In the United States, at any given point in time there are more patients waiting for a kidney transplant than there are donors. Many public campaigns have tried to increase awareness about how donating organs helps save lives. Kidneys are at the center of many of these campaigns since every person has two kidneys but can live healthy with only one. If more people with low risk of kidney failure donated a kidney, many lives would be spared. To have low risk of the disease you should not have kidney failure in your family history, you should eat and drink right, exercise, not have diabetes, and more.

In 2011 over 87,000 patients were waiting for a kidney in the United States alone. In 2008, only slightly over 17,000 transplants were performed. This shows that the United States needs more voluntary donors. Transplants can come from relatives, friends, deceased organ donors, or a stranger. Just because somebody is a member of the patient’s family, however, does not guarantee a match. Actually, in most cases, the kidney donated comes from a deceased donor. Many family members and friends might be willing to donate but are not a match, or they might themselves be at high risk for kidney failure.

What is more terrifying and awful than having a sick child? Having both your children diagnosed with an incredibly rare disorder that can result in kidney failure by age ten. Two sisters, Emily and Poppy, have been diagnosed with cystinosis, an incurable genetic disorder that causes a build-up of the amino acid cystine within the cells of the body. Over time, the crystals form in the kidneys, eyes, liver, and the thyroid gland. It is very rare for people with crystinosis to survive into adulthood. The disorder only affects 1 person in 3.5 million.

Emily was born first and she seemed to be a happy, healthy baby. When she was about ten months old, Emily suddenly started vomiting frequently and losing a lot of weight. At first medics thought it was just a passing virus. But after three different hospital trips within five months medics started testing the girl for every possible condition from leukemia to cystic fibrosis. Emily’s mother, Jessica Kemp, was told that the rarer Emily’s condition was, the harder it will be to diagnose.

If your kidneys are failing and you have not yet found a matching donor, dialysis is the most important part of your weekly routine. Although it is time consuming, expensive, and simply annoying, it can keep a kidney failure patient alive for years. Every year 400,000 U.S citizens undergo dialysis treatments. Now, new studies suggest that longer and more frequent dialysis treatments may provide more benefits for patients. These studies will be published in the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).

How frequent you wonder? Well, these studies suggest that daily or nightly treatment sessions at home are viable treatment options for those suffering from kidney failure. Today, most patients receive dialysis treatments at outpatient facilities about three times a week for three to four hours. That sounds like a lot doesn’t it? Waking up in the morning three times a week to be in a hospital or clinic bed for three or four hours is difficult. And not just for the patient, but for their whole family. So, doing this daily sounds like a nightmare, right? I understand and so do the doctors. This is why the experts have recommended nighttime dialysis. Thus, while you sleep, the dialysis machine can clean your body of toxins and you do not have to waste four hours of your day, every day.

Amelia Rivera is a three-year-old girl who desperately needs a kidney to survive.  However, unlike most patients, she was denied even the chance to try and find a matching kidney. Finding a donor is not an easy job. There are always more patients waiting for a kidney than there are willing and able donors. But there is hope. After a few tests needed to find a match are done, a kidney patient is placed on a waiting list. The wait can be long and it depends or urgency, age, and other medical problems. If a willing stranger happens to match that patient, a donation is possible. If the stranger happens to also match another patient who is in more urgent need of a transplant, or higher on the list, the patient must wait for a different donor. Kidneys can also come from deceased donors.  Even while on the list the patient is encouraged to try and find a donor on his own as this can sometimes shorten the wait time.  

Many patients in need of a kidney never actually find a donor even though they are on a list. However, they still have the security that, while on the list, there are people out there who are trying to help them find a match. Amelia Rivera and her family are on their own in this battle.

There are different ways to diagnose kidney failure. One way to confirm kidney failure is to be done through blood test. The blood test checks the buildup of waste products in the blood. What they check for is BUN, creatinine, and GFR. GFR stand for glomerular filtration rate. This is the rate with which blood is filtered through the kidneys and can be calculated based upon the creatinine level, age, race, and gender. These are the waste that builds up in your blood. Your BUN, and creatinine levels rise greatly, and your GFR decreases.

                You can also check through a urine test. In the urine test they will try to detect protein, abnormal cells or the concentration of electrolytes. Protein shouldn’t be in the urine. That can be a clue to alarm you that your kidney has damage to it. When someone has kidney disease usually abnormal aggregations of red and white blood cells can be seen in their urine.  Comparing the concentrations of electrolytes in the blood and urine can help decide whether the kidneys are able to appropriately monitor and filter blood.

I recently renewed my driver’s license and I read at the bottom. There was a check box that asked if I wanted to be an organ donor. I sat at the DMV thinking for a bit if I should or shouldn't. Then I realized that when I die, what will happen to my body? It will just decompose. I asked myself, what if I needed an organ? I saw it as, what a waste of an organ, if I don’t donate it. I could’ve given someone a chance to continue their life. Even though I can’t because I’m sitting in a box, why not allow someone else to live. I checked the box and decided to be a donor, and to this day I stand as a firm believer in donors. After I got my license and got home from the DMV that day, I began to think as I looked down at my license. When I die I won’t even know which organ was donated, and to who. To me the satisfaction of knowing I changed a life and going through it seems like one of the biggest things I can ever accomplish in my life.  There are approximately 80,000 people waiting for a kidney transplant. About 10 to 12 die every year waiting on the list to receive a kidney. The wait for a kidney transplant varies from month to month; but on average the wait to be on a list is 5 to 7 years. This is a long time for someone who is in need of a transplant and who doesn't have much time left with their life.