For proud grandmother of three Cindy Cridland, Facebook is a place to occasionally share photos of her grandkids or updates on her life – like the time she went to see the Rolling Stones in Vancouver last year. She never expected she would have to use the social media platform to appeal for a kidney donor.
“I am writing today with a humble and heartfelt request, as I am in need of a life-saving gift,” writes the 56-year-old resident of East Sooke on Vancouver Island in her post addressed to family, friends and the community.
“My kidneys are failing and my doctors have advised that a kidney transplant is my best medical option. I have been encouraged to reach out to my community to find a willing donor.”
Normally a private person, Cridland describes sharing her diagnosis so publicly as one of the most difficult things she has done.
“You're opening yourself up and telling the world that there's something wrong in my family, there's something wrong with me and you're being vulnerable,” she told Sooke News Mirror.
Diagnosed before her 40th birthday with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) – a chronic degenerative kidney disease – Cridland has been receiving treatment for around 16 years to slow down its progression.
But in February this year, Cridland’s doctor told her she has reached the point where a pre-emptive kidney transplant is needed and she needs to begin the search for a living donor.
“She would prefer to see me transplant without doing any dialysis at this point,” explains Cridland.
To help find a living donor, Cridland and her family have been encouraged to reach out to as many people as they can through social media, posters in the community and business cards.
“Even T-shirts and decals on vehicles, just to spread the word and get it out there,” says Cridland. “Anywhere we can get the word out … you never know who might cross that path.”
Cridland is one of 638 patients in B.C. currently waiting for an organ transplant of some kind. For those needing a kidney donor, the average wait time can be as long as three years because there are not enough deceased organ donors, says Dr. Jag Gill, transplant nephrologist and medical director of renal transplant at Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital.
“Which is shorter than every other province in the country, but it's still a long time,” he says.
Finding a living donor not only cuts the wait time, it also offers the recipient the best possible outcome after a transplant, says Gill, helping them to possibly avoid dialysis treatment, which does not offer the “best quality of life.”
“If you look at all the available treatments to somebody who's approaching kidney failure, the gold standard treatment is a pre-emptive living donor transplant, that’s going to give you the best chance for success and long-term survival.”
In B.C., roughly 100 kidney transplants involving living donors are carried out each year, with about 500 performed across Canada, says Gill, who notes around half of the donors are normally related to the recipient, the other half being friends, acquaintances or community members who have a link to the patient.
All living donation is managed through Vancouver General Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital pre-assessment transplant clinics, which involve a series of tests to ensure the person is healthy enough to donate.
“There's also a really important and intense psycho-social assessment to make sure that not just medically but psychologically and economically this won't cause harm,” Gill said.
“It's about an eight-week recovery period before you're back to 100 per cent after you donate a kidney, so not everyone has the psycho-social supports or the financial means to really sustain that.”
If selected as a suitable candidate for donation, Gill says donors can live a healthy life with just one kidney, with some experiencing long-term psychological benefits from their altruistic act.
“It's a gift like no other,” said Gill. “Knowing that they've helped sustain someone's life has been shown to have a very positive impact on someone's mental health and well-being – it really gets amplified in this scenario."
For Cridland, the search to find her living donor has been an emotional roller-coaster.
“Overwhelming is the right word,” she says. “One day, your emotions are up and you get really excited about something like somebody potentially wanting to be a donor. And then something else happens, and it takes you down and you're crying.”
But while sharing her story has been difficult, the positives have outweighed the negatives for Cridland, with a wave of support sent her way from family – including her 60 first cousins – friends and the Greater Victoria community.
With her story shared in a number of Facebook community groups, people have been reaching out with words of encouragement, support and helpful advice.
Three people are currently in the process of registering as possible living donors for her.
"I've had an overwhelming response," says Cridland. "It's been positive that way for sure."
For more information about living kidney donation, visit the BC Transplant website: .
To inquire about registering as a possible donor for Cridland, call St. Paul’s Hospital living donor program at 604-806-9027 or 1-877-922-9822 or email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca.
Anyone wanting to reach out directly to Cridland can email: cindyskidneyjourney@gmail.com.