The Gift of Life
When it comes to dialysis treatments, most non-dialysis people don’t understand what dialysis actually involves so here is a brief explanation of the process:
“Healthy kidneys remove wastes and excess fluid from the body by filtering the blood to produce urine. Most of these unwanted substances come from what we eat and drink. The kidneys automatically remove the right amount of salt and other minerals from the blood to leave just the small quantities the body needs.
When kidneys fail, waste products and extra fluid accumulate in the blood. Appropriate treatment and management in the early stages can slow or even halt deterioration to complete kidney failure, established renal failure (ERF).
There is no cure for ERF. The damage done to the kidneys is almost always irreversible and patients require a kidney transplant or dialysis treatment which performs the function of the kidney by artificially filtering the blood.
There are two kinds of dialysis treatment, peritoneal dialysis (PD) and haemodialysis (HD). Both PD and HD are clinically effective treatments for ERF. PD is carried out by the patient themselves at home. HD is usually carried out in a hospital but can also be carried out by patients themselves home.” www.dialysisoptions.org)“
I am currently receiving Hemodialysis in a clinic environment. Each treatment is 3 hours and 45 minutes – 3x a week. Since I began dialysis 5 years ago,my hope as always been to get a kidney transplant. From what I’ve been told,the waiting list for a kidney transplant in Michigan is 5-7 years.
When I first learned that I had to go on dialysis, my friend Anne wanted to give me one of her kidneys. Anne has been my friend since I was twelve years old and has been like a sister to me. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the same blood type. Anne was heartbroken about it. But it made her even more determined that I was going to get a kidney. From that point on, Anne read and shared with me everything she learned about kidney transplants and organ donation. (It pays to have a reference librarian for a friend).
Through Anne’s determination and her love for me, she is going to give me the “gift of life” in a very unique way. We are going to participate in a “two-way paired” kidney donation. The way that this process works is that Anne is going to give one of her kidneys to a kidney patient who needs one and whose blood type matches hers and a member or friend of that kidney patient’s family whose blood type matches mine, will give me a kidney.
This will be a process of course. There are tests and blood work that Anne will have to go through, not to mention doctor appointments. I hate all those things and I HAVE to do it.
I can’t express how much it means to me that Anne is willing to go through this. Of course there is no greater gift than the gift of life but knowing that I have a friend like Anne in my life is a gift that is truly priceless.
To get a glimpse into how special Anne is, please visit her blog at