DID YOU KNOW?
You DON'T have to be a match to donate anymore!
Deb needs a kidney donor.
Have you ever thought about kidney donation?
Any Healthy Person 18+ yrs can Donate a Kidney to Deb.
Our story. As a young girl, Deb was diagnosed with Alport's Syndrome, a rare genetic disease. In 2002, she lost kidney function. I'm her husband, Paul, 20 years ago, I made a living donation to save her life but now that kidney needs to be replaced. We desperately need to find a kidney donor for Deb.
Our family needs your help.
Even just sharing our story, can help Deb.
Please Share
Deb's 2002 kidney transplant enabled her to see our daughter, Michelle, receive her graduate degree from Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2019. We so urgently need a new kidney for Deb so we can to have many more years with her. Living Kidney Donations have the best outcomes for a near normal life for renal transplant patients. My kidney gave Deb a full life for 20 years. Please help her, as I did, by donating your kidney. It could mean another 20 years or more! Thank you for considering donating to Deb.
The Road to here.
As a family, we spend a lot of time together. We love to travel, bike, ski, swim and hike all over the Northeast. We can't imagine that not happening anymore....
Deb and I met in a hospital laboratory in Charleston, West Virginia. She was a recent WVU graduate working as a Medical Technologist. I was selling diagnostic lab equipment. At my first appointment with her, I showed up a bit late in an odd get up of a tweed jacket, Rooster tie and cowboy boots.
She knew immediately that one of my local colleagues had pranked me. Knowing I was from New York City, he told me to "dress down" when selling in West Virginia. But Deb took pity on me knowing well that he had set me up.
We shared a cup of coffee in the hospital cafeteria and I was immediately attracted to her brilliance, kindness and sense of humor.
A year later, we were married and moved to New Jersey when I got promoted. She found work soon after we arrived at Hoffman La Roche in their quality control department. Her role there advanced into Regulatory Affairs and FDA submission for new drugs, Deborah honed her skills and gained an international reputation for being a collaborator and strategic leader. We call it, "The Road to Success in Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs."
We raised our daughter, Michelle, in Ridgewood, NJ, as our work became more demanding in both time and travel. Together Deb and I managed to stay committed to Michelle's interests in sports, school and community events.
Deb is our life, she's the glue in our family and we're doing anything we can to help her and continue our life together.
In 2002, our lives changed.
Doctors told Deb that her kidneys were failing.
At a medical center presentation, we learned that living kidney donation had the best outcome for patients who had End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD).
When the medical center's transplant team said that kidney donor could be non-familial, I realized that I could be the donor even though we were unrelated. We decided to have a laparoscopic procedure at St. Barnabas Medical Center. Within a week of the procedure, I recovered nicely and Deb was successfully transplanted. Her life and work continued normally, without going on dialysis, with life saving medications that she continues to take today.
By coincidence, when Michelle's college athletic focus landed her at Brandeis, Deb was recruited by a Boston based biopharma firm. So we moved to Boston for work and to have the opportunity to see Michelle play collegiate soccer.
Today, Deb has a successful track record with rare disease drug approvals via her own consulting business supporting multiple clients.
Last year, amid the rolling trends of COVID, Deb's doctors at the Brigham and Women's Medical Center here in Boston, told her that the kidney that I gave her was showing signs of decline.
Renal patients become transplant candidates when their renal function is below 19%.
Recently, Doctors told Deb that the kidney I gave her 20 years ago, is showing signs of decline.
This brings you to where Deb is today. If you know of someone who would be willing to donate their kidney, like I have, please fill in the form to find out more. This could save more than one persons life.
I am a Living Donor!
My Full Life Since Donating My Kidney to Deb in 2002.
One week after I donated my kidney to Deb in 2002, I went back to work. Within 1 month, I restarted training for a triathlon and competed in a race just a few weeks later. Today, I swim with a US Masters team. At 64, I typically finish in the top 10 in Open Swims of up to 3.2 miles. In '18, I swam from Alcatraz to S.F. , with one kidney.
Asking for someone to donate a kidney is unimaginable. For me, the decision to give Deb one of my kidneys was immediate. While donation is not simple, it is safe. Hundreds of kidney transplants are successful every year.
The Laparoscopic procedure often employed today is much easier on the donor. This is no longer the major surgery from the past. I had the laparoscopic procedure and it had zero impact on my health or physical strength.
Read about becoming a Living Donor HERE
Kidney Support Sites to Follow
Saying Yes to Living Kidney Donation. Taylor Tagg
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