An Open Letter to Save My Life

Joshua Tannen

(636) 484-2496 (Cell)

I Need Your Help:

I am Josh Tannen and I need a kidney.  I am in renal failure due to the toxicity of certain medicines that I was prescribed.  I need an angel to step forward to save my life by volunteering to give me a kidney (blood type O).  Tall order, I know.  It's a big ask.  So I'm not asking.  But I am asking for your help in another way.  There's something else that you can do to help me (and others with a similar need), even if you're not a donor: I need you to spread the word, and I'll show you how to do that in this post.  You could help me immensley simply by getting he word out about my need for a kidney.

I am told that the more people who know of my need, the better my chance is of reaching a person willing to be an altruistic donor.  So, now it's all about getting the word out.  That's where you come in.

Who Am I?

I am 29 years old and I reside in Phoenix.  The kidneys that I was born with were perfectly good, but heavy doses of Motrin, prescribed by a well-meaning pediatrician when I was very young, burned those kidneys out causing them to fail.

Luckily my mother was able to donate one of her kidneys to me about fifteen years ago.  Unfortunately, due to some of the anti-rejection medicines that I was given, her donated kidney also failed after about 10 years.  For the past five years, I have been on dialysis every night for 11 hours per night.  That is not a long-term solution.  5,000 people die each year in the U.S. waiting for a kidney.  I don't want to be one of them.

How to Help Me:

   
Give me 15 minutes (or more) and use that time to tell the world about this website (Kidney4Josh.com).

• Email: Send this website to your friends (all of them) by email.
• Facebook: Post a small note on Facebook with a link to this website (icon above).
• LinkedIn: Post a small note on LinkedIn with a link to this website (icon above).
• Other Social Media Sites: Post a small note with a link to this website (icons below). 

And ask your contacts, readers, friends and acquaintances to do the same (to give this webpage exponential distribution).  

Why this is So Serious - My Options: 

Most people have two well-functioning kidneys but can lead a full and equally healthy life with just one kidney.  So, medically I now have only two options to continue living:

• dialysis (life expectancy about 5 years)
  
• transplant (a new lease on life)

According to USRDS data, Kidney transplant recipients fare far better than dialysis patients. I need those additional years in order to continue helping others.

Also, if a willing donor is not an exact match, through an arrangement called "Paired Kidney Donation" (kidney swapping) a donor who is not a match for me might be a match for someone else and I would be eligible to receive that person's donor's kidney that would be a match for me.  

If You'd Like More Information:

For more information, see Columbia University Medical Center's "Becoming a Kidney Donor."  See also Mayo Clinic video.

Lloyd E. Ratner, MD New York Presbyterian-Columbia

To Speak with Someone Confidentially:

If you'd like to speak with someone confidentially (without disclosing your inquiry to me), please mention my name (Josh Tannen) when you call the Mayo Clinic at (480) 342-1010, and ask for a kidney transplant coordinator.  Your questions will be answered by a qualified person who is familiar with my case.

Speaking with a Mayo Clinic staff member is much better than speaking with me.  They know far more than I do and you will get better information from them than from me.  So please, feel free to contact the Mayo Clinic.

Keep in mind that a confidential phone call to the Mayo Clinic does not come with any obligations to proceed further.
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Note: It is illegal under Federal law to exchange money for a kidney. No such request can be granted any consideration.