I’m looking for a donor for a kidney transplant that my doctors say I should have relatively soon. I have polycystic kidney disease. Please see www.mikeneedsakidney.com for more details.
Check out this song the Dirtbags did for me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xls6-uBZSA. The Dirtbags (http://ontherac.com/dirtbags.htm) are the official rock band of the Redskins Appreciation Club. They play in the parking lot of Fed Ex Field before every Redskins home game.
We included in the song a mention of the fact that 80,000 people are on the waiting list for a kidney in the U.S., and more than 10 of them die each day waiting, so the song isn’t just for me but to promote awareness about kidney donation in general.
A lot of those people waiting are much worse off than me because I’m not on dialysis yet. I’m hoping to go directly to transplant. That’s what the doctors recommend if possible.
If you want to donate to somebody, a couple of great sites are www.matchingdonors.com and www.kidneyregistry.org. Everybody has two kidneys and only needs one. After donating you can be out of the hospital in less than two days.
The songs says the Redskins need to draft a new Art Monk, and I need to get a kidney transplant. One of those things is unbelievably important, and it would be really great if it happened.
Of course, the other thing, getting a kidney, is important too.
That’s me in the back of the video on drums. The Dirtbags are also going to perform the song before the Redskins-Saints game December 6 in the parking lot at Fed Ex Field in the Green lot, A 60, two hours before kickoff. I’ll be in the back doing a little bit of drums, hoping I don’t mess up the music. These guys are good, with the President on guitar and vocals, Whiskey Sergeant Major on guitar, and Lefty on bass.
I first heard of the Dirtbags after they did a song about putting Art Monk in the Hall of Fame. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNCSHC1fsoo. It was classic and it got more than 3,000 hits on You Tube. Funny, Peter King changed his tune after that one.
Anyway, just google “becoming a kidney donor” and read up on it for a few minutes. Maybe you’ll decide to donate to somebody, if not now, then maybe at some point in the future.
All this stuff like my website and the videos may seem a little bit unorthodox but the goal is to create more awareness.
Thanks for reading and thanks again to the Dirtbags. I appreciate it. HAIL!
Tags: Art Monk, dialysis, Dirtbags, donor, kidney transplant, polycystic kidney disease, RAC, Redskins Appreciation Club, www.mikeneedsakidney.com, youtube
