Jenna's ongoing quest for a donor

[okarol]

Life has been a rollercoaster lately. We had a young woman donor in the Los Angeles transplant hospital swap program with Jenna. They have been waiting 4 years together in the pool but no match yet.
This donor had an oops with a boyfriend and is pregnant. She was really upset at having to drop out but what can we do? She's due in July and has now found a family to adopt the child and is happy she found a good couple. 
In the meantime Jenna is inactive, which is very scary because she is so hard to match. What if she missed out on an opportunity? As luck would have it, a donor at the San Diego transplant hospital, who has been in a swap program with Jenna for 5 years, told us he wants to donate in a new program (available in Los Angeles, not in San Diego.) It's the Advance Donor Program through the National Kidney Registry. This would allow him to donate to someone in the pool now, and Jenna would get a voucher to receive a kidney when a match is found. This would really take the burden off of worrying that a donor will drop out, as we just experienced. So we hustled and got the LA center to begin evaluating him, and in the next couple of weeks we will hopefully know if it's going to work out. I hope this all makes sense.
This has been a tumultuous time. It's tough on Jenna. She never complains but I know it stresses her out. All we can do is pray for guidance and strength, and hopefully we are on the right path.

[kristina]

okarol, I am so sorry for you, it sounds like a horrible, endless nightmare...
... I can hardly comprehend it all ... and you have all my sympathy...
All the best wishes and good luck from Kristina.

[Rerun]

Things happen for a reason and I'm glad this woman is having this child.  Who knows but what he/she may grow up to find a cure for this awful disease.  I hope this generous Man comes thru and he is a perfect match and Jenna has it for the rest of her Whole full life. 

   Ask and ye shall receive.

[cassandra]

Sending positive vibes your way okarol, to be shared with Jenna and potential donor of course. How come Jenna is inactive on the list at the moment?


Love, luck and strength, Cas

[MooseMom]

Thank you very much for taking the time to update us, okarol.  You know we are always thinking of Jenna and are always hoping she will find a new kidney very soon.

 

[PrimeTimer]

Thank you for telling us about the Advance Donor Program and vouchers. Hopefully the generosity of this donor will bear fruit (voucher) for Jenna.

[Charlie B53]

We need to find or write and article on this Donor Swap Program and how Vouchers may be a very good system.  Find better means of getting this information public so more potential donors may be found and recruited.

I don't doubt there are many out there that still haven't a clue about kidney donations and transplants.  This is not an every day subject for the healthy pulic.  And it needs to be.

[okarol]

Sending positive vibes your way okarol, to be shared with Jenna and potential donor of course. How come Jenna is inactive on the list at the moment?


Love, luck and strength, Cas

Sorry I should have been more clear. She is inactive in the paired donation program, the National Kidney Registry, because she lost her donor to swap in the pool.
The man who will take that donor's place doesn't match Jenna, but is willing to donate on her behalf.
Her status in the national deceased donor waiting list is unaffected.

[okarol]

Thanks Kristina, Rerun, Cas, MooseMom, PrimeTimer and Charlie - love the support!

[librajenn2]

thinking of you all and sending hugs. This process is so incredibly stressful. Big big big big big hugs!!