way. Please help. If you do, someday someone may help you when you need it. My life is worth it. I don't know what else to say. By the way, if anyone else knows of a better suggestion on how to get a kidney please let me know. Most of the videos at the bottom of this page were done in fun and meant to attract attention to the issue, not just for me but for the more than 80,000 people waiting. A surgeon told me last summer, "People in your stage of CKD can just drop dead one day -- this is a real risk...The way your body responds to those very end-stages of kidney disease, and to the dialysis process itself, is quite profound and cannot be reversed..." and my kidney function is declining. As of 11/28/11, my kidney function has fallen to 4.4 percent and my creatinine has risen to 12.5 mg/dl, meaning that I have about 4.4 percent of my kidney function remaining (95.6 percent gone). Most people are transplanted when they have about 9 or 10 percent of their kidney function remaining. if I don't get a kidney very soon I will need dialysis. The higher the creatinine the worse the kidney function, and my creatinine is more than ten times higher than normal. If you are willing to spend one night in the hospital to donate, that kidney could last me 35 years. If not, and I go on dialysis for a long period of time before getting a transplant, it could significantly reduce my lifespan. There are more than 80,000 people in the U.S. on the national waiting list for a kidney, and more than 12 people die each day waiting. Dialysis results in an approximately 20 percent chance of death each year. Once somebody goes on dialysis, the chance of a successful transplant goes down and the risk of heart disease goes up. There is a national waiting list, but there are two problems with it. 1) The average waiting time is five years (I've accrued 3 years of waiting time). 2) Kidneys from the waiting list come from deceased donors. These kidneys, while life saving for many people, on average last considerably shorter than those coming from live donors, and there's also a lower chance of the operation being successful. Everyone has two kidneys and only needs one, and statistics show that people who donate kidneys live longer than those who don't. This can partly be explained by the fact that people need to be healthy in the first place to donate. The process of getting tested usually involves filling out a questionnaire, getting lab work done locally, and ultimately traveling to the recipient's hospital to get approved. Donors only spend one to two days in the hospital, though the recovery period may last a few weeks. All the expenses are covered by the recipient's insurance. Most transplants are successful, with the recipient living a normal life other than taking lifelong medications to minimize the possibility of the body rejecting the organ. If you're interested in donating please contact a transplant donor coordinator for any information at 410-502-0705. If you want to donate a kidney to someone else, a couple of great sites are http://www.matchingdonors.com and http://www.kidneyregistry.org. You can also contact your local hospital. | |
 Click here for a graph that shows my kidney function over the last several years. Just below it is a graph showing 2008-2011. The level of serum creatinine in the blood indicates kidney function. My kidney function has been called "dangerously low" and at least one doctor said I should have been on dialysis a while ago. If you look at the graph, you can see that could happen very soon. It's not advisable to wait too much longer than that, because it's best to have the transplant before getting too sick. I'll be updating the graph monthly. |
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Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease
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Stage |
Description |
GFR |
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1 |
Slight kidney damage with normal or increased filtration |
More than 90 |
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2 |
Mild decrease in kidney function |
60-89 |
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3 |
Moderate decrease in kidney function |
30-59 |
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4 |
Severe decrease in kidney function |
15-29 |
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5 |
Kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplantation |
Less than 15 |
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These days, doctors recommend getting a
transplant before ever having to go on
dialysis, because the transplant results in a
much better quality of life than dialysis.
The chance of having a successful transplant
is extremely high. I am on the waiting list
for a kidney but the average waiting time is
5 years and I've only accrued 3 years
as of 2011. In addition, a living donor
is always preferable.
Here's a site with pretty good information about donating: Living Donors Online. I'm planning to have the transplant at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, one of the best hospitals in the country, but I'm willing to do it at a hospital closer to your area. I have no health problems other than PKD, so once I get the new kidney I should be fine. You would be helping someone have a normal life for hopefully another 30 years. If you want to consider donating a kidney to someone else who may be in greater need, check out www.matchingdonors.com or contact the transplant donor coordinator at your local hospital. I also have a profile at matchingdonors.com and you can contact me through that site too. All of the costs associated with donating a kidney are covered by the recipient's insurance. Obviously donating a kidney would be an amazing gift. Thank you very much. You can also make a tax-deductible financial donation to any non-covered transplant-related expenses at http://www.transplants.org/donate/mikefrandsen. |
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Please see my videos: |
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Please see the Links and Photo Gallery pages too. Thanks for reading and feel free to make any comments. |
*Developments in the
management of autosomal dominant polycystic
kidney disease. by: A Masoumi, B Reed-Gitom er,
C Kelleher, MR Bekheirnia, RW Schrier
Therapeutics and clinical risk
management, Vol. 4, No. 2. (April 2008),
pp. 393-407.