Artificial Kidney
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Ed Timmerman is hooked up to a portable dialysis machine every night. He is one of the 1.5 to 2 million people worldwide suffering from end-stage renal disease.
"In the middle of the night you'll get these horrendous leg cramps and you've got to get up and stomp around the room," said Timmerman, a father and grandfather who lives in Ogden. "It's a mental trip knowing you're tethered to that machine."
His trips to Alaska are much harder and less frequent. Staying out late is impossible.
"It's kind of like the bewitching hour — Cinderella. You've got to be back or you play havoc the next day," he said.
Timmerman lost a kidney to cancer. His other eventually failed. He's been on the transplant list for three years. Patients can wait for a kidney from 3-8 years, but most die waiting.
First you have to be put on the wait list which can sometimes take a couple of years on top of that, so some patients are waiting half a decade or a decade for a kidney transplant.
–Dr. Jeffrey Campsen, transplant surgeon
"First you have to be put on the wait list which can sometimes take a couple of years on top of that, so some patients are waiting half a decade or a decade for a kidney transplant," said Dr. Jeffrey Campsen, a transplant surgeon at University Hospital.
Dialysis is a temporary solution and only does 10 percent of the kidney's functions.
"It completely drains them, so almost every other day four hours of their day is gone on dialysis and then they feel miserable afterward," Campsen said. "It keeps them alive, but their quality of life is terrible."
Scientists at the University of California at San Francisco say they have an artificial kidney that works in the lab. It's a small implantable device with super efficient membranes that filter toxins from the blood without pumps or electrical power. That would mean freedom for patients in renal failure.
"What we are trying to do is mimic the natural kidney," said Shuvo Roy, a scientist at UCSF.
The device is the size of a coffee cup. It takes the blood, processes it, and generates a waste fluid like urine, Roy said.
"The device is able to provide the functions of a kidney, and we hope when it's ultimately developed it will be a permanent implant," he said.
Patients also won't need immunosuppressant drugs, causing fewer side effects and less risk of infection, researchers said.
"Can you make something that's plastic that's as good as a human organ?" asked Campsen.
Though questions remain, Campsen said the potential for saving lives is incredible.
"I think over a 10-year period, millions and millions," he said.
It's expected to save lives and improve them.
Timmerman longs to enjoy the simple pleasures of life again. "Stay out late once in a while, go to a movie or something and come home at midnight," he said.
He would also like to visit Alaska — the place he loves most, more often. Now he has to haul his portable dialysis machine, the size of a fax machine, with him.
Scientists at UCSF have begun animal testing. If all goes well, the first human implant will be at the end of 2017.
Ed Timmerman is hooked up to a portable dialysis machine every night. He is one of the 1.5 to 2 million people worldwide suffering from end-stage renal disease.
"In the middle of the night you'll get these horrendous leg cramps and you've got to get up and stomp around the room," said Timmerman, a father and grandfather who lives in Ogden. "It's a mental trip knowing you're tethered to that machine."
His trips to Alaska are much harder and less frequent. Staying out late is impossible.
"It's kind of like the bewitching hour — Cinderella. You've got to be back or you play havoc the next day," he said.
Timmerman lost a kidney to cancer. His other eventually failed. He's been on the transplant list for three years. Patients can wait for a kidney from 3-8 years, but most die waiting.
First you have to be put on the wait list which can sometimes take a couple of years on top of that, so some patients are waiting half a decade or a decade for a kidney transplant.
–Dr. Jeffrey Campsen, transplant surgeon
"First you have to be put on the wait list which can sometimes take a couple of years on top of that, so some patients are waiting half a decade or a decade for a kidney transplant," said Dr. Jeffrey Campsen, a transplant surgeon at University Hospital.
Dialysis is a temporary solution and only does 10 percent of the kidney's functions.
"It completely drains them, so almost every other day four hours of their day is gone on dialysis and then they feel miserable afterward," Campsen said. "It keeps them alive, but their quality of life is terrible."
Scientists at the University of California at San Francisco say they have an artificial kidney that works in the lab. It's a small implantable device with super efficient membranes that filter toxins from the blood without pumps or electrical power. That would mean freedom for patients in renal failure.
"What we are trying to do is mimic the natural kidney," said Shuvo Roy, a scientist at UCSF.
The device is the size of a coffee cup. It takes the blood, processes it, and generates a waste fluid like urine, Roy said.
"The device is able to provide the functions of a kidney, and we hope when it's ultimately developed it will be a permanent implant," he said.
Patients also won't need immunosuppressant drugs, causing fewer side effects and less risk of infection, researchers said.
"Can you make something that's plastic that's as good as a human organ?" asked Campsen.
Though questions remain, Campsen said the potential for saving lives is incredible.
"I think over a 10-year period, millions and millions," he said.
It's expected to save lives and improve them.
Timmerman longs to enjoy the simple pleasures of life again. "Stay out late once in a while, go to a movie or something and come home at midnight," he said.
He would also like to visit Alaska — the place he loves most, more often. Now he has to haul his portable dialysis machine, the size of a fax machine, with him.
Scientists at UCSF have begun animal testing. If all goes well, the first human implant will be at the end of 2017.
Seeking Gift of Life
From Kokomo Perspective, Kokomo, Indiana, by Alyx Arnett
Meanwhile, his condition isn’t getting any better.
“I am literally begging people to get tested to see if they’re a match [to donate a kidney to him],” said Jenni Williams, Jeremy’s wife.
Jeremy has polycystic kidney disease (PKD), an inherited disorder in which clusters of cysts develop primarily within the kidneys. The cysts contain water-like fluid and can grow very large as more fluid accumulates.
Currently, the cysts on Jeremy’s kidneys have grown so large that his abdomen is protruding.
“His kidneys take up half his abdominal cavity, which that’s a huge area, and it’s pushing his organs where they’re not supposed to be,” Jenni said. “Your kidneys are supposed to be about the size of your fist. His are pretty much the size of babies.”
Many of Jeremy’s friends and family members have been tested to see if they’re a match, but so far, they’ve all been rejected for varying reasons, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or weight.
Eager to find someone who can help her husband, Jenni turned to Facebook, asking her friends to consider being a living donor. A blood type A or O donor is needed. Jenni said at least four people—strangers, in fact—have reached out to her, inquiring about the process.
Starting last week, she began attending a three-part living donor program to better inform herself about the process of someone becoming a living donor in order to better answer questions people have for her.
“They’re giving us information on how to talk to potential living donors because some people are worried about the cost to them if they are a living donor. The living donor, it doesn’t cost them anything. The surgery itself doesn’t cost them. Anything with testing doesn’t cost them. The only thing it would cost them is lost wages at work, and sometimes that would fall under FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act),” Jenni said.
Those who are interested can fill out a form at iuhealth.org/forms/living_donor_intake_form, and a representative will be in touch if the applicant could be a potential match.
“It’s just a simple questionnaire they have to fill out, and they can specifically put that they want to donate to Jeremy. They just have to put his name in there. There are a few health questions, and everything is completely, 100-percent confidential,” she said.
Jenni said she’s hoping to find someone in the community willing to help.
“This would mean the world to us to have him back,” Jenni said about her and their three children, age 12, and twins, age 2-and-a-half. “He would be able to get down on the floor and play with our kids, get out more, interact more, walk more.”
In another attempt to attract donors, Jenni and friend Stacey Griggs had car magnets and decals made that say “Our Daddy Needs a Type A or O Kidney Donor! 765-434-2656.”
“This is just very critical. He needs this kidney. I just don’t want him to have any more problems,” she said.
For more information, visit iuhealth.org/transplant or call 765-434-2656.
BETHEL, Ohio -- Ronald Raines' family is working to save his life.
Raines had a kidney transplant 14 years ago because of polycystic kidney disease; people with the disease get cysts on their kidneys, and as they get older, those cysts start to rupture.
Now, Raines needs another kidney.
"Surgeons told us that there's a very slim chance that they find one for him," his wife Debbie said.
So Raines' family has taken to a new trend in health care, advertising on shirts, yard signs and on the back of cars to bring awareness to their dad.
RELATED: In search for kidney, another man's yard signs pay off
"We're not just about my dad, I mean, my dad being No. 1 to me right now, we're trying to get him a kidney," daughter Melissa Lovell said. W"e're about letting people know there's so many people that need any organ."
Nationally, there are 120,000 people waiting for an organ donation; 90 percent of them need a kidney.
Even if you don't match Raines, his family still wants you to help.
"Then you say, 'If I don't match him and there's someone I can save, put me on the list,'" Lovell said.
If you are interested in becoming an organ donor, the LifeCenter Organ Donor Network serves the Tri-State; you can call to speak with a public education team at 513-558-5555.
From Northern Life, Sudbury, Canada, by Jonathan Migneault
Kidney donation gave Sudbury woman second chance at life
Monique Larochelle visits the Kidney Foundation of Canada website ahead of the 2015 Kidney Walk in Sudbury, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 13 at the Delki Dozzi Memorial Park. Larochelle received a kidney transplant on May 20, 2011. Photo by Arron Pickard.
2015 Kidney Walk supports people with kidney failure in Sudbury, September 13.
Monique Larochelle was given a second chance at life when she received a kidney transplant May 20, 2011.
In 2006, Larochelle was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, a hereditary condition that causes cysts to develop on the kidneys. The disease can eventually lead to kidney failure.
“I wasn't aware there was anything like this in the family,” Larochelle said.
Her father died when she was an infant, and her mother had lost touch with his family.
After she was diagnosed, Larochelle and her brother tracked down her father's family, and found out two of her aunts were on dialysis due to kidney failure.
Soon after her own diagnosis, Larochelle had to go on hemodialysis. She went to the hospital three times a week, and waited for four hours each visit while a machine filtered her blood. While she was on dialysis, Larochelle had to stop working, and needed to make strict lifestyle changes.
She had to limit the water she could drink each day, and even healthy foods like bananas – her favourite fruit – had to be cut back.
Larochelle was added to the kidney transplant waiting list in January 2011, and on May 20, she received a call from the London Health Sciences Centre that a kidney was waiting for her.
“I was very lucky,” she said.
Some people wait years before a compatible kidney becomes available. After her transplant, Larochelle was able to return to work as a school bus driver.
She must take anti-rejection medication every 12 hours, but said it's much better than the alternative of relying on hemodialysis to live.
On Sunday, Sept. 13, Larochelle will join her friends and family for the 2015 Kidney Walk at the Delki Dozzi Memorial Park.
The walk supports the Kidney Foundation of Canada, which works to improve the lives of all people affected by kidney disease through research, government advocacy, peer support, education and various programs.
Forty-one communities across Ontario will host similar walks throughout September and October.
To register for the walk, visit www.kidneywalk.ca.
The Sudbury walk is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
Raines had a kidney transplant 14 years ago because of polycystic kidney disease; people with the disease get cysts on their kidneys, and as they get older, those cysts start to rupture.
Now, Raines needs another kidney.
"Surgeons told us that there's a very slim chance that they find one for him," his wife Debbie said.
So Raines' family has taken to a new trend in health care, advertising on shirts, yard signs and on the back of cars to bring awareness to their dad.
RELATED: In search for kidney, another man's yard signs pay off
"We're not just about my dad, I mean, my dad being No. 1 to me right now, we're trying to get him a kidney," daughter Melissa Lovell said. W"e're about letting people know there's so many people that need any organ."
Nationally, there are 120,000 people waiting for an organ donation; 90 percent of them need a kidney.
Even if you don't match Raines, his family still wants you to help.
"Then you say, 'If I don't match him and there's someone I can save, put me on the list,'" Lovell said.
If you are interested in becoming an organ donor, the LifeCenter Organ Donor Network serves the Tri-State; you can call to speak with a public education team at 513-558-5555.
Walk Supports Gift of Life
2015 Kidney Walk supports people with kidney failure in Sudbury, September 13.
Monique Larochelle was given a second chance at life when she received a kidney transplant May 20, 2011.
In 2006, Larochelle was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, a hereditary condition that causes cysts to develop on the kidneys. The disease can eventually lead to kidney failure.
“I wasn't aware there was anything like this in the family,” Larochelle said.
Her father died when she was an infant, and her mother had lost touch with his family.
After she was diagnosed, Larochelle and her brother tracked down her father's family, and found out two of her aunts were on dialysis due to kidney failure.
Soon after her own diagnosis, Larochelle had to go on hemodialysis. She went to the hospital three times a week, and waited for four hours each visit while a machine filtered her blood. While she was on dialysis, Larochelle had to stop working, and needed to make strict lifestyle changes.
She had to limit the water she could drink each day, and even healthy foods like bananas – her favourite fruit – had to be cut back.
Larochelle was added to the kidney transplant waiting list in January 2011, and on May 20, she received a call from the London Health Sciences Centre that a kidney was waiting for her.
“I was very lucky,” she said.
Some people wait years before a compatible kidney becomes available. After her transplant, Larochelle was able to return to work as a school bus driver.
She must take anti-rejection medication every 12 hours, but said it's much better than the alternative of relying on hemodialysis to live.
On Sunday, Sept. 13, Larochelle will join her friends and family for the 2015 Kidney Walk at the Delki Dozzi Memorial Park.
The walk supports the Kidney Foundation of Canada, which works to improve the lives of all people affected by kidney disease through research, government advocacy, peer support, education and various programs.
Forty-one communities across Ontario will host similar walks throughout September and October.
To register for the walk, visit www.kidneywalk.ca.
The Sudbury walk is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
