_ Barry Gilland

LIVING Kidney DONOR NEEDED

My goal is to be healthy again and continue living and enjoying life.

UPDATE :
After several trips to to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston /Salem , NC I have been upgraded to a viable transplant candidate. Meaning I have passed all the thresholds to receive a kidney transplant. All is needed now is the kidney for transplant. There is about a two year wait list. The only way to decrease the wait time is receiving a kidney from a designated donor . That can be either living or deceased . What that means , without sounding morbid , is a living person whose organs have been designated for transplant upon death. A living person who is diagnosed as brain dead whose family designates their organs to an individual recipient. Or a living person that has donated one of their own kidneys to a designated recipient. The doorway for receiving a transplant is a very narrow one . Hopefully my message below will let anyone interested in donating a kidney for me know who I am and what the circumstances were that caused my kidney failure. I am a Christian and believe that I am in the hands of God Almighty and that he provides my way.

My name is Barry W. Gilland . I was diagnosed with a pretty rare autoimmune disorder called Wegener’s Granulomatosis about 7 years ago . Due to a missed Diagnosis, I had suffered with debilitating body and joint pain for almost two years prior to my specialist finding the source . For the next five years we tried to keep it under control with speciality drugs and chemotherapy. Even thou I had lost 75% of normal kidney function the progression of the disease had been stopped . I continue to take doses of Rituxan , a type of chemotherapy, every 6 months. Even with the drugs and chemo I had another “flair “. This one took everything out of me . My kidneys function was at 5% My energy level was at zero. My Doctor said it was imperative that I start a PD (peritoneal dialysis ) program immediately. Very depressing !
I had always been a healthy person. An athlete as a young man , I continued that lifestyle as I grew older. My love is the outdoor life . Hunting , fishing , surf fishing, and hiking in the woods has always been my passions . My partner has a 45 acre farm that I maintain . Because of my Kidney failure I can no longer pursue these normal activities. The energy level just isn’t there. Even trying to do simple chores around the house has become difficult. It is very difficult to even travel overnight any longer due to all the equipment and solutions I must use every night just to be able to function. I am litterly tied to a machine everyday.how does it make me feel“Devastated “ pretty much sums it up . I miss having the energy to play with the grandkids I miss the outdoor life that is a big part of who I am as a person.I miss being social with our friends. They are all aware of my inability to fight off kind of influenza and intentionally keep their distance. I know it is out of respect for my health but I have always been a very social person. I now feel isolated . Like a person with Leprocy or some crazy contagious disease. A transplant would give me back the person that I am. It would allow me to play with my grandchildren without them being so protective. It would allow me to go fishing with my friends. It would allow me to resume my life that has been put on hold.

“Devastated” pretty much sums it up. I miss having the energy to play with the grandchildren. I miss the outdoor life that is a big part of who I am as a person. I miss being social with our friends. They all are aware of my inability to fight of any kind of influenzas and intentionally keep their distance. I know it is out of respect for my health but I have always been a very social person. I now feel isolated. Like a person with Leprosy.
A transplant would give me back the person that I am. It would allow me to play with my grandchildren. It would give me back my life.

A transplant would mean I can resume my life that has been virtually put on hold for the last eight years. The ongoing complications of peritoneal dialysis pis frustrating to say the least, deviating at worst. Every day feels like I’m on a mountain top just teetering back and fourth. Wondering which way I will fall today . A transplant would mean I can resume my life. Renew lost friendships. Revive my love of the outdoors. Go fishing with the grandkids without them being afraid they might make me sick. Just feeling alive again and able to live outside of the bubble I’ve created around myself.

To all my friends and family I am trying to find a living kidney donor . There is a very long wait list for deceased donor kidney. A deceased donor kidney may take 3-5 years . Due to an autoimmune disease, my kidneys have failed and 6 months ago I was put on daily Peritoneal dialysis . Please share my story with as many people that you possibly can . I encourage all to learn about being a kidney donor . Is my understanding from Wake Forest Baptist Hospital Transplant Center in Winston/Salem , NC , there is no cost to the donor. Of course, WF would need a complete medical history of the donor before the actual transplant. Donor would only be in the hospital overnight. Also they would be unrestricted after only a day or two.

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