Letter to the Editor: Here’s a way to become a lifesaver: Donate a kidney

[Clark]

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2014/11/22/1-heres-a-way-to-become-a-lifesaver-donate-a-kidney.html

Here’s a way to become a lifesaver: Donate a kidney
   
So far, no American has died of Ebola, yet most Americans seem to be freaked out over this disease, which is less likely to strike them than the flu.

We also are not as bothered about a killer that will take hundreds of lives in the Columbus area. That killer is kidney disease and the failure of organ donors to step forward and make the gift of life to someone with kidney failure.

Every 48 hours on average, someone dies needing a transplant. Right now at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, there are 667 people waiting for transplants to save their lives or allow them to live longer.

I am on that list.

The waiting time for a kidney transplant is two years or more at OSU, which is better than the national average, but still not good. In 2012, there were 95,000 American men, women and children on waiting lists for new kidneys. Only about 16,500 kidney transplants were performed.

That left 78,500 people still waiting and hoping. There were 4,500 of them who died waiting. Some die before getting a transplant because they don’t have the time to wait years for a donor kidney, most of which come from the deceased who have consented to be donors.

Others come from living donors such as a relative or someone who steps forward to give the gift of life. But the bottom line is that there simply are not enough donors to meet the needs.

Many survive by going on dialysis. But for some, dialysis is painful, and they often have to give up working to be able to make it to the three-times-a-week appointments and the sluggishness that can come from a treatment. Many lives are curtailed as a result.

And even those who can continue working and leading a somewhat normal life on dialysis have an average life expectancy of eight years after starting dialysis, while a kidney transplant can extend life an average of 23 years.

One reason why there are such long and possibly deadly waits for kidneys is that donating a kidney or other organ after death requires that the person has previously consented to be an organ donor. Not enough people choose to do this, unfortunately — many, because they do not know that they can simply check a box on their driver’s license and save a life.

Another reason the lists are so long is that people may not know that they can give the gift of life, a kidney, while alive. People need only one kidney to live, so donating one does not compromise their lives.

The typical time of recovery from the kidney-donation surgery is four days for the donor — and it means an average of 23 more years of life for the recipient. The costs of the surgery are covered by insurance.

Everyone can shorten the lists and the number of deaths of people waiting for a kidney by checking the box on their driver’s license to become a donor.

It also is possible to save a life by becoming a living donor. All one would need to do is contact the OSU Transplant Center (800-293-8965) and save a life.

NEAL RAISMAN