NEIL JAFFEE

Good news! Neil received a kidney on July 5, 2014 and is a mighty happy recipient! Congratulations, Neil, and best wishes to you as you begin your new life!

Hello,

My name is Neil Jaffee. I’m a retired high-school and middle-school science teacher and live in Brooklyn, New York, with my wife Laura and two daughters, ages 13 and 17. Laura works remotely from home for an international bank into the wee hours. I maintain our home, prepare meals, and keep our girls on track for high school and college. I read a lot, mostly science-oriented material.

I trained for triathlons for many years, but recently kidney disease has sapped my energy. I have Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), an incurable hereditary disease. My kidneys and renal tubules have been invaded by fluid-filled cysts. Enlarged by these cysts, my kidneys crowd my lungs and limit my breathing capacity. Swimming helps, so I try to do that once or twice a week.

Last year, my glomerular filtration rate (GFR)--a common measure of kidney functioning, based on a scale of 1 to100--fell from 50 to 12. Previously, it took 14 years for me to drift from 70 to 50. Thus, because my disease has progressed so rapidly, my situation has become more urgent. There is no cure for PDK--only treatment--dialysis or a transplant. So shortly after I was diagnosed with end stage kidney failure last spring, I began four-hour dialysis sessions three times a week. I also take quite a few medications for blood pressure, anemia, and to maintain electrolyte balance, all of which are consequences of PKD.

I have been on the deceased-donor waiting list at Mt. Sinai Hospital for almost two years. However, their average wait is 4-7 years, and with almost 100,000 on the waiting list for a non-living donor in the U.S., the odds are not good. Therefore, I hope very much to find a living kidney donor. My family members and several friends volunteered to donate but were found ineligible either because of life circumstances or health.

My best option for survival is to have a truly wonderful person donate a kidney to me or in my name. I have Type A blood (compatible with type O), but because Mt. Sinai participates in paired donation, anyone of any blood type can donate in my name . . . which will vastly increase my chances of a timely kidney transplant.

If you would like to consider donating a kidney to me or in my name, or if you now someone else who might be willing, please call Mt. Sinai’s Center for Living Donation at 212-659-8024 for an initial screening. Ask for Lisa and tell her that you are calling in reference to Neil Jaffee, birth date March 21,1943.

If you would like to learn more about me, please visit any of these web sites:

- On Facebook, Neil Needs a Kidney Donor
- My website, Neil Needs A Kidney Donor
- News articles about me in my local neighborhood newspaper: here and here

Thank you for reading my story and for considering living kidney donation. My wife, my two young daughters, and I would be ever so grateful for your help. If you are unable to donate but would like to help, please pass my story on to others. Thanks so much!

Sincerely,
Neil Jaffee

Waiting for lunch at Friendly's Ice Cream on the way to Mt Snow in Vermont, 2004.