Key points from today’s guests:
Scott Seetin, kidney transplant recipient
- Fifteen years ago, Scott was prepared to donate his kidney to his mother when testing found that Scott was actually in need of a kidney himself.
- Scott’s mom was going through dialysis and he and his brother started the donation process. Doctors discovered Scott needed a kidney as bad as his mom because his was at about 18 percent kidney function.
- He had no symptoms whatsoever, so this was quite a surprise.
- His brother tested as a better match for him, so his brother donated the kidney to Scott and their mom received a kidney from her brother.
- Everyone is doing great today and Scott uses his art to inspire others to learn more about organ donation.
- Scott suggests when you go to the DMV, become an organ donor so if something tragic happens, you can save somebody else's life and help another family.
Dr. Jeffrey Klein, nephrologist, The University of Kansas Health System
- Kidney disease is subtle. Most people don't have symptoms. Many don't feel any different until their kidney function is pretty poor.
- In Scott’s case, he seems to have some sort of genetic predisposition to kidney disease, but we don't know what that is. Having done the testing, everything came up negative.
- That's one of the challenges in kidney disease -- it isn't this big, obvious smoking gun. It's something that is much more subtle for many people.
- Genetic testing is something that we use to check to see if there appears to be some predisposition toward kidney disease and it may help us figure out ways to extend the kidney function over time.
- There's always need for blood donations and platelet donations, and then organ donation is a gigantic need because we're always asking for donors.
- If you are interested in organ donation, then find the transplant center and call if that interest is in living donation. If deceased donation is a possibility for you, then please sign your donor card and find ways to make that possible.
Dr. Tim Schmitt, transplant surgeon, director of transplantation, The University of Kansas Health System
- To become a living organ donor, it starts first with screening phone call. Then they'll go through a questionnaire to make sure they don’t have medical problems like diabetes or hypertension.
- If they're otherwise healthy, then we'll bring the person in for testing. And the testing could include first starting with the blood type, and crossmatch to make sure they match the recipient.
- Then you go through the labs, the scans, and the kind of the psychosocial evaluation to make sure they're doing it for the right reasons.
- My favorite operation is living donor kidney transplant because we get to change people's lives.
- April is Donate Life Month and it is important to know that the demand far outweighs the supply.
- There are about 120,000 people on waiting lists for liver, kidney, heart and only about 20,000-25,000 donors a year. So we certainly need more people to donate organs.
Wednesday, April 10 at 8 a.m. is the next Open Mics with Dr. Stites. More and more women in Kansas are facing long drives to deliver their babies. Learn more about how far is too far for adequate prenatal and maternity care, and the challenges and solutions to ensure every mother receives the care she deserves.
ATTENTION MEDIA: Please note access is with Microsoft Teams:
Join on your computer or mobile app
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 235 659 792 451
Passcode: 6CSfGE
Download Teams | Join on the web
Or call in (audio only)
+1 913-318-8863,566341546# United States, Kansas City
TVU Grid link: UoK_Health_SDI
Restream links: Facebook.com/kuhospital
YouTube.com/kuhospital
Send advance questions to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.