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An Open Letter to Save 

Joshua Tannen

Who Am I ?

I am Josh Tannen and I need a kidney. I am in renal failure due to the toxicity of certain medicines that I was prescribed. I need an angel to step forward to save my life by volunteering to give me a kidney (blood type O). Tall order, I know. It's a big ask. So I'm not asking. But I am asking for your help in another way. There's something else that you can do to help me (and others with a similar need), even if you're not a donor: I need you to spread the word, and I'll show you how to do that in this post. You could help me immensley simply by getting he word out about my need for a kidney.

I am told that the more people who know of my need, the better my chance is of reaching a person willing to be an altruistic donor. So, now it's all about getting the word out. That's where you come in.

My Interests

I am 34 years old and I reside in Florida. The kidneys that I was born with were perfectly good, but heavy doses of Motrin, prescribed by a well-meaning pediatrician when I was very young, burned those kidneys out causing them to fail.

Luckily my mother was able to donate one of her kidneys to me about fifteen years ago. Unfortunately, due to some of the anti-rejection medicines that I was given, her donated kidney also failed after about 10 years. For the past five years, I have been on dialysis every night for 11 hours per night. That is not a long-term solution. 5,000 people die each year in the U.S. waiting for a kidney. I don't want to be one of them.

How I Help Others

Give me 15 minutes (or more) and use that time to tell the world about this website (Kidney4Josh.com).

Email: Send this website to your friends (all of them) by email.
Facebook: Post a small note on Facebook with a link to this website (icon above).
LinkedIn: Post a small note on LinkedIn with a link to this website (icon above).
Other Social Media Sites: Post a small note with a link to this website (icons below).
And ask your contacts, readers, friends and acquaintances to do the same (to give this webpage exponential distribution).

What Happened to Me

I am 34 years old and I reside in Florida. The kidneys that I was born with were perfectly good, but heavy doses of Motrin, prescribed by a well-meaning pediatrician when I was very young, burned those kidneys out causing them to fail.

Luckily my mother was able to donate one of her kidneys to me about fifteen years ago. Unfortunately, due to some of the anti-rejection medicines that I was given, her donated kidney also failed after about 10 years. For the past five years, I have been on dialysis every night for 11 hours per night. That is not a long-term solution. 5,000 people die each year in the U.S. waiting for a kidney. I don't want to be one of them.

How to Help Me

"Most people have two well-functioning kidneys but can lead a full and equally healthy life with just one kidney. So, medically I now have only two options to continue living:
dialysis (life expectancy about 5 years)
transplant (a new lease on life)
According to USRDS data, Kidney transplant recipients fare far better than dialysis patients. I need those additional years in order to continue helping others.

Also, if a willing donor is not an exact match, through an arrangement called ""Paired Kidney Donation"" (kidney swapping) a donor who is not a match for me might be a match for someone else and I would be eligible to receive that person's donor's kidney that would be a match for me. "

To Speak with a Person

Persons interested in speaking with a living person about donating on my behalf can reach out via https://www.nkdo.org/considering-kidney-donation.

Kidney Donation Basics

A kidney transplant will restore my health and will allow me to live a normal life again. A kidney transplant will enable me to live a long healthy life and continue helping others.

Most people have two healthy kidneys but can live a normal active life with only one. For that reason, kidney transplants have become routine in saving lives of people with kidney disease. Kidney donors typically spend two days in the hospital and soon resume normal activities.

About Kidney Donation

You do not need to be a match in order to donate a kidney for me.  In fact, a direct donation likely would not be an optimal match for me.  But, if you are healthy and eligible to donate, you could donate a kidney that would go to another person for whom you are a better match while giving me a “voucher” for a living kidney to be donated by someone else whose kidney would be a better match me (like a trade that benefits two or more kidney patients – each patient would receive a more optimally matched kidney).  The National Kidney Registry has facilitated more than 5,000 such matching transplants.

 

Your voucher would be activated upon your donation.  I would be prioritized to receive a living kidney in an upcoming transplant chain, typically within twelve weeks after your donation.

 

And, since each voucher donor starts a unique “kidney transplant chain,” I would receive a well-matched kidney, and your kidney would initiate a linked chain of compatible best-matching kidney transplants enabling two or three additional kidney patients to receive their own kidney transplants.  You can read more about voucher donation here: https://www.kidneyregistry.org/for-centers/voucher-program/

 

For convenience you could donate near your home at one of about 100 kidney transplant centers nationwide affiliated with the National Kidney Registry.  To find a transplant center near you, see this list: https://www.kidneytransplantcenters.org/

 

And, as a voucher donor, you would be entitled to the Donor Shield suite of protections not available elsewhere.  Those protections are described here: https://www.donor-shield.org/

 

I am working with the National Kidney Donation Organization to find a donor (NKDO is a not-for-profit organization assisting kidney donors and recipients, online at NKDO.org).  To talk with a living kidney donor, please contact EJ Tamez at e.tamez@nkdo.org

 

If you would consider becoming a donor to save my life and the lives of others, please visit: https://nkr.donorscreen.org/register/now?src=nkdo

You Can Help Me Just by Sharing My Story

Even if you don't want to be or cannot be a kidney donor, you probably know someone who might be interested.  You can help me by sharing my story on social media and by email.

 

Just by sharing my story you will help to save my life. Sharing would be like throwing a life preserver into the water to save me from drowning.

 

Sharing the link for this webpage is the same thing. The more people who know of my need, the better my chance to reach a person willing to save my life by being a kidney donor.

About Costs

Reasonable cost reimbursement is legal. Title III of The National Organ Transplant Act, 1984, Pub. L. 998-507, allows for reasonable payments associated with the removal, transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control, and storage of human organs as well as the expenses of travel, housing, and lost wages incurred by the donor of a human organ in connection with the donation of that organ. While reimbursement of expenses is legal, payment for the acquisition of an organ is not. In addition, the kidney recipient’s medical insurance usually covers the donor’s and the recipient’s costs of medical care and hospitalization.

 

Donors donating through the National Kidney Registry as Non-Directed Donors receive Donor Shield Protections. To learn about Donor Shield Protections please watch: https://youtu.be/MIXMp4PymMI and  read https://www.donor-shield.org/ .

 

The National Kidney Registry (NKR) offers Donor Shield protections to all donors who participate in an NKR swap or donate at a  Donor Shield Center.  Those protections include:

  1. Lost Wage Reimbursement

  2. Travel and Lodging Reimbursement

  3. Donation Life Insurance

  4. Donation Disability Insurance

  5. Legal Representation

  6. Coverage for Uncovered Complications

  7. Reimbursement for Travel, Lodging and Lost Wages for Uncovered Complications

  8. Living Donor Kidney Prioritization if they ever need a kidney themselves.

 

See https://www.kidneyregistry.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/donor_shield_trifold_2021-07-06_WEB.pdf

 

Read about Financial and Insurance Issues at https://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingdonors/financial-insurance-issues.

More Information on Kidney Donation

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