Iraq Veteran Needs Kidney Transplant

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Iraq Veteran Needs Kidney Transplant
Marine Sgt. Jake Chadwick fought in Iraq, and he returned home to face another battle

By KIM BALDONADO and JULIE BRAYTON
Updated 2:14 PM PST, Tue, Mar 1, 2011 |

Jacob Chadwick enlisted in the military on his 18th birthday. A year later, he was in Iraq.
More Information: Donate a Kidney
After his tour of duty, he married Victoria and re-enlisted for another four years. The young couple could not have been happier to learn a baby would soon complete their family, but it was a bittersweet time.
Ella Marie was born at the same time they learned Sgt. Chadwick had kidney failure and needed a transplant.
"It was very stressful, because it's a time of joy, but then in the back of my head I knew something was wrong," said Victoria.
"I never, could in a million years picture this happening. I always wanted to be that great dad, to be out there and not be tired when she's growing up and she wants to go do things. I want to be there for her," said Sgt. Jacob Chadwick.
No one in his family is a match, so Jacob must endure four hours of dialysis, three times a week while he waits for a donor. Finding a match could take five years.
"Our relationship was tested in the beginning with my deployment, which we made it through, and we thought that was the ultimate test," said Sgt. Chadwick.
The Chadwick's may be living away from their families, but they're getting a lot of support from their extended military family, thanks to Operation Gratitude.
While Jacob was in Iraq, Victoria kept herself busy volunteering with Operation Gratitude, an organization which sends care packages to troops overseas. Now that group is giving back to the Chadwick's, sending e-mails to it's thousands of contacts, telling Jacob's story and asking people to consider becoming a donor.
"We got an e-mail today from an 83 year old World War II vet who wants to donate their kidney and it's so touching," said Victoria Chadwick.
They've received hundreds of e-mails from around the country, offering moral support and words of encouragement. Even if they don't find a donor, the Chadwick's say they've already been blessed.
"The outcome is going to be what it is, whatever the case may be, but just the show of support is incredible. I've never experienced anything like it," said Sgt. Chadwick.

VDEO http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Iraq-Veteran-Needs-Kidney-Transplant-117131443.html

[okarol]

Updated: March 4, 2011 4:17 p.m.
Marine sergeant waits for new kidney
By BRITTANY LEVINE
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

After returning from a year in Iraq in 2009, Chadwick got married, re-enlisted for another four years and became the father of a baby girl. During his wife's pregnancy, he started feeling weak and suffered strong headaches. His doctors told him it might be his kidneys and scheduled him for a biopsy.
"I've always been a healthy person," said Chadwick, 23. "It felt like I was just sucker punched. It really caught us off guard."
The day he was supposed to get his kidneys tested, his daughter, Ella Marie, was born.
After that, he kept putting off his check-ups to take care of his baby, now 4 months old. But the headaches were getting worse and his wife, Victoria, urged him to get tested.
Doctors told him his kidneys were scarred. He was diagnosed with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, or rapid kidney failure. In Chadwick's case, the cause is unknown.
He will have to be on dialysis until doctors can find him a replacement kidney. He's on a waiting list at the University of San Diego Medical Center.
Due to his failing health, Chadwick recently moved from his post as an infantryman in the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton to a Marine Corps reserve unit called the 4th Tank Battalion. He spends four hours on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays having his blood cleaned for him by a machine at Naval Medical Center San Diego. Without properly functioning kidneys, toxins can build up in the body.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he processes military recruits at the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center.
"Of course there were a lot of sleepless nights when he was over there (in Iraq)," said Victoria Chadwick, 28. "Now I feel the same way – sad. I just want my family to be healthy."
While her husband was in Iraq, Victoria dedicated her time to working for Operation Gratitude, a volunteer group that sends care packages to deployed troops. She packed boxes, made labels and did anything to get her mind off the what-ifs of wartime.
Faced with a new challenge, Victoria again reached out to Operation Gratitude. Jacob's mother wrote a letter that the group's founder, Carolyn Blashek, sent to her contact list asking for help. (Read the letter here.)
None of Jacob's immediate family members can help him. His mother and brother both have incompatible blood types. If a relative can't donate a kidney, live donors can be difficult to find. The wait list Chadwick is on is for a cadaver donor.
The day Blashek sent out the note, dozens of e-mails rolled in. But even if someone is willing to be a donor, the process takes time.
Donors undergo X-rays and multiple medical exams, including urine and psychiatric tests. Chadwick understands it would be a big sacrifice for a stranger to make.
Blood type isn't the only hurdle in finding a match. Lab technicians must mix Chadwick's blood with that of a possible donor and make sure they work well together. Tissue matching also is a factor.
"A kidney transplant is not going to happen tomorrow," Chadwick said. "We're trying to build ourselves an arsenal of people who may be interested."
Going through dialysis makes him weak, something he's not used to. Sometimes he can barely hold up a shower head.
"Sometimes I feel like a 7-year-old trapped in a 23-year-old's body," he said. "Being my age, I can't live the rest of my life on dialysis."
Contact the writer: blevine@ocregister.com, twitter.com/newssanclemente or 949-492-5135

TO LEARN MORE

For more information about how to help, e-mail jvechadwick10@hotmail.com.
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http://www.ocregister.com/news/chadwick-290709-kidney-blood.html

[MooseMom]

It seems that every time there is a story like this, we read how this person must endure 4 hour treatments every other day at the Naval Medical Center.  Why can't they discuss HHD/NxStage with him so that he could feel better and be able to spend more time with his new child?  If our troops/vets deserve the best, then they deserve the best dialysis, too.  I would love to know if anyone on his care team talked to him about better modalities.

I have to say that I am very surprised that this soldier is having to wait for a donor to step forward.  I would have liked to have seen him receive dozens of offers from grateful Americans.