Jason Rice
About Me
Hello! My name is Jason Rice, and I live in the suburbs of Chicago with my wife and two sons. I spend my days trying to keep my patients healthy as a primary care physician at Northwestern Medicine. When I’m not in the office, I’m usually with my family attending my kids’ lacrosse, baseball and soccer games.
At home, I love to cook anything and everything whether I’m in the kitchen or outside on the grill. When it’s time to relax, you’ll find me watching sports, playing guitar, traveling or just enjoying participating in whatever the latest activity with the kids may be.
Why I Need a Kidney Donor
I have Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease. ADPKD is a progressive genetic condition where fluid-filled cysts gradually develop and grow in both kidneys, eventually leading to kidney failure. As the cysts grow, the size of the kidneys increases from about the size of a fist up to the size of a football (as shown in the photo).
There is no known cure and no effective treatment that can prevent the end result of kidney failure. Once the kidneys fail, dialysis or a transplant are the only treatment options.
As an only child, I have no siblings or immediate family to be potential donor matches. My blood type (B) also increases the length of time I would wait on a transplant list for a deceased donor compared to other blood types. According to recent local data, the average waiting times by blood type are:
– Blood type O: ~39 months
– Blood type B: ~61 months
– Blood type A: ~34 months
I don’t really know how I could ever go about asking someone to donate a kidney, but I do know that my best shot at a timely and successful transplant is a live donor rather than waiting years on the transplant list. Both the initial success and long-term viability of transplant are significantly improved with live donation.
The link below contains information on becoming a donor. Feel free to take a look or share this page with others. I could never find a way to adequately express my gratitude for the support of friends and family, but thank you!
Thank you for your consideration! Please feel free to share my page and my story with your communities as well to help me share my search for a kidney donor.
To determine if you are medically able to donate, click the See if you’re qualified to donate button.
Thank you for viewing my web site.
About Living Kidney Donation
Who can be a living donor?
A living donor can be a blood‐related family member or a non‐blood‐related individual, such as a spouse, friend or acquaintance. You can also donate without a specific recipient in mind. This increasingly popular form of living donation is called altruistic, non‐directed organ donation, in which people donate organs as a humanitarian gesture. These organs are distributed to patients on the waitlist using the UNOS priority system or as part of a kidney paired donation.
To be a living donor, you must:
- Be over age 18
- Be in good health, both physically and emotionally
- Undergo a thorough evaluation process
- Understand and accept the surgery and its risks, including medical, psychosocial and financial implications
- Volunteer to be a transplant donor
- Understand and accept that the outcome of the transplant might not be as expected
- Be able tell the team clearly your reasons for donating once you are aware of all of the benefits and risks
To see if you qualify, complete the kidney donor questionnaire.