A Member of Our Family Needs Your Help

Recently; a former employee of our company received some devastating news. 32-year old Nate Parenteau learned an autoimmune disease he didn’t even know he had, called IgA Nephropathy, caused his own body to destroy his kidneys, and before he knew it a catheter was attached his heart valve so he could receive life-saving dialysis three times a week. IgA Nephropathy, also known as Berger’s Disease, is a kidney disease that occurs when an antibody called immunoglobulin A (IgA) builds up in the kidneys causing local inflammation that, over time, interrupts the kidney’s ability to filter waste from the blood. While some people can live fairly normal lives with this disease, others, as in Nate’s case, progress to total kidney failure.
One of the jobs of a healthy pair of kidneys is to remove the waste that collects in a person’s bloodstream. In fact; the entire contents of one’s bloodstream passes through the kidneys approximately 40 times a day! In addition to filtering waste from blood, the kidneys control the body’s fluid level, help control blood pressure, and regulate the formation of red blood cells. Most people with only one kidney live healthy, normal lives with very few problems, if any. But, people with no working kidneys have no choice but to subject themselves to regular dialysis or to seek a kidney transplant.
Currently there are more than 90,000 people in the United States waiting for a kidney donation with three to five years being the average wait time from a deceased donor. Every 10 minutes, another person is added to the national transplant waiting list with 82% of those patients waiting in desperate, immediate need of a kidney. On average, a living donor kidney can function anywhere between 12 to 20 years, and a deceased donor kidney can improve quality of life for 8 to 12 years. Per the Mayo Clinic, those receiving living donor kidneys see lower risk of rejection, improved survival rates, improved quality of life and lower treatment costs, while also avoiding the restrictions and complications of dialysis.

Please take a few moments to watch the video below and consider sharing it with others. Help Nate bring awareness to his plight, and perhaps bring hope to his future.