Bob Neary Needs a Kidney

TOMORROW is National Donate Life Blue and Green Day! Join us by wearing blue and green in support of organ donation and to honor Bob's donor and donor family!💙💚

Modern medicine is an amazing thing! Bob was discharged from the hospital yesterday evening – less than a week after his kidney transplant surgery and on the second day of National Month!💙

Bob is home now and resting comfortably. Recovery after an organ transplant is a long process but he is doing remarkably well so far! He’ll continue to see his transplant team regularly for clinic appointments and testing to monitor his new kidney.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their support and encouragement with our family during this journey, and an extra special thank you to the amazing doctors, nurses and staff at Upstate University Hospital who took phenomenal care of Bob!

Please continue to keep Bob’s donor/donor’s family in your thoughts and prayers. We are so deeply grateful for their gift of life and hope! And please consider honoring the life of his donor by also registering to be an organ, eye and tissue donor at DonateLife.net.💚

You may not have heard of the hormones the kidneys release, but they are essential for the body’s normal functioning.⚙️

Since Bob's kidneys stopped working well, all the jobs they would normally do are affected.🆘 This is called chronic kidney disease or CKD.

Please, help us find Bob a kidney donor!

https://www.upstate.edu/transplant/organ-donation/index.php

Living organ donation could save the lives of more than 100,000 people currently waiting for a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, the number of transplants performed is limited by the number of people willing and able to donate a kidney. Let’s debunk some living kidney donation myths!🎓

📚Common Kidney Donation Myths vs. Facts:https://www.kidney.org/sites/default/files/babg_overcoming_myths_handout.pdf

Please, help us find Bob a kidney donor!

https://www.upstate.edu/transplant/organ-donation/index.php

Dialysis is a treatment for End-Stage Renal Disease…but it’s not a long-term solution!⏳

Kidney transplantation is considered the treatment of choice for many people with severe chronic kidney disease because quality of life and survival (life expectancy) are often better than in people who are treated with dialysis. However, there is a shortage of organs available for donation.

Please, help us find Bob a kidney donor!

https://www.upstate.edu/transplant/organ-donation/index.php

As in Bob’s case, there were steps such as medications and following a kidney-friendly diet that slowed kidney damage for a while. 🍽💊

However, dialysis and transplantation are the only treatment options for kidney failure (end-stage renal disease).

Please, help us find Bob a kidney donor!

https://www.upstate.edu/transplant/organ-donation/index.php

Who Can Donate?🤔

To be considered as a living kidney donor, a candidate must be:

🤝Willing to donate
👩Older than 18 years old
⚖️Within normal weight ranges
💪In excellent health with no current disease or illness
✅Able to pass the required medical evaluation

Please, help us find Bob a kidney donor!

https://www.upstate.edu/transplant/organ-donation/index.php

Chronic kidney disease (CKD and chronic renal disease) means that there’s damage to the kidneys and they aren’t working as well as they should.

Kidney disease is called “chronic” because kidney function slowly decreases over time. There are five stages of chronic kidney disease based on how well the kidneys can filter out waste from the blood.

Stage 5 CKD is considered kidney failure or end-stage renal disease – this is where Bob is now.

Please, help us find Bob a kidney donor!

https://www.upstate.edu/transplant/organ-donation/index.php

From the donor's initial evaluation and testing to surgery and post-operative care, all of the donor’s medical expenses related to the donation are paid by Medicare or the recipient's insurance.

Living donor taxpayers in NYS are also eligible for an up to $10,000 Organ Donation Tax Deduction to cover the unreimbursed cost of travel, lodging, lost wages and medical expenses for organ donation.

Items typically NOT covered by the recipient's insurance include:

💼Time off of work - but the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) covers living donations and State employees are guaranteed up to 30 days paid leave for organ donation!
🚗Travel expenses - but the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC) offers a grant to donors!
💉Expenses for treatment of unrelated conditions

It's 📣World Kidney Day📣 a global health awareness campaign focusing on the importance of the kidneys and reducing the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.

Medications offer hope in the fight against , aiding in slowing its progression and lowering the risk of cardiovascular complications and mortality.

The real challenge is ensuring these drugs are accessible and affordable for everyone, everywhere.

Let's work together to break down barriers to equitable kidney care.

💉Let’s talk about dialysis!💉

Bob is currently on hemodialysis, a procedure where a dialysis machine and a special filter called an artificial kidney, or a dialyzer, are used to clean the blood. To get the patient’s blood into the dialyzer, a doctor needs to make an access, or entrance, into the blood vessels. This is done with minor surgery, usually to the arm.

The dialyzer, or filter, has two parts, one for the blood and one for a washing fluid called dialysate. A thin membrane separates these two parts. Blood cells, protein and other important things remain in the blood because they are too big to pass through the membrane. Smaller waste products in the blood, such as urea, creatinine, potassium and extra fluid pass through the membrane and are washed away.

Bob currently has dialysis treatments three times a week for four hours each. That’s 624 hours a year of being hooked up to a machine in a dialysis clinic just to stay alive!😳

Please, help us find Bob a kidney donor!

https://www.upstate.edu/transplant/organ-donation/index.php

There are more than 100,000 people like Bob on the organ transplant waiting list. Every nine minutes, another name is added to the list and, every day, 17 people die waiting for an organ to become available.

Please consider registering to be an organ donor if you have not already! 🧡

A simple “yes” can transform a life’s end into a new beginning. Learn more about organ donation and how to sign up: https://www.organdonor.gov/learn/process/donation-after-life

Do you know the symptoms of chronic kidney disease?🤔

In the early stages of kidney disease, there usually aren’t noticeable symptoms. As the disease worsens, symptoms may include those pictured below – many of which Bob suffered with before starting dialysis. However, dialysis is not a long-term solution.

Please, help us find Bob a kidney donor!

https://www.upstate.edu/transplant/organ-donation/index.php

Minimally invasive surgery means that most kidney donors only have to stay in the hospital for two days after surgery and can resume normal activities after four to six weeks with a few temporary restrictions. These can include:

💪Not lifting anything over 10 pounds
🤸‍Limiting strenuous activity like exercise
🚗Avoiding or limiting driving

Transplant centers use local anesthesia and a combination of non-addicting pain medications after surgery so donors can more comfortably move around and go home as quickly as possible!

https://www.upstate.edu/transplant/organ-donation/living-donor.php

Why aren’t we posting Bob’s blood type?🤔

His transplant center actually advises against it! It can limit the potential donor pool by making people think they can’t donate if they’re a different blood type — but they can!

The Upstate transplant program does Kidney Paired Donation, or Paired Exchange, which involves two living donors and two recipients.

If the recipient from one pair is compatible with the donor from the other pair, and vice versa– the transplant center arranges for a "swap"–for two simultaneous transplants to take place. This allows two transplant recipients to receive living donor kidneys and two donors to still be able to donate, eventhough the original recipient/donor pairs were unable to do so with each other!🧡

https://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingdonors/incompatiblebloodtype

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Upstate living kidney donor transplants at all-time high | Upstate News | SUNY Upstate Transplant Center relocates today to 550 Harrison Center.

Over the past few years, Bob has had some health challenges, and his medical team is recommending a kidney transplant as his best chance to regain his health and quality of life.

Kidneys are vital organs that perform many important functions in the body. Primarily, they filter waste products and excess substances, such as water, electrolytes, and toxins, from the blood to form urine. They also filter the blood, regulate blood pressure, and produce red blood cells, among other things. When the kidneys stop working, it causes many problems in the body and can eventually lead to death.

Bob has been on dialysis for four hours at a time, three times per week since April 2023. A dialysis machine does the work that his kidneys should do, but it leaves him feeling fatigued and it isn’t a long-term solution. His best chance at survival is finding a living donor.

There are two ways Bob can get a kidney: from a deceased donor or from a living donor. Many of you may not know about living kidney donation. Basically, we each have two kidneys, but we only need one to live. You can donate a kidney and still live a full, long, healthy life with only one kidney – most people never even notice!

Bob has been on the waiting list with Upstate University Transplant Center to receive a kidney from a deceased donor since March 2023, but there are close to 90,000 people in the U.S. waiting for a kidney, and there are not enough to go around. It is likely that he will be waiting for at least five years and there is no guarantee that a matching donor organ will ever become available. Unfortunately, both Bob’s wife Kathy and daughter Rebecca also have kidney issues that do not allow them to be donors.

A living kidney donor is a much better option for several reasons. First of all, it would enable Bob to get a transplant much sooner. Second, living donor kidneys tend to last twice as long as deceased donor kidneys, so a transplant with a living donor kidney might last him years longer than one with a deceased donor kidney.

We are sharing all this with you because Bob is now looking for a living kidney donor. We want to stress that you should not feel obligated in any way to donate a kidney, and neither Bob nor anyone in the family will try to convince you to become a donor. We know it is a big ask and we would never want you to feel pressured or uncomfortable. Honestly, having your love and support at this time is more than enough, and we are very grateful for it.

Of course, if you or anyone you know is interested in learning more about the living kidney donation process or exploring the possibility of becoming a donor, we would be happy to discuss it openly and answer any questions you may have. We understand that this is a significant decision, and we want everyone to make the choice that feels right for them.

If you want to learn more about the process, please visit https://www.upstate.edu/transplant/organ-donation/living-donor.php

Please share this page and help Bob find a kidney donor!