Michael Woods – I Need a Kidney to Live
I’m Mike Woods. I am the proud father of two daughters and I am in desperate need of a kidney. I write this Open Letter to save my life. You can help by simply sharing this post with your family, friends, colleagues and social network.
I am a dedicated and loving father, son, brother and uncle. I have two beautiful daughters. I live my life in as generous a manner as possible. I take care of my loved ones and others. I have a big heart, am compassionate, fun-loving and very grateful to have seen my girls grow into two wonderful young ladies. I would like to continue to be a guiding presence in their lives as I watch them grow. I want nothing more than to be a part of their upcoming life-changing moments as they marry and raise families of their own. I would love to live to see grandchildren.
I am sharing my story in the hope that I reach that special person who can save my life by donating a kidney.
My Current Situation
I am currently in the end-stage of renal (kidney) failure due to Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy ("IgAN"), a disease that I have had for many years. It damages the inside of my kidneys (the glomeruli) and shuts down kidney function. I have been battling that disease for nearly 20 years. But this month, my kidney function dropped to a critical level requiring that I be put on dialysis three times each week for 4 hours each day. Dialysis postpones the inevitable. In addition to filtering accumulated toxins from my blood, dialysis is extraordinarily intrusive, and leaves me weak and fatigued.
Due to my condition, I visit doctors quite often, take a significant amount of medication and have dietary restrictions. Managing my disease has become my primary focus in life, leaving me very little time to work and spend quality time with my daughters, family, and friends. I have a great team of doctors looking after me who have enabled me to survive this long, but my kidneys are now so damaged that a kidney transplant is vital. Although my current quality of life is substantially diminished, I remain positive and hopeful that a donor will step forward to give the ultimate gift of life.
My Options
• Best solution: find a kidney donor - the most certain and expeditious way for me to receive a transplant would be a directed donation. This would free me from dialysis to live a normal life and have a normal life expectancy.
• Dialysis: This is where I am today. Unfortunately the life expectancy of an individual on dialysis is 5 years.
Regular dialysis treatments will keep me alive for awhile, but a transplant would offer me a normal life, freedom to continue to work and contribute to others, and the ability to live a long, healthy, normal life. A transplant would also give me more time to do the fun things I enjoy most, like spending time with my family and friends.
Finding a kidney transplant donor is not easy. Time is not on my side. Many people in my condition die waiting for a transplant. A directed donation of kidney from a living donor will save my life.
How You Can Help
You can help me by spreading the word that I need a kidney to live. Just share a link to this website.
To Speak with Someone
Please feel free to contact:
Sara Castellvi
973-322-5927
Here is some basic information about kidney donation
• People are born with two kidneys, but need only one kidney to live a normal, healthy, long life.
• Most donor surgery is done laparoscopically, meaning through tiny incisions.
• The recuperation period is usually fairly quick, generally two weeks.
• The costs of donor testing and transplant surgery will be fully covered by my insurance. Extensive information about kidney transplantation will be provided by my hospital (Saint Barnabas Medical Center).
• Donors get their own team of healthcare professionals, separate from mine. Their job is to help donors understand all aspects of the procedures and to act for the benefit and protection of the donor.
Process to Consider Donation
The first step in a person's consideration of kidney donation is to complete a Living Donor Screening Form. This is where Saint Barnabas Hospital asks you for some basic personal contact info, health questions and blood type, etc.
When that form is submitted, a donor coordinator from hospital contacts the potential donor to discuss the process and seek to determine whether the potential donor could qualify to donate. A blood test is next to determine compatibility.
My blood type is O. I can receive a direct transplant from all Type O blood types, but any blood type could help me because my transplant center participates in the Paired Exchange Program (e.g., a blood type A kidney can be paired with a blood type A recipient who has a blood type O donor, resulting in two kidney transplants, and two lives saved.
For More Information
For more information, please see:
I am sharing my plea and hope that you will consider sharing this post to help me reach that extraordinary person who feels a calling to save my life.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
Mike Woods
I’m Mike Woods. I am the proud father of two daughters and I am in desperate need of a kidney. I write this Open Letter to save my life. You can help by simply sharing this post with your family, friends, colleagues and social network.
with my daughters Alex and Daniella
About Me
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Consider Becoming a Donor
I am a dedicated and loving father, son, brother and uncle. I have two beautiful daughters. I live my life in as generous a manner as possible. I take care of my loved ones and others. I have a big heart, am compassionate, fun-loving and very grateful to have seen my girls grow into two wonderful young ladies. I would like to continue to be a guiding presence in their lives as I watch them grow. I want nothing more than to be a part of their upcoming life-changing moments as they marry and raise families of their own. I would love to live to see grandchildren.
I am sharing my story in the hope that I reach that special person who can save my life by donating a kidney.
My Current Situation
I am currently in the end-stage of renal (kidney) failure due to Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy ("IgAN"), a disease that I have had for many years. It damages the inside of my kidneys (the glomeruli) and shuts down kidney function. I have been battling that disease for nearly 20 years. But this month, my kidney function dropped to a critical level requiring that I be put on dialysis three times each week for 4 hours each day. Dialysis postpones the inevitable. In addition to filtering accumulated toxins from my blood, dialysis is extraordinarily intrusive, and leaves me weak and fatigued.
Due to my condition, I visit doctors quite often, take a significant amount of medication and have dietary restrictions. Managing my disease has become my primary focus in life, leaving me very little time to work and spend quality time with my daughters, family, and friends. I have a great team of doctors looking after me who have enabled me to survive this long, but my kidneys are now so damaged that a kidney transplant is vital. Although my current quality of life is substantially diminished, I remain positive and hopeful that a donor will step forward to give the ultimate gift of life.
My Options
• Best solution: find a kidney donor - the most certain and expeditious way for me to receive a transplant would be a directed donation. This would free me from dialysis to live a normal life and have a normal life expectancy.
• Dialysis: This is where I am today. Unfortunately the life expectancy of an individual on dialysis is 5 years.
Regular dialysis treatments will keep me alive for awhile, but a transplant would offer me a normal life, freedom to continue to work and contribute to others, and the ability to live a long, healthy, normal life. A transplant would also give me more time to do the fun things I enjoy most, like spending time with my family and friends.
Finding a kidney transplant donor is not easy. Time is not on my side. Many people in my condition die waiting for a transplant. A directed donation of kidney from a living donor will save my life.
How You Can Help
You can help me by spreading the word that I need a kidney to live. Just share a link to this website.
To Speak with Someone
Please feel free to contact:
Jen Hinkis
Living Donor Coordinator
Saint Barnabas Medical Center
Robert Woods Johnson Barnabas Health
973-322-5927Saint Barnabas Medical Center
Robert Woods Johnson Barnabas Health
Sara Castellvi
Living Donor Coordinator
Saint Barnabas Medical Center
Robert Woods Johnson Barnabas Health
Sara.Castellvi@RWJBH.org Saint Barnabas Medical Center
Robert Woods Johnson Barnabas Health
973-322-5927
Here is some basic information about kidney donation
• People are born with two kidneys, but need only one kidney to live a normal, healthy, long life.
• Most donor surgery is done laparoscopically, meaning through tiny incisions.
• The recuperation period is usually fairly quick, generally two weeks.
• The costs of donor testing and transplant surgery will be fully covered by my insurance. Extensive information about kidney transplantation will be provided by my hospital (Saint Barnabas Medical Center).
• Donors get their own team of healthcare professionals, separate from mine. Their job is to help donors understand all aspects of the procedures and to act for the benefit and protection of the donor.
Process to Consider Donation
The first step in a person's consideration of kidney donation is to complete a Living Donor Screening Form. This is where Saint Barnabas Hospital asks you for some basic personal contact info, health questions and blood type, etc.
When that form is submitted, a donor coordinator from hospital contacts the potential donor to discuss the process and seek to determine whether the potential donor could qualify to donate. A blood test is next to determine compatibility.
My blood type is O. I can receive a direct transplant from all Type O blood types, but any blood type could help me because my transplant center participates in the Paired Exchange Program (e.g., a blood type A kidney can be paired with a blood type A recipient who has a blood type O donor, resulting in two kidney transplants, and two lives saved.
For More Information
For more information, please see:
- Mike's Donor Facebook Page
- Learn More About Becoming a Kidney Donor
- Facts about Organ Donation
- Paired Kidney Donation (kidney swapping)
I am sharing my plea and hope that you will consider sharing this post to help me reach that extraordinary person who feels a calling to save my life.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
Mike Woods
*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 for 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, our medical insurance
covers the costs of medical care and hospitalization for the donor as
well as for the recipient.
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