Tuesday, October 17, 2017

An Open Letter to Save Fran's Life

Frances Gray

I Need Your Help:  I am Frances Gray and I need a kidneyI have end-stage renal failure due to the toxic affects of medicines I was prescribed.  Ultimately I need an angel to step forward to save my life by volunteering to give me a kidney (I have B-positive blood type, but any gender, race, religion, blood type can work).  Tall order, I know.  It's a big ask.  So I'm not askingBut 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.  Your job simply would be to get the 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.

Who Am I?  I am not a person to toot my own horn, so I will let you read what my niece wrote about me:

"My aunt Frances is an angel among us!  She is affectionately called 'Fran' by all her friends and family.

"Fran has put a wave of love into the lives of everyone with whom she has come into contact.

"She has worked as a hair stylist for over 30 yrs in the same location, making thousands of women look and feel beautiful with her skill, personality and 'magic' fingers.

"Fran's trust, faith, and belief in God is an indication of how powerfully she is built.  She understands and completely comprehends that our God has the last and final say.  God leads the path and she follows his words in his time.

"Fran is the epitome of what love means.  Her determination, caring soul and tenacity for hard work  brought her wonderful blessings life has to offer.  And she wants desperately to continue that life, but her kidney failure is not survivable without the gift of life from a living donor."


In Fran's own words:

"Over time, my kidney disease has gotten worse causing my kidneys not to work well enough to keep me alive.

"This is what I am facing now, and my treatment options are limited to dialysis (with a hard life and a greatly shortened life expectancy) or a kidney transplant from a willing donor.

"However, finding a kidney for a transplant is not easy.  More than 100,000 people wait for a deceased donor kidney.

"I have always helped others.  Now I need someone (any gender, any race, any religion, any blood type) to help me."


How to Help Me:
Email Facebook 

Give me 15 minutes (or more) and use that time to tell the world about this website (Kidney4Fran.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).  

Why this is So Serious - My Options:  Most people have two well-functioning kidneys but can lead a full and equally healthy life with just one kidney.  Both of my kidneys are almost fully shut down.  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.

My family members are medically disqualified as donors.

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. 

If You'd Like More Information: For more information, see Columbia University Medical Center's "Becoming a Kidney Donor."
 
Lloyd E. Ratner, MD New York Presbyterian-Columbia

To Speak with Someone Confidentially: If you'd like to speak with someone confidentially (without disclosing your inquiry to me), please contact New York Presbyterian Hospital at 212-305-6469 or visit this website to register your interest. Your questions will be answered by a qualified person who is familiar with my case.  Mention my name, Frances Gray.

For more information, please visit this informational website.

Speaking with a NY Presbyterian staff member is much better than speaking with me.  They know far more than I do and you will get better information from them than from me.  So please, feel free to contact them.

Keep in mind that a confidential phone call to the hospital does not come with any obligations to proceed further.

Request a Donor Questionnaire: If you'd like to consider becoming a kidney donor, please see this online donor questionnaire provided by NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia.

What if A Prospective Donor is Not a Compatible Match? Columbia’s Transplant Center has long participated in paired kidney exchanges.  A paired kidney exchange, also known as a “kidney swap,” occurs when a living kidney donor is incompatible with the recipient.  If an incompatible donor wants to donate their kidney for Rachel and is willing to participate in a donor swap, Rachel's donor's kidney would be swapped with another donor's kidney that is incompatible with their recipient but whose kidney is compatible with Rachel's body.  That saves two lives.

Help Us by Sharing: Even if you’re not a potential donor yourself, some good soul among your Facebook (and other) friends might be! Please share this now. Do more than "like" or comment.  Likes and comments are the "hopes and prayers" of social media. Shares = action, the action needed here.  Together, we can do this.  Sharing this post could help Rachel immensely.  You could be the key to saving her life.  What a gift that would be.

Thank you,
Fran Gray

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*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, my medical insurance covers the costs of medical care and hospitalization for the donor as well as for the recipient. 

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An Open Letter to Save Fran's Life

Frances Gray c/o patricia.davis202@gmail.com I Need Your Help :   I am Frances Gray and I need a kidney .  I have end-stage renal...