Local man with failing kidney pleads for a new one on his truck window
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IDAHO FALLS — An Idaho Falls man looking for a kidney for a second time is hoping the message on his truck window will help him find a match.
Scott Brown, 57, was born with polycystic kidney disease, an inherited disorder where clusters of cysts develop primarily within the kidneys and cause them to enlarge and lose function over time, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“My grandma and mom died from it,” Brown said. “You have a 50/50 chance of being born with it. Almost everybody in the whole family (on my grandma’s side of the family) had it and kept passing it on.”
Brown had a kidney transplant in January 2016 but in 2017, he was told his body was rejecting the organ and it would soon die.
“It was super depressing because the kidney was awesome (for a year). It was unbelievable how good it worked,” Brown mentioned. “Here it is, 2022, and the kidney is now almost gone.”
A normal kidneys filtration rate, also known as Glomerular Filtration Rate, at Brown’s age, is around 90, he explained. Right now, he’s sitting at 15.1. Brown said a person should be on dialysis once they hit 15.
“I feel very sluggish and my blood pressure is going out of control,” Brown said. “It’s hard because along with reduced kidney function, it comes with a cloudy brain. You don’t think straight. It’s challenging.”
Brown considers himself lucky because he only waited six months to receive his first kidney transplant. But it’s now been five years since he was told he’d need another kidney transplant and so far he hasn’t found a donor.
To spread the word and encourage people to see if they are a match, he put his name and number on the back of his truck and an ad in the Thrifty Nickel.
“I am very hopeful that something is going to come along and (someone will) donate me a kidney,” Brown expressed. “I’m banking on that.”
He is trying to get a kidney transplant through the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. To see if you are a match and for more information, Brown said to call him at (208) 244-8590, and he will help get you in touch with the right people at the Mayo Clinic.
“I don’t know how many people in Idaho Falls need kidneys, but there’s a great need for them,” Brown said. “If you ever want to do something grand for somebody, (donating a kidney is) an opportunity to save someone’s life, and you still live a perfectly functional life yourself. There are a lot of people who would be very grateful for a kidney.”