Most people say they would consider giving a kidney to someone they love, yet patients struggle to ask. A new Staten Island program trains friends, coworkers, and faith leaders to walk beside a patient and stay with a donor from the first test to surgery. If you are waiting, or standing beside someone who is, this may be your first step.
Category: Kidney Recipient
Reflections on receiving a kidney transplant. About healing, gratitude, and the journey of living forward.
One-Year Post-Kidney Transplant
My mind held on to the facts and let go of the feelings. One year after my kidney transplant, I’m looking back at 365 days with Sidney, a friend who stepped up, a donor I have never met, and the heroes who never needed a cape.
It was no ordinary Sunday – 9/21/2025
One year ago today, a prayer request, a fake book cover, and a friend at my door changed everything. Here is what I have learned since.
When Your Body Fails: Faith, Fear & a Kidney Transplant (Chad’s podcast episode)
Year and half of dialysis. One QR code prayer request. A friend who showed up two hours later with the answer I had almost stopped expecting. This is the story behind unCOMFORTABLE Episode 313.
My First Vacation Since My Kidney Journey Began
Nine guys, one Chicago house, a sailboat on Lake Michigan, and not a single dialysis machine along for the ride. This was my first real vacation since dialysis began, and this time, I finally had the energy to live every minute.
A Better Way to Stop Kidney Rejection?
Every kidney transplant recipient lives with the same quiet understanding: the pills never stop. But a new drug called tegoprubart may be about to change that conversation entirely.
Support System: My Dad
Through my kidney transplant, my dad stepped in with strength, humor, and a kind of love that moved things forward. This is his part of the story.
Untethered: My First Flight Since Kidney Dialysis
Flying to Charlotte for work sounds ordinary. For someone who spent eighteen months dragging a dialysis machine into hotel rooms and giving it its own seat in the car, it was anything but. This is what traveling light actually looks like.
Beginnings & New Beginnings
A birthday used to be a simple circle on the calendar. Then a kidney transplant gave me a second beginning. This reflection looks at the two days that shaped my life, the gratitude that grew from them, and the gift of waking up to a future I once hoped for but could not see.
Support System: My Mom
Chad reflects on the kind of love that shows up in the small things and ends up carrying everything. A Mother’s Day tribute to a woman whose presence changed a life.
A kidney biopsy for research
A biopsy I didn’t need became a chance to give back. This is the story of how gratitude, research, and unseen generosity began my second chance.
Six Months Post-Kidney Transplant
Half a year with Sidney the kidney: labs, laughter, unexpected energy, and the unfolding gratitude that comes from a stranger’s life‑changing yes.
Easter and my kidney transplant
A personal reflection on Easter, grace, and the life‑altering gift of a kidney transplant. This is the story of two donors, one cross‑match chain, and the kind of love you can never repay. Only receive.
Things I Thought Were Big Deals Before I Needed a Kidney
A look back at the minor frustrations I once treated as some sort of crisis and how kidney failure changed my sense of what truly matters.
Things People Say to Kidney Transplant Recipients
A candid, humorous look at the things people say to kidney transplant recipients and the honest thoughts we keep to ourselves. Equal parts truth, comedy, and lived experience.
Receiving the Gift
A reflection on the courage of receiving. After years of finding joy in giving, I faced the humbling truth of needing a gift I could never earn a kidney from someone I’ve never met. This piece explores grace, surrender, worthiness, and the holiness found in accepting what arrives unasked for, yet perfectly timed.
Thinking about my Kidney Donor
A transplant recipient searches for words worthy of thanking an unknown donor whose gift reshaped his life.
Three Months Post-Kidney Transplant
A three‑month reflection on healing, renewed strength, and the small everyday miracles that mark life after transplant. A story of returning energy, widening freedom, and the steady grace found in each new day.
Things to Have Known Before a Kidney Transplant ~ Jack Fassnacht
This candid reflection from a two‑time kidney transplant recipient pulls back the curtain on the everyday realities that don’t always make it into the medical brochures.
Lifelong Challenges After a Kidney Transplant
Life after a kidney transplant becomes a lifelong classroom where healing, vigilance, and gratitude shape each day and teach me how to live with care and intention.