A little bit about me:
For those who don’t already know me, my name is Chris Perrault and I’m a 53 year old native of Haverhill, Massachusetts
In 2019 I went for my 6 month blood labs only to discover that my kidney function, which had been perfectly normal my whole life was suddenly down to around 20%. There had been a few symptoms in the months beforehand that something was wrong but I had assumed they were related to other less urgent issues I was having at the time.
After a number of visits with my nephrologist (kidney doctor) I was given a biopsy and it was determined that I have a form of rare kidney disease called IgA Nephropathy. In short IgAN is a sort of autoimmune disease that leads to inflammation. This inflammation eventually destroys your kidneys. This is an overly-simplified description, but I will be including more information on IgAN and Rare Kidney Disease in general in the future..
My current nephrologist was able to manage the progression of the disease to a point by adjusting my medication and trying different combinations. As a result I was able to get my kidney function up slightly to where it was still low, but manageable without presenting too many quality of life issues.
Unfortunately, when dealing with chronic kidney disease, kidney function eventually decreases and often at a faster rate than normal decline with age. Over the last couple years this is slowly what has happened with me and now I am at the point where I had to be referred to the transplant team.
Transplants aren’t a cure but they are the best treament option available and far more preferable to dialysis. The wait for deceased kidney donation varies and can take an extremely long time especially for someone with my blood type (O+). The wait can often last anywhere from five to ten years but there’s no way to be certain.
Live kidney donation offers a better opportunity for an improved outcome (organs from live donors typically do better over time) and has an added element of control. With a live donor once the work-up is done and a match is determined the transplant can be scheduled at a convenient time and if a match is found soon enough, dialysis might potentially be avoided.
As mentioned above my blood type is O+.
If you are considering being a donor, having the same blood type of O is the first thing to look for . There are other matching criteria that needs to be determined, and you should be in relatively good health in order to be considered.
Finally for all those who are considering being a live donor, whether you are a candidate or not, I truly appreciate any efforts towards this. Being a live organ donor is not an easy decision and there are a lot of variables that come into play. So I want to give thanks to everyone that tests to be a potential match or even just spreads the word and shares this page with others. If nothing else I hope this site can help educate those new to organ donation.
Interested in being a donor?
You can begin the process by sending an email to: donateakidney@tuftsmedicine.org
Mention my name and that you are interested in being a donor.
Visit the online evaluation page at https://Livingdonortufts.org.
Any other questions you can reach me directly at chrisdperrault@gmail.com.
Thank you for reading.
Chris
Chris' Kidney Drive 