Wednesday, September 26, 2018

GOOD NEWS UPDATE
We have received an overwhelming response through Facebook and this website.  So much so that Johns Hopkins has indicated that we probably have enough directed donor applicants for Aidan. 

It takes several months to complete donor testing - so if the current group of potential donors doesn't meet the hospital's donor criteria and, if you still want to be considered as a donor for Aidan, then please call the Johns Hopkins Living Kidney Donor Team at 410-614-9345.

Nurses there will take some preliminary information and contact you at a later date should we still have need.

Aidan Tucker

AND, please know that Johns Hopkins treats other sick children and adults who desperately need a kidney.  If you were moved to donate for Aidan, please consider offering your kidney for someone else at the hospital, particularly if you are in the DC/Baltimore area.

Another fantastic option for people in the U.S. and Canada who are interested in donating to one of the more than 130,000 people waiting for a kidney is DonorToDonor.com.  You can complete a brief Donor Interest Form to indicate your possible interest in kidney donation. 

Please know that Aidan and his family all thank you and wish you godspeed.

We will update Aidan's progress here as we move forward. We are all a part of this beautiful, complicated thing called humankind and the glue that keeps it all together is our ability to reach out and help each other when we can.   Our heartfelt thanks go to all of you.

Sincerely,
Jennifer and Michael Tucker
for our son Aidan

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ORIGINAL POST

Please Help Save our Son's Life by Sharing this Post:
Our 16 year-old son Aidan needs a kidney to live.  Not necessarily your kidney, but someone's.  You can help simply by sharing this post on FaceBook and elsewhere. Together we can find that angel willing to do the extraordinary by giving the gift of life to save our son Aidan.

Aidan Tucker

Aidan has end-stage renal failure with only 21% kidney function remaining and dropping. Aidan needs an angel to step forward to save his life by donating a kidney (blood type O).  Tall order.  We know.  It's a big ask.  So we are not asking.  But we are asking for help in another way - by sharing this post - even if you're not a donor.

Sharing this website address (Kidney4Aidan.com) with a short message on Facebook or other social media mentioning Kidney4Aidan.com can bring our need to the attention of someone who might be a donor.

As we grow our audience, Aidan's chance of receiving a life-saving kidney transplant increases greatly.

Who is Aidan?
Our son Aidan is a sensitive, bright young man just beginning his life.  He is now in high school and is interested in computer game design and all things computer.  Aidan just earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is starting to learn to drive.  People tend to notice Aidan's sweet sense of humor and his smile.  He loves to make others feel better.
Aidan Tucker
Aidan has hopes and aspirations like any kid.  But his greatest hope is for a kidney transplant soon so that he can live a normal life.

We need your help.  Sharing this website address could save his life.

How to Help Aidan:

I need your help to find a kidney donor so I can live.

Please give us 15 minutes (or more) to tell the world about Aidan and this website (Kidney4Aidan.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). 
Ask your contacts, readers, friends and acquaintances to share this post to give our message exponential distribution.  
 
Why this is So Serious - Our Son's Options: 
Most people have two well-functioning kidneys but can lead a full and equally healthy life with just one kidney.  Both of his kidneys are almost fully shut down.  So, medically Aidan now has only two options to continue living:
  • dialysis (diminshed quality of life)
  • transplant (a new lease on life)
According to USRDS data, Kidney transplant recipients fare far better than dialysis patients. 

Paired Kidney Exchange:
Since 2001, Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center has 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 Aidan and is willing to participate in a donor swap, Aidan's donor's kidney would be swapped with another donor's kidney that is incompatible with their recipient but whose kidney is compatible with Aidan's body.  That saves two lives.

If You'd Like More Information:
For more information, watch this short video where Transplant surgeon Dorry Segev discusses the kidney transplant waiting list, living kidney donors, surgery, recovery and the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center where Aidan is registered.



To Speak with Someone Confidentially:
If you'd like to speak with someone confidentially (without disclosing your inquiry to us), please call Johns Hopkins Living Kidney Donor Team at 410-614-9345 and ask to speak with a donor coordinator about our son, Aidan Tucker.  They do not inform us of inquiries.  We learn of a donor only after that donor has completed testing and is approved for transplant.

Speaking with a staff member is much better than speaking with us.  They know far more than we do and you will get better information from them.  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.  Your questions will be answered by a qualified person who is familiar with my case.

Also, see "What Kidney Donors Need to Know: Before, During and After Donation." 

Ned Brooks, Altruistic Kidney Donor

Help Us by Sharing.  Unfortunately, "Likes" are Not Enough:
So, please help us by sharing this post with your Facebook and other friends.  Please 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 Aidan immensely.  You could save his life.

I need your help to find a kidney donor so I can live.

Thank you,

Michael and Jennifer Tucker
for our son Aidan


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