My name is Brian Lane. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 11, 35 years ago. Growing up with this condition has always been difficult and I have always thought I was doing enough of the right things to have no worries. I essentially wanted to be as normal as everyone else around me and treated my life as such. My mistake in all this was not acknowledging how serious this condition would become if not treated and handled with more care.

Now, over the last few years, I have been dealing with a pretty significant decrease in my Kidney functions and now am diagnosed with Stage 5 End Stage Renal Failure. My treatment options are limited to dialysis treatments or a Kidney Transplant. Getting regular dialysis treatments, usually three times a week for four hours at a time, will help my kidneys do their job and keep me alive for a while. But a transplant would offer me more freedom and the ability to live a longer, healthier, more normal life. With that, my doctors have put me on the Kidney-Pancreas transplant list through the Virginia Mason Hospital of Seattle, WA. and I am temporarily doing
Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) every night to filter my blood that my kidneys no longer can. When I receive a match from a donor and have the surgery, I will then have to remain in the hospital for at least a full week. Upon discharge from the hospital, I will have to remain in the Seattle area near the hospital for at least 2 months as the doctors will have to be in close contact with me to make sure my body is recovering and not rejecting the new organs.