Your neighbor needs a kidney

DAYTON–Organ donation is a gift of life for the giver and the receiver, and here locally, Lisa Naylor is in need of a new kidney.

Naylor recently spoke to the Walla Walla Valley Quilters Guild at their spring potluck about needing a kidney transplant. The news was well received, spurring an organ donor to speak up about organ donation.

When Naylor spoke to the quilters, she informed the group that she has a genetic form of kidney disease that is at the critical stage requiring a transplant. She has been warding off this crucial stage by adhering to a strict diet and exercise program for the past eleven years. Now, her condition has progressed to the failure point. Without a new kidney, she will face dialysis and eventual death.

As she was answering questions, one person in the back of the room stood up and stated she had donated one of her kidneys 20 years with no ill effects from the experience, either at the time of the surgery or since. "I gave one of my kidneys 20 years ago and I am doing great," said Peggy Haug, giving a pose of great health. "You only need one kidney," she said.

Naylor and her husband Paul moved to Dayton in August of 2001 from Vancouver, Wash. They made their home here because when Paul was involved with Boy Scouts, they used to camp in the Blue Mountains, and being raised in Kennewick, Wash., he found Dayton a perfectly beautiful place to live. Lisa, a Portland native, agreed. Over the years, she has been involved in the forestry conservation and development program, has been a promoter of the Dayton pool and founder of the Annual Swim the Snake.

If someone decides to become a donor, one must be compatible or a match so the recipient does not reject the new organ. The first step is to match blood type, then antigen, and a final crossmatch.

If your blood type is Type O it matches another Type O. Type A is compatible with another Type A or Type O. Type B matches a Type B or Type O. Type AB works well with Type O, Type A, Type B, or Type AB.

Antigen testing focuses on certain proteins that you may have inherited from your parents. A blood draw will determine the number of matches a potential donor may have with the recipient.

The final crossmatch is tissue typing which is done between the potential donor and recipient. A favorable result to this test is a no-reaction test outcome.

If a live donor is not compatible, then an organ can be considered for a paired donation which allows another recipient to receive the organ, and vice versa. "A paired donation, allows both donors to donate and both recipients to receive a compatible kidney," according to the Providence SHMC Kidney Transplant: Pre-Transplant Education (1/13); pg. 41.

For those who wish to be considered as a potential kidney donor, go to https://www.sacredheartlivingdonor.org/.