My Fellow Stones Fans,
This is not easy for me, but I'm at the point where I can't worry about being judged for something stupid I did almost 20 years ago.
I recently found out I have Hepatitis, and it's at the point now where I need to publicly solicit donors. If I can't find a compatible donor, chances are I'll have less than a year or two to live. I'm already on medication that is making me feel ill every day. The way a living donation works is they find a compatible donor (same blood type, body mass index, etc.) in good health and take a piece or "lobe" from their liver and transplant it. The liver actually regenerates and grows back to its original state within a few months.
They take the entire "bad" liver out of the recipient and replace it with this "lobe," and if I'm lucky my body won't reject it and I'd get to live a normal lifespan, albeit on regenerative drugs. I'd be ecstatic just to have another 10 years at this point. You see, I look after my mom, who is 88 years old. The thought of leaving her here alone is more than I can bear. Most of my family are gone, and the few who are left cannot care for her. I have no family I can solicit as donors either.
Last year, there were something like 6,500 transplants. There are currently 17,000 people on national waiting lists. I live in the New York area, so my chances of getting a compatible donor are slim to none. My blood type is O+. I'm asking everyone I know, because the more people who are aware of this, the better my chances are. Please don't turn this into a discussion thread. If you can help or know someone who can, PM me.
Here is a link explaining living liver donation:
http://www.liverfoundation.org/education/info/transplant/http://www.livingdonorsonline.org/liver/liver.htmThanks to the mods for allowing me to make this public plea. If you know me personally, you know how hard it is for me to "go public" with this. I'm putting my faith in the Stones Community.
Lest anyone did not see the post that started this whole thread......I'm still depressed and sad over things but know Mary is no longer suffering and in a better place.