DONOR | Traci's Story

Traci Nichols

LIVING Kidney DONOR NEEDED

My name is Traci and I have kidney failure. I have been happily married for 26 years. I was born with polycystic kidney disease which along with diabetes caused my kidneys to fail. I was able to receive a deceased kidney transplant in July 2007. This kidney is no longer working and that's why I'm writing to you today to ask for your help.

Living with diabetes has been really rough (with restricted diet, multiple daily insulin injections and frequent doctor appointments) but then add kidney failure in makes you even more unhealthy. I am currently doing home hemodialysis with my husband's assistance. I am hooked up to a machine 5 days a week for 2.5 to 3 hours per day to do the work my kidney no longer does. This schedule makes it very difficult to do anything with my husband after he gets home for work or travel or even visit with my loving family and friends. A living kidney donation would help me get off dialysis and return to a more healthier life. It would give me the energy and time to do things with my husband and to visit with my family and friends again.

I am writing to all of you because I am in need of someone to donate a kidney to me. What most people don't is that you can live a healthy life with only one kidney. I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider donating your kidney and/or sharing this post to get the word out for me. That would really mean so much to me! Thank you for your time!!

START YOUR JOURNEY

Become Traci Nichols's Donor

If you are considering being a living donor please use links below to contact Traci Nichols's Transplant Center. Begin by completing the donor questionnaire

Becoming a Kidney DONOR Find a Transplant Center near you

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

Bowman Gray Campus, 1 Medical Center Blvd, Winston Salem, NC, 27157

(336) 713-5685 Email Transplant Center

Did you know?

Medical expenses for living organ donors are 100% covered, and inquires from potential donors are 100% confidential! Contact the Transplant Center to learn more about living donation.

More Donor FAQs

Share the Importance of Living Donation

There are currently 120,000 people waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant in the U.S. Of these, 100,000 await kidney transplants.

The median wait time for a kidney transplant is 3-5 years and can vary depending on health, compatibility, and where you live.

In 2014, 17,107 kidney transplants took place in the U.S. Of these, 11,570 came from deceased donors and 5,537 came from living donors.

Every 14 minutes someone is added to the kidney transplant waitlist.

A kidney from a living donor lasts longer and begins functioning more quickly than a kidney from a deceased donor.

In 1995, kidney donation became minimally invasive with a procedure called laparoscopic nephrectomy, which only requires four small incisions. Hospital stay is typically only 3 days after this operation.

Not blood type compatible with your recipient to be a living donor? Kidney Paired Donation (the “kidney swap” program) enables incompatible candidates with a living donor to receive a kidney from a compatible donor.

Last year, over 700 living donor kidney transplants occurred using Kidney Paired Donation.