Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 7/5/2023
EASTHAMPTON — Bonnie Diamond had just finished reading an email, and her spirits sank. She desperately needs a kidney transplant and after being told several times that one might be available, she was disappointed yet again with bad news. Potential donors have either been medically disqualified or changed their minds about donating a kidney.
“It’s a rollercoaster ride. You don’t have full control. One day it seems like everything’s going to be fine and you’re going to have a transplant and the next day something happens, something doesn’t work out,” said Diamond.
Diamond has chronic kidney disease, which has been slowly progressing for 30 years. She couldn’t tell there was a problem right away, and the disease quietly got worse. She finally knew something was wrong 20 years ago when she began feeling symptoms. She became tired, thirsty and had a strange feeling in her legs. The signs were subtle, confusing and easy to miss.
“People don’t know they have chronic kidney disease. If there’s anything else I want to get out to the world is you may not feel the symptoms,” she said.
Diamond has just recently been evaluated at three kidney transplant centers and all of them have concluded the 63-year-old is healthy enough to have the lifesaving surgery — but that’s where the trail goes cold.
It is extremely difficult to find a living donor, and the list to receive one harvested from a cadaver is long and intimidating. There are nearly 110,000 people waiting for kidney transplants in the U.S. Less than half of them received one last year and the wait for the others is between three and seven years.
Dr. Kenneth McPartland is a transplant surgeon and surgical director of kidney transplantation at
Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. He said there are up to 150 people on Baystate’s waiting list and only 50 received a kidney in 2022.
“It’s frustrating and unfortunate. We don’t have alternatives to replacing someone’s kidney. We could do dialysis but people on dialysis are more likely to die and have a worse quality of life,” he said. “We also have more medical problems with dialysis than when people get a transplant.”
With the shortage of kidneys worsening, surgeons are now taking a second look at using organs they had previously passed on.
“We’re doing everything we can to look at every potential kidney offered to a patient on our waiting list, and what we’re learning is sometimes a kidney donated from an older individual may not be a great match for someone who’s next in line to get the transplant, but it’s often a much better option than dialysis for someone who is older and further down on the list,” said McPartland.
Diamond is on lists at three transplant centers, waiting for a kidney from a cadaver, even as she hopes for a more immediate match with a living donor. Meanwhile, even with only 10% kidney function, she’s trying to live a full life — exercising, walking, traveling, meditating and treating herself with acupuncture.
By profession, Diamond is a healer specializing in Japanese acupuncture, cranial sacral therapy and wellness counseling. She draws inspiration from her work and strength from her patients.
“Some of my patients are in way more pain than I am, and they are strong and courageous. This is making me a better practitioner because I understand things can happen that are outside of your control, and we all are entitled to compassionate care,” she said.
The medical community is doing what it can to raise awareness of this kidney shortage, encouraging more people to become donors. Congress is also getting involved, considering legislation that would ensure donors cannot be denied future health care coverage after the operation. Other proposed laws would assist donors with lost wages and travel expenses related to the surgery.
“We are seeing efforts on a nationwide level to remove financial and emotional barriers to donating kidneys,” said McPartland.
Diamond is reaching out directly to friends and family along with the world on Facebook, letting everyone know about the desperate need nationally for living kidney donors, and her own personal journey to find one.
“I know it’s all going to shake out. I have some anxiety, but I’m not overwhelmed. You have to look for a donor without expectations. It’s just hard putting it out there. I feel very vulnerable, and I don’t know what’s going to happen next,” said Diamond.
If there is a silver lining so far, it is that while doctors were evaluating Diamond’s husband Dan as a possible donor, they found a non-aggressive cancerous growth on his kidney and he’s being treated for it.
For more information about becoming a kidney donor, visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/bonniediamond or www.kidneyregistry.org