Health & Fitness
Please Give The Gift of Life
Petra Chesner Schlatter needs a living kidney donor Without Living Donor, Dialysis Will Begin
![Petra Chesner Schlatter](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/22885476/20230225/045721/styles/patch_image/public/petra-6-12-22___25165506581.jpg)
I am living with fourth-stage kidney disease. I have only 14-percent function of my kidneys and have diabetes. My day-to-day activities are so difficult that I am having to rely on many people to help me. I will go on dialysis before the end of the year if I don’t find a living kidney donor.
Have you ever considered being a living kidney donor?
There are minimal health complications for both donor and recipient. Anyone can sign up to be a living donor. Even if a donor is not a match for the recipient, there is an exchange program in place. Living kidney donors are offered home care, all donor bills -- hospital stay, medications, home care -- are paid for by a donor acquisition fund and the kidney recipient’s insurance.
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In the U.S., there are over 100,000 people waiting for a deceased donor kidney transplant. That is why it takes five to seven years to receive a kidney.
My blood type is “O Positive.” The only blood type compatible with me is “O”. A donor could be either “O Positive” or “O Negative.”
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The success rate of transplants from living donors is higher than deceased kidneys.
Donation of a living kidney will greatly increase my quality of life and prevent dialysis, which cannot be performed forever. If I do not find a living donor, I would start dialysis by the end of the year.
Dialysis is not a pleasant experience. It usually is done three times a week for three hours per day.
As a retired journalist for The Advance of Bucks County, Yardley News and BucksLocalNews.com, I focus a good deal of my time on my hope to make this world a better place and sharing the words, “Peace, Love and Harmony”. My goal is to inspire others about the good in the world. I want to experience my grandchildren grow. Being with them brings joy to my life! My grandson turned two years old and my granddaughter is seven years old. I missed their joint birthday party because I am at high risk of getting Covid because of the Fifth-stage Kidney Disease and Type 2 Diabetes.
Thank you so very much for considering being a donor.
If you are moved to learn more, let’s talk. You can send an email to [email protected] with your full name, phone number so I can answer any concerns or questions you may have.