A Kidney For Matt

*A message from Chloe, friend of Matt & Shona's:*

Hey everyone! Thank you for being part of this page and showing Matt, Shona, Rowan, and Bonnie so much love and support these last few months. As we count down the days to Matt’s transplant (a week today!), many of you have asked how you can support from near or far.

One of the most critical dependencies for a successful surgery is the whole family being illness-free, a tall order with all of the viruses going around these days. Matt’s surgeon has advised that the family isolate from others (including daycare) for 10 days leading up to surgery and several weeks after. I’m sure we can all imagine the tough road ahead, juggling recovery, isolation with two littles, driving to appointments, and keeping everyone fed and healthy.

Here are a few different ways you can help:

1. Participate in the meal train (and double the recipe if you can, as they really want to support the lovely donor’s family during recovery and they will drop off meals a couple times a week): https://mealtrain.com/zoyk5o

2. Gas gift cards to get to and from many follow-up appointments in Hamilton. This is a big one as they’ll be going every other day for the first month post-discharge and then weekly, biweekly, and monthly after that. These can be delivered digitally to [email protected].

3. Activities to help keep the small humans entertained and the big humans sane: https://www.amazon.ca/hz/wishlist/ls/F16BPFLA2QKB?ref_=wl_share

4. Skip the Dishes/Uber Eats/Door Dash gift cards for those on-the-go meals on appointment days and any days that aren’t claimed in the meal train. Can be delivered digitally to [email protected].

5. Last but certainly not least, keeping the Forrests, Matt’s donor & his family, and all of the incredible healthcare professionals making this happen in your hearts, thoughts, or prayers!

Thank you all so much for pouring your love into this wonderful and deserving family. Every ounce of it is so appreciated.

It's been roller coaster since the last update. My parents have been ruled out as donors for different health reasons. That was tough for me and them. I think we all just wanted it to work quickly with my mom or dad. That was the drop. Then I heard from the transplant clinic that there have been over 40 living donor questionnaires submitted! That’s an unbelievable number - which I had never thought possible. It gives me hope that at least one person will work out to be my hero. That was certainly the high. The number of positive messages on Facebook and through the website has been amazing and inspiring. I don't feel as if I, or any one person, deserves it. Or maybe it's that everyone searching for a kidney deserves the same kind of response. I wish that were the case.

The Grand River Hospital Foundation is raising funds through the sale of green t-shirts, the colour for organ donation. Please consider supporting the amazing people and programs at GRH: https://grhf.ca/collections/shop/products/organ-donationt-shirt

Update from Matt: Thank you to everyone who has supported our family over the past few weeks. More than 20 people have filled out the questionnaire to see if they would qualify to donate a kidney. This is a big deal and we feel so grateful to everyone who has considered giving this life-saving gift. I've gotten some questions about why my feet are up in the air in one of the photos we’ve shared. The excess fluid that my kidneys are unable to process is pooling in my body and lying upside down helps to drain them and ease the pain. It's been a tough few days, sleeping a lot and feeling nauseous and sick but all of the positive thoughts and energy are keeping me going.

Thanks to CityNews Kitchener for helping us get the word out about Matt's urgent search for a live kidney donor!

Local man in search of living kidney donor The father of two received a grim IgA nephropathy diagnosis