Some of you are aware that Dyanna had the opportunity to spend her 1998 summer field season studying Hawaiian monk seals on a small coral atoll in the central western Pacific Ocean. A few short weeks prior to her leaving to spend her summer on that pile of sand in the central Pacific known as Pearl and Hermes Atoll, she had accepted my proposal to spend the rest of our lives together. Not long after returning to Washington later that winter she was diagnosed with Lupus. The disease, or more accurately her own body, was attacking her kidneys (Lupus glomerulonephritis). Following this initial diagnosis Dyanna went through a series of chemotherapy and other immunosuppressive treatments. In the midst of these excruciating treatments, this incredibly intelligent, beautiful, and strong-willed woman who was dealing with hair loss from the chemotherapy, had the courage to walked down the aisle with me in an expression of our undying love and friendship for one another. We were ecstatic when a year later she was deemed to be in remission. Not long after, we were blessed with our two miracles (Greggory – now age 16, and Danae – now age 15).

Unfortunately, she experienced flare-ups of the disease in 2008, 2012 and most recently in late 2015. Through these flare-ups she has endured a variety of pharmaceutical treatment alternatives as well as another round chemotherapy and a round of biologic therapy. Each treatment has come with varying degrees of success, and some treatments are ongoing. Through all of this she has continued to follow her passion in the dream job (marine mammal biologist) which she has so enjoyed through these many years. My words cannot express how impressed and inspired by how she perseveres the challenges that this disease and associated treatments throw at her on a daily basis. She is so strong, such a fighter, and above all such a great mother and amazing wife, friend and confidant.

While it is a challenge for me/us, to share such personal and intimate details of our life, it is far more important that I express the value of this message in preserving and prolonging, for as long as we can, our happiness together as a family. Over the years, Lupus has significantly impacted Dyanna’s kidney function. She is currently in Stage-4 kidney failure. Her kidney function has degraded to the point where a kidney transplant is soon going to be required to prolong her life, to allow her to be actively involved in our children’s lives, and to continue working and playing in the outdoors and to have the privilege of working with wildlife.

Unlike other organs, kidneys can be donated from live donors. The long-term success of a kidney transplant is significantly greater when the kidney comes from a live donor rather than a deceased donor. The wait-time for a kidney from a deceased donor is estimated to be between three and seven years. If Dyanna needs to wait that long, she likely will be required to be on dialysis. We are hoping Dyanna can be matched to a willing live donor prior to requiring dialysis. We are putting this message out there because family members who have been tested are not suitable donors for Dyanna. The urgency of this message comes from the perspective that in October 2016, her kidney doctor predicted that she would likely be on dialysis within 4 months. We are fortunate that so far even though her kidney function is impaired enough to qualify to be on the kidney transplant list it has remained stable over the last 12 months. We have gone through the process for her to be accepted onto the list as suitable for transplant patient. At this point she is still chugging along like ‘the little engine that could’ but there is no way to know how long that will continue.

If there are any individuals out there who would be willing to be a donor, we would be incredibly grateful and interested in discussing this opportunity. For your convenience there are links to some educational information below.

To help explain the process for a kidney recipient and a live kidney donor the following link is the story of a fellow Marine Mammal researcher (m.huffpost.com

Thank you so much for helping to spread the word. Please feel free share your thoughts, well wishes, and memories on my FaceBook page.
Mort sincerely,
-Kirt

www.kidney.org /> www.kidney.org /> transplantliving.org