Do you know someone with a B-, B+, O- or O+ blood type, or if they don’t have that, someone who would be willing to do a cross-donation program? You could save this father and husband’s life.

Read on for Ed and his family’s heart-wrenching story and see if you’re a match, here.

In July 2018, Ed went to the doctor for a persistent sore throat. He was immediately told to go to the hospital because his blood pressure was super high. He was admitted after initial tests showed his creatine levels were extremely high, a sign of kidney failure. He stayed in the hospital for six days while they tried to get his blood pressure under control. At his follow-up appointment, they got the news that he was in end phase kidney failure and he was set up for emergency surgery to insert his stomach catheter to receive dialysis 7 days a week, 11 hours a day. He has been fortunate enough to be able to do this from home, thankfully.

In September of last year, Ed received the call to start the process of being added to the transplant list. Obviously, tons of testing has to be done for a person to be cleared for transplant. As part of that testing, Ed had an MRI, which showed a mass on his kidney. By November, that kidney was removed entirely, leaving him with one kidney functioning at 5%. Test results on that mass came back positive for stage 3 small cell cancer. Another blow to this sweet family’s hope. They were devastated. Ed is only 38.

In May of this year, Ed was scanned again and and told all the cancer had been removed with his bad (read: worse) kidney. He is finally able to be on the transplant list! This is amazing news, but no one has been a match. Ed and his wife made the tough decision that she would not donate to him for fear that their 4 year old daughter has inherited some of the genetic issues that led to Ed’s cancer and kidney problems. She is the same blood type as their daughter and, God forbid, may one day need to donate a kidney to her. Someone else came forward and was tested but sadly, was not a match.

Contrary to what would be expected, Ed has not skipped a beat since this all began. He continues to work full time as a General Manager at Marlow’s Tavern in Brookhaven. He has been with the company for 13 years. We actually became friends working at the Marlow’s in Vinings in 2008. Ed works harder than anyone I’ve ever met. It is all I have ever known him to do. He is loved by all of his co-workers, employees and community. I have personally watched him help so many people find their way in life. Be it by giving advice, tough love, a job or just leading by example. To this day he works 60+ hours a week. The remainder of his time is spent hooked up to a dialysis machine.

The average life span for someone on dialysis is 5-7 years. It is possible that sometimes kidneys can repair themselves while on dialysis but that is not even seen as a possibility in Ed’s case because he only has one and that remaining one barely works at 5% function rate. The statistics on the shortage of kidneys are staggering. More than 40,000 people die each year because they can’t find a kidney donor…which is pretty crazy because there is even something called a “paired exchange program,” which is where an intended donor may not match their intended recipient but they and another incompatible pair can essentially swap donors. It’s a win/win.

Additionally, there are some misconceptions about matching with someone with whom you do not share a blood type. For example, Ed is B+ but he would potentially be able to receive a transplant from anyone with B or O (the universal type) blood types.

If you have questions, we’re happy to send them on to Ed and his wife, Kati. Email us: [email protected].

Here is a link for more information about kidney donation with Emory.