March 10

• Dear Friends and Family,
  I am writing to you all to update you on what has been going on in our lives in the last couple of months.
  About 9 years ago Chris was diagnosed with a kidney disease called FSGS. He was very lucky because it was caught very early and my sister who works in the field referred us to a very progressive doctor. The doctor was able to get him into remission for the last 7 years. Last year at this time it was confirmed that Chris was out of remission. The doctor put him on some very powerful drugs to try and put him back into remission, but they did not work. In January Chris's GFR hit the magic number of 20, which is the number you need to qualify for a kidney transplant. We are very fortunate that we live in a city that has one of the top transplant hospitals in the world, The Mayo Clinic. Chris has spent many hours there getting tested and we found this Tuesday that he qualifies for a transplant. Yeah!
  As soon as Chris's insurance approves the transplant, Chris will be put on national donor list, which would put him on the list for a decease donor's kidney. The current wait time is at least 4 years. Even though there is great success with deceased organs, live donor offers a longer life and greater chance of a successful transplant. Personally I would love donate, but Chris will not except my kidney for many reason. The biggest one being Christos.
  So we thought we would share our story, hoping for your thoughts and prayers. But also if you every thought of being a donor we thought we could at least ask. Now a days the donor only spends one night in the hospital and can get back to work and their every day life very quickly. Of course there are tests that have to be run, but Chris's insurance and Mayo pick up the tab. His insurance even pays for the donor's plane ticket if needed and hotel stay. We realize that is a huge thing to ask anyone, but I know personally I would want to be given the chance to consider giving the gift of life to someone out there who might be in the same situation.
  If you have questions about anything please let me know and I will try and keep everyone up dated with the news as we receive it.
  
  We thank you for your thoughts and prayers,
  Cheryl, Chris, and Christos
  
  P.S. You can always be anonymous and call Mayo Clinic without us knowing.
  The number is 480-342-3163 and ask how you could be a donor for Chris.