Kidney For Kalo

10/18/2020

Nick is doing great! We are so thankful!

10/14/2020

It’s been just over 4 months since my transplant and I wanted to give an update on my progress. I was back to work after 45 days, working remotely, and continue to do so like so many others due to COVID. I feel great and manage to get in a 5 mile workout most days. I have weekly lab tests to monitor my system and they tweak my meds based on those results. I see the transplant team bi-monthly for a check up. Aside from that, life is back to normal (aside from the pandemic). I’m enjoying life and fatherhood and look forward to when we can all visit our friends and loved ones! Hope you are all doing well and staying healthy.

07/06/2020

Another news highlight...Feeling extremely grateful!

Organ donation is hard but a pandemic makes it even harder. But now thing are looking up for a Glastonbury man with a rare genetic disorder.

06/30/2020

Thanks to Hartford Hospital for hosting this video conference, and thanks for Dr. Serrano, Tyler, and Judi!

At a time when most delayed critical care treatment in hospitals for fear of exposure to COVID-19, Glastonbury resident Judi Edwards willingly came forward t...

06/17/2020

Apparently there is a T-shirt for every occasion!

06/15/2020

Weekly follow-up visit with Dr. Serrano! Always good to hear I’m doing well. He was a good sport letting me take this pic.

06/13/2020

Local Company 3 gave me a surprise drive by on Sunday to wish me well and show their support.. Its great to be a part of such a supportive community. Many thanks to Kerry Green for organizing this!

06/13/2020

I want to share some messages that I got last week with you. I think we all could do with some inspiration during these crazy times. People are just amazing and this person is truly extraordinary! I have removed her name out of respect for her privacy but she is a true hero and I am forever grateful for her words and actions.

"Nick - I’m thrilled to read about your transplant! Best wishes for continued success. I’m reaching out today as I’ve been following your story and I wanted to make sure you are aware of some additional impacts you’ve made in the transplant community. I saw your sign in the Starbucks on Main Street late last year. I called and spoke with Azzy and began the living donor evaluation process. As things continued on, Azzy shared with me that you had a likely match and I shifted to moving towards the National Swap program. Long and short, I was approved for donation and we have started a small chain of two recipients. I’m actually set for donor surgery tomorrow with Dr. Serrano and then my kidney will also catch a flight to its intended recipient. They have a living donor ready to donate on their behalf as well. So, if all goes according to plan, we’ll have two donations and two transplants here in the coming days...all because of you and your champions.

Thanks for sharing your story and inspiring my desire to become a living donor. You’ve changed my life and hopefully the lives of a few others as well. Keep up the great recovery and THANK YOU!"

I have since learned that I have another relative that began the donor screening process on my behalf and was waiting in the wings. Another sincere thank you goes out to Yvette!

06/01/2020

To everyone who has been on this journey with me, I have some amazing news. Back on February 1st, I got a call from my cousin, Tyler. He wanted to let me know that he had been going through the donor process since November and just learned that he was a perfect match. Everything in my life changed on that day! We were told that the transplant would be on April 2 and we were good to go, until Covid-19 came along and all surgeries were canceled.

Fast forward…on Thursday May 28, Tyler’s donation took place at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC. and the kidney was transported to Hartford. Hours later, I had a successful transplant at Hartford Hospital. The transplant experience was not as I imagined it would be, given the Covid-19 hospital restrictions. No visitors were allowed into the hospital, but I managed to keep in touch with everyone using FaceTime! Tyler was discharged on Friday and is doing well and I was discharged yesterday!

I am looking forward to going home to my wife and 18-month-old son
I am looking forward to a life with no dietary restrictions
I am looking forward to having energy and uninterrupted sleep
I am looking forward to not being hooked up to a dialysis machine for 10 hours every day.
I am looking forward to life

I would like to give a shout out and a sincere thank you to the following people:
• My patient and loving wife who has picked up the slack in every way
• My immediate and extended family for their constant love and support
• My friends for sticking by me when the going got rough
• My employer and co-workers for their support, concern and consideration
• My Transplant and Living Donor Coordinators, Andy and Azzy, who worked tirelessly, supported me, educated me, and fought for me to get me to this point in my journey
• My PD Team at Fresenius Dialysis Center in East Hartford for their patient instructions and excellent care
• My Nephrologist, Dr, Jeff Laut, for his guidance and expertise over the many, many years
• My Surgeon, Dr. Oscar Serrano, for his amazing abilities and steady gifted hands
• Karen Paterno for working her magic to get articles written by The Hartford Courant, The Glastonbury Patch, Glastonbury Life and The Glastonbury Citizen and to Steve Parker of WTIC 1080 radio who featured me in a live broadcast. Thank you all so much for helping me to get the word out.

Before I finish here, I want to leave you with some information! According to Organdonor.gov/statistics

• There are 112,000 men, women and children on the wait list for an organ donation as of 03/2020.
• 20 people die each day waiting for an organ donation
• Another person is added to the transplant wait list every 10 minutes
• Only 3 in 1000 people die in a way that allows for organ donation
• In 2019 there were 7397 living donor transplants and 11,870 deceased donor transplants

I am one of the lucky ones. There are approximately 331 million people in the USA as of 05/2020. That means that roughly 22 out of every million people step up to be a living organ donor. Tyler is one of those extraordinary people. I will never be able to adequately express how grateful I am to Tyler for his gift of life, for his bravery and his selflessness. Thank you, Tyler, you are my hero.

Please consider being extraordinary! Be a donor hero!

And to all of you, thank you for following my journey, for sharing my story on Facebook, for your support, your comments and “likes” and for your thoughts and prayers. It has meant the world to me!

Tyler Kalogeros-Treschuk

02/05/2020

Thanks to Glastonbury Life for the feature! Check out my story on page 14 of the February issue.

https://view.publitas.com/p222-6222/gl-0220_layout/page/1

If you are interested in becoming a living kidney donor, please contact my transplant coordinator at 860-972-4632. 🙏

01/31/2020

Tune in tomorrow at 7:00am EST on WTIC News Talk 1080 Radio 🎙 to hear my interview about living with Alport Syndrome and the wait for a kidney transplant!

wtic.radio.com

If you are interested in becoming a living kidney donor, please contact my transplant coordinator at 860-972-4632. 🙏

01/18/2020

Front page news around here! Big thanks to the for publishing this great feature about my search for a kidney donor. You can also read the full article on the Hartford Courant.

https://www.courant.com/community/glastonbury/hc-gr-0123-communitynews-20200116-kbrspzbq75gntbaffczemq2vvq-story.html