One Chicago woman became a domino that allowed eight people to get a life-saving kidney, and altruistic living kidney donations are on the rise. Here are some resources about kidney transplant programs.
Kidney Transplant Centers in Chicago
Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Kidney Transplantation Program
Rush University Medical Center Kidney Transplant Program
University of Chicago Medical Center Kidney Transplant Department
Loyola University Kidney Transplant Program
Children’s Memorial Hospital Kidney Transplant Program
Related Links
The Living Kidney Donor Network
Please give me the contact information for Harvey Mysel
It is not on your website.
Thank you.
The best way to get in touch with Harvey is through the Living Kidney Donors Network website. It is at http://www.lkdn.org
This was an amazing segment on Living Kidney Donors!!! Kudos for you to take the time. I have a brother who has been on dialysis for two years and we had no idea about these options. Why did our doctors not mention this to us??
We could have saved two years time by getting involved in a paired exchange. If it hadn’t been for tonights program I wouldn’t have been able to research this!!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!
Hannah,
What a great note! I am sorry to hear about your brother’s struggle. I have spoken to numerous people with the same frustration. That’s why it is so important to have an organization like the Living Kidney Donor Network. I was so fortunately that the Brockington Foundation referred me to Harvey Mysel here in Chicago. He was instrumental in helping me obtain my goal to be a Living Kidney Donor. I am sure he would love to hear from you!
Cara
My wife and I saw the show last night on Living Kidney Donors. I have diabetes and it’s a struggle each day even with insulin. It is a matter of time before I am going to most have to have dialysis. My wife wanted to donate one of her kidneys to me but because she has high blood pressure she cant. I just assumed I didn’t have any other options. I watch your station a lot because of its straight forward reporting and community topics. I sure am glad we tuned in to it last night. I didn’t think that I had any other options. I was told that my next step would be diaylsis and then be placed on the waiting list. Thanks for this information. Mr. Mysell said exactly what I am feeling about being shy about letting people know about my situation. But this woman who donated is a ray of hope that others might be willing to do the same.
David,
If you go to my website you’ll find additional information for someone who needs a kidney transplant.
You can also sign up for one of my webinars or workshops. I will be adding additional workshop dates for the Chicago area.
Please contact me directly if you have any questions.
harvey@lkdn.org
Although I am thrilled that 8 people have been given a new lease on life, I wish your story had expanded on the Pay-It-Forward program Loyola University has piloted. By not keeping their altruistic donors “in house”, they are able to facilitate much larger chains which are more easily accomplished from a logistical standpoint and they are also less expensive to perform. Since these donation chains are essentially open-ended, there is technically no limit to how long the chain can be.
Loyola has been hosting a series of very informative discussions on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm which will continue through June 1. I encourage anyone who is interested in either donating or is a waiting recipient to attend.
Also, regarding the question of a national registry, they do exist. The most successful one is the National Kidney Registry which has facilitated 128 transplants since its inception in February of 2008.
I am also a kidney donor through Loyola, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. My experience has inspired me to form the Heal With Love Foundation to support living donors during their recovery from surgery. My aim is to give back to those who are giving to others.
I wish to thank all of you at WTTW for allowing us to educate your audience on the importance of Living Donors.
Without your help and dedication the word of not only what we as a panel have to contribute would get out, but so a great number of organizations.
Barbara I was rather taken back by your comment. I would have thought regardless who was on this program that you would have been thrilled to see the end result of this kidney pairing. This is not a contest between facilities or non-profits. We should all be working together in hopes to encourage more people to step forward and becoming Living Donors. The focus should not be limited to any one organization or hospital facility. I would like to think we are all out there to support each other.
Cara, I’m afraid you may have misunderstood my intentions, and, for that, I apologize. As I said at the outset, I am thrilled at the outcome. You were the catalyst for 8 people receiving a new life. You are a blessing and an inspiration.
It was certainly not my intention to incite a “contest between facilities or non-profits” but merely expressing my dismay at a missed opportunity to further educate the public about the many exciting new options that are now available. When Ms. Marin raised the question about Loyola’s program and asked what the differences were, it was not really answered, which was probably due to the limitations and time constraints of the media segment. I was only trying to answer the question she raised.
I agree with you that the focus should not be limited to any one organization and that the focus should be on education. There are many new avenues to explore, and it is very surprising to me that there are so many dialysis patients in this country who are not being given the information they need to make proactive, educated decisions about their care and their options.
I am very excited that people are changing the way they think about donation through programs such as the Pay It Forward program at Loyola, the paired donations being done at Northwestern, and the various networks like the National Kidney Registry, the Living Kidney Donor Network and others. It has also come to my attention that Christ Hospital is now conducting informative sessions about their new transplant program, also on Tuesday evenings. There are differences between these various programs, and I was only trying to encourage people to become as informed as they possibly can.
As a donor myself, I don’t believe there is such a thing as a “wrong” decision regarding donation, whether it is an individual donation, a paired donation, chain donation or even no donation. It is an extremely personal choice to make, and one that should not be taken lightly or without the benefit of all of the information available.
I believe that we are on the brink of eliminating “waiting lists” altogether, and that stories of generosity and altruism like yours are providing the inspiration to change the future.
Hopefully there will be more and more pieces done on this important topic.
Barbara, I understand and am so glad you clarified. This isn’t even about me. I am over the stars that 8 people were able to benefit from this process. If anything I believe that all of us need to pool our talents together in joint ventures in edcuating the public. I don’t believe that Ms. Marin in meant to gloss over Loyola’s program, its just that there wasn’t a representative from Loyola for the this particular program and nobody would ever want to “guestimate” the wonderful things that they are doing . This was just one little slice of pie of one exmaple of what one person can do to make a difference. What we all need is more opportunities to present all the fantastic options out there. To be honest even an hour program wouldn’t be able to scratch the surface of the all the statistics and information we would love to get to the public.
Thank you for you reply. We are all on the same team.
Thank you, Chicago Tonight, for providing this informative piece to the public. What a great selection of panelists, and so very informative… Cara, you are an angel.
As someone that is seeking information about the living donor program, this is a perfect example of the type of programming and education for the public that is needed, and appreciated. The Living Kidney Donor network and all living donors everywhere should be commended for their selfless acts of courage.
Thank you so much for providing this information! I’m also a living kidney donor through Northwestern Memorial Hospital (although I was not involved in a chain – my father was my recipient) and I completely concur with your assessment of their care for the donors and recipients alike. While my father was extremely lucky in having a compatible donor in myself there was always the chance that I would not have been compatible. I love that the chain would have been available to us as an option.
To be perfectly honest, if I could, I’d donate another kidney in a heartbeat. There have been no negative impacts on my life, only positive. I’m only sad that I only had one to give.
Carole,
Thank you for your support on the Living Kidney Donor program. You of all people understand how crucial it is for us to spread the word on Living Donorship. I said if I had 10 kidneys, I’d give nine! But you were the ray and angel of hope to your Father. What a beautiful, loving thing to do. It’s truly a shame that more people are not aware of kidney pairings. Something we all hop to change. Thank you so much for watching the program!!
Cara
Thank you, Chicago Tonight, for a compelling and informative panel discussion about living kidney donation. Northwestern (as well as other transplant centers) and the Living Kidney Donor Network are making transplantation availiable to more people and are helping to improve the kidney shortage in this country. Each time I hear of a multi-person kidney pairing I am moved by both the selflessness of the altruistic donor who is essential to make the whole thing possible in the first place, and the tireless work of the doctors, nurses, and volunteers who make it happen. Thank you, Cara!