Daniel's Battle: Kidney Transplant Needed

Dear Friends,

Some of you may know that my brother Daniel Deardorff has kidney disease. If you know this is my second brother to have this disease. I have been through the stress and worry before my first brother passed away. This is not another experience we would want to go through again. We are asking for some help. Over time, Daniel's kidney disease has gotten worse causing his kidneys not to work well. This is what he is facing now, and his treatment options are limited to dialysis treatments or a kidney transplant.

Getting regular dialysis treatments, which is a big long process. He has to hook up every night at bedtime in a port to flush his body of fluids for 8 hours during his sleep or sometimes during the day because during the night there was a issue with the port, tubes or his body even. This has limited him to everything even including daily functions. As everyone knows Daniel is a very hard worker. He would work night shift to go home and go right back out to work for his morning shift. He has always been a person that always done whatever takes to provide for his family. Daniel has a wife (Nicole) and two boys (Kadyn and Malikye) Daniel cant go to work everyday now and that's something he looked forward to. Dialysis has made it hard to provide for his family. His wife has had to take off work to help take care of Daniel as he's been having a lot of issues with his body having to adapt to something knew. If you know my brother taking time off is something that was hardly done even when your sick. With no energy, Daniel is having issues with trying to make himself food, fix himself something to drink or even getting dressed for the day. You understand when there is no energy. Daniel has a high pain tolerance and he is complaining about being in pain all the time. He is really needing help and Daniel doesn't ask for help usually. You know if he is asking this is serious. Daniel's kidneys do their job and keep me alive, but a transplant would offer him more freedom and the ability to live a longer, healthier, more normal life. A transplant would also give him more time to do things he enjoys the most, like spending time with my family and friends.

However, finding a kidney for a transplant is not easy. Just ask the 100,000+ people on the waiting list just like himself. Time is not on our side. Some wait for years; many die while waiting. The average wait time is five years or more for a kidney donor. However, there is another option: receiving a kidney from a living donor.

Asking family member or a friend to consider donating a kidney to him is difficult, but it greatly improves his chances of getting a transplant. A living kidney donation typically lasts longer and has better function.

You might not know a lot about living donation - I know I didn’t before kidney disease affected his life. Understandably, some people are afraid about the surgery and what living with one kidney will mean for them. Here’s some basic information about kidney donation:

You only need one kidney to live a healthy, long life.

Most donor surgery is done laparoscopically, meaning through tiny incisions.

The recuperation period is usually fairly quick, generally two weeks.

The cost of your evaluation and surgery will be covered by his insurance. The hospital can give you extensive information on this.

You will have a separate team of healthcare professionals to evaluate you as a living donor. Their job is to help you understand the risks and benefits and look out for YOUR best interests.

We are going to do a gofundme to help not only Daniels family but also the donors family with there medical leave for taking on a big responsibility to help my family. If you would like to donate to the link it will be posted soon.

You can also learn more about living donation with Vanderbilt the website: Vanderbilt Live Donor Information .

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. If donating a kidney to me is something you would like to consider, I would be happy to tell you more about my story and explore the process of determining if you are a match for me. You can also contact my transplant center directly at [phone redacted] , and the form to complete if you would like to be his donor is Donor Survey Form link attached.

However, I know living donation may not be right for everyone — but you can still help! Consider being an organ donor after death and also, help me by sharing my story with everyone you know. At the very least I want to bring awareness to kidney disease and living donation. I am hopeful my efforts will help me receive a kidney sooner and encourage others to consider helping the many people on the wait list.

Thank you,