Thank you for being part of our Kidney Companions community. Here we will provide updates, highlight the people within Kidney Companions, and share stories and actions you can take in a broader community.

Our Kidney Companion has a new kidney! As of Sunday night, our Kidney Companion was in Grand Rapids receiving a new kidney. After more than 3 years of waiting and a near-call two weeks ago when he just missed out on a living donor kidney as part of a donor chain, he has now deservedly received a deceased donor kidney. The Kidney Companions team has already jumped into action and were there last night in the waiting room receiving updates. We plan to be with him this week as he starts the recovery process and his transition into his new life. We are grateful for the donor, the transplant team, and our amazing Kidney Companions team – all of which have played integral roles in this life-changing event.

We have created an Amazon wish list to build an inventory of items to make post transplant surgery a bit more comfortable: here

Email Molly@kidneycompanions.org if would like to be added to the Small Jobs list or if you have any questions!

Join us at Earthen Ales — a Pour for More venue.

On the second Thursday of each month, we gather for all who are interested in learning about Kidney Companions. We will always have an existing volunteer there for you to ask questions and listen to their experience. This is a great time to explore your interest in becoming a volunteer or invite someone who you think would be interested.

Our next gathering will be:

Thursday, August 10th

5-7 at Earthen Ales

1371 Gray Dr #200, Traverse City, MI 49684

Our Kidney Companion had a near-call two weeks ago with a donor chain. A donor-chain is made up of pairs: a kidney patient in need of a transplant and a donor willing to donate a kidney on their behalf, but whose kidney is not a good match. Most kidney donation chains are started by an altruistic donor – someone who wishes to donate a kidney but does not have an intended recipient. Using the National Kidney Registry, a recipient (Recipient #1) who is the best match for the chain-starter’s kidney will be found. Next, in coordination, the donor who wanted to donate his/her kidney on behalf of Recipient #1 donates his/her kidney and a match is again found using the National Kidney Registry. The chain continues as long as there are donor-recipient matches, and when no remaining pairs are available, the final kidney goes to a last recipient with the best match (as would have been the case with our Kidney Companion). The longest kidney donor-chain to date included 35 recipients across 25 transplant centers!