A Michigan professor is on the hunt for new kidneys, and he is spreading the news about the search through billboards across Metro Detroit.
Scott Schneider’s kidneys began failing five years ago due to hypertension. According to Corewell Health, Schneider has been listed for a kidney transplant with the Beaumont Multi-organ Transplant Center since March 2021.
The professor teaches at Lawrence Technological University and has limitations regarding what he can physically do. Corewell Health said that Schneider is able to do blood cleansing while he sleeps with a machine that’ll do overnight dialysis.
While on vacation with family, the idea of finding a kidney donor in a creative way. The family started booking electronic billboards across Metro Detroit and turned to online platforms to gain the attention of available donors.
“People in kidney failure often wait years before a deceased donor kidney becomes available,” said Dr. Sarah Suliman of the Beaumont Transplant Center in Royal Oak. “Living donor transplants can be scheduled, and we confirm the health of both the kidney and the donor in advance. Because of that, living kidney donor transplants tend to work better and last longer than deceased donor transplants.”
Medical experts want people to know that it is a myth for donors to have a matching blood type with a recipient. If types don’t match, the donor’s kidney can be matched with another waiting patient in a living donor kidney chain. A kidney from a different willing donor with a matching blood type is directed to the original recipient in need. The recovery time is after eight to ten weeks. For more information about the process, click here.