The Ability to Save Someone's Life

DAYTON - You need only one kidney to live a long, healthy life, and Dayton resident Lisa Naylor needs one.

In 2011, as Lisa and her husband Paul were planning to celebrate her retirement after 30 years of service with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. The disease is progressive, with only two treatment options: dialysis or a kidney transplant.

In 2022, Naylor reached End Stage Renal Failure and began dialysis in 2023. She receives daily peritoneal dialysis administered at home and hemodialysis at a dialysis center three times a week for five-hour sessions.

For a better quality of life and increased longevity, she will need a transplant. Naylor has been on the national transplant registry, which would provide a cadaver organ. She has also been seeking a live donor, which has the highest rate of success for longevity.

Her close friends, relatives, colleagues, and neighbors have offered to donate. However, due to a rare blood type and high antigen score, she will need to find that one-in-a-million match.

After a life of service to her profession, the environment, and her community, Naylor is now the one who needs help. On the advice of a transplant surgeon from the UW, she is actively seeking a living kidney donor.

"I read an account by an altruistic donor who described the willingness to donate as a 'little tickle' that first caught his attention, then became possible, and then became compelling," said Naylor. "Because the ability to save someone's life – to know oneself to be that kind of a person – that is truly compelling."

If that "little tickle" gets your attention, consider scheduling a donor evaluation at the University of Washington Medical Center. Evaluations will be paid for by Naylor's health insurance and the UW Medical Center on her behalf.

Potential donors will have a team of healthcare professionals to perform evaluations, provide information, and be an advocate throughout the process.

The UW Medical Center offers an online questionnaire to register as a potential donor at http://uw.donorscreen.org/register/donate-kidney. Submitting the form allows the program to contact and authenticate your registration. A social worker from the Living Donor Program will follow up by phone.

A message for The Living Donor Program can also be left at (206) 598-3627 to receive a return call.

Naylor's retirement dreams may not happen unless she finds a donor. Dialysis occurs every evening to maintain her failing kidney health as she waits. Everyday life, including travel, requires extensive planning. She lacks the energy for the community service, projects, and activities that make her happy.

In October, Whitman College will host a symposium; information for potential transplant recipients and donors. Date and agenda will be announced soon at http://www.Whitman.edu.