This is not a riddle.

What are the odds that two Jewish men who belong to the same local congregation announce they need a kidney transplant during the same summer? Most likely very, very low. Yet that is what has happened to two members of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah. Dennis Small officially was added to the list of people needing a kidney transplant on June 28. David Seldner was also on the list, but now has a match and is scheduled for surgery this week. (See update on page 5.)

Small, who did not know Seldner until he read about his need for a kidney transplant in the July 4 issue of The Chronicle, learned he had kidney problems several years ago.

“This all started about six or seven years ago. I had a physical and my doctor saw that my creatinine level was a little higher than normal,” Small said.

(According to the National Institute of Health, creatinine is a waste product in the blood created by the normal breakdown of muscle cells during activity. Healthy kidneys take creatinine out of the blood and put it into the urine to leave the body. When the kidneys are not working well, creatinine builds up in the blood. Elevated creatinine levels is a sign that the kidneys are not working at full strength.)

Small said doctors have no idea why his kidneys are failing. He does not have diabetes, which often causes kidney trouble, and said he is “very, very healthy except for the kidneys.”

So when Small first found out his kidneys were not functioning properly, he felt fine but was referred to a nephrologist, Dr. Walter Bender, Jr. For the first several years Small’s creatinine levels would go up, go down and then level off.

“But the last two years it’s been constantly going up and the last report was 4.1, which is really high,” Small reported. “Dr. Bender said he wanted me to get ready to go on dialysis.”

His kidney function is now at a little under 11 percent. There is no definite time table for Small to go on dialysis, but the doctor’s nurse told Small “it’s not good, you’re getting close.” Therefore Small has been preparing for that possibility and has had a fistula surgically inserted. A patient cannot begin dialysis before that surgical access point has healed.

“The doctor didn’t want me to feel really sick so he wanted me to be ready,” Small said.

However a transplant is a much better option, as the doctor explained to Small, because dialysis takes quite a toll on one’s body, especially if you are his age. Small is 78.

“He’s perfect healthy,” pointed out Small’s wife Fran.

Small had all the pre-testing to be put on the transplant list performed at Research Medical Center. On June 28 he was told he passed on the tests and was officially placed on the transplant list. The transplant list is for deceased donors.

A variety of medical issues within the Small family is keeping Small’s immediate family members from being donors. Small has told his friends and family that he is searching for a live kidney donor.

“They told us to ask everybody you know,” said Small’s wife Fran. “At first that was really difficult to do, to say to somebody, hey do you have a kidney to spare you’d like to give us?”

Brooke Connell of the Midwest Transplant network explained that a live kidney donor is preferred because research shows that short and long term survival rates are higher for transplants from living donors.

“But the main reason is that there simply aren’t enough deceased donors to keep up with the need for kidney transplants in the United States. Additionally, receiving a living donation can shorten the time on the waiting list and also allows the recipient to plan for the transplant,” Connell said.

Through a friend Small has also learned about Matchingdonors.com. MatchingDonors has become the most successful nonprofit organization that is finding living altruistic organ donors for patients needing transplants. The MatchingDonors.com website can get more than 1.5 million hits in a month. It’s even been featured on the TV Land Show “Hot in Cleveland.”

“They told me that the average wait now in Kansas City for a kidney is approximately three years, which means it could be a little less or a little more. Dr. Bender felt if I had to wait three years for a kidney I would definitely be on dialysis,” Small explained. “This website is for people who are looking for a kidney like I am and there are a lot of people who go on that website who are willing to donate a kidney for whatever reason. So they try to match you with someone who is willing to give a kidney and other organs.”

If it becomes necessary for Small to go on dialysis, he will stay on the transplant list.

“There is a hitch to that also,” he said. “In order to get the transplant you have to be relatively healthy. They are not going to give it to someone who is not in good health. And if you go on dialysis for a period of time and your body gets roughed up from that, it could change your position for getting a transplant.”

All things considered, Small said he is feeling relatively well.

“Although the doctor also said he wants to know immediately if Dennis is feeling more tired or losing his appetite. So far none of that has happened,” his wife said.

Rabbinical Association statement: Organ donations save lives

The Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City has release this statement in regards to organ donation:

Our Mishnah states that to “save one life it is as if you have saved the entire world.” (Sanhedrin 4:5) Jewish law/halachah holds that pikuach nefesh — saving human life — is of the utmost importance, and overrides almost every other prohibition and commandment in Judaism. One important way to carry out pikuach nefesh is through organ donation.

Holding to this sacred Jewish ideal, we the rabbis of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City urge all within our Jewish community, in accordance with their Jewish practice and values, to consider registering for organ donor cards, and to be properly registered as organ donors in the manner prescribed by their state of residence. (We also understand that the appropriate time of and circumstance for organ donation may differ for each specific situation. Those making decisions regarding organ donation for themselves or on behalf of a loved one are encouraged to consult their own rabbi.) We also urge our Jewish community to educate themselves on the value of organ donation, the many lives saved by organ donation, and how halachah allows for organ donation.