About Matt

Born and raised just up the hill from the grand Lake Superior, Matt is no stranger to the great outdoors. Let's just say, if you're ever stranded on a deserted Boundary Waters' Island, Matt is the one thing you should bring with you. He's a true woodsman, a gifted marksman, a relentless fisherman regardless of the season, he'll clean it, cook it and his spirit will have you laughing the whole time through. . .in short, he's amazing.

Matt's health issues started fairly early on in life. When he was in just 5th grade he was diagnosed with kidney disease. Over the next few years and with the help of Pediatric Specialists at the University of Minnesota Fairview Hospital, Matt recovered and was able to discontinue treatment. He was medically stable and symptom-free by the time he was 15. It was pretty miraculous.

What we didn't realize was that although he was given a clean bill of health at the time, kidney disease isn't something that can be cured. As the years went by, he would make his occasional visit to the doctor and they started commenting that his blood pressure was high. A medicine was tried when he was 18, but it had no effect on lowering his blood pressure. The doctor explained that blood pressure that high was probably just "normal" for Matt and recommended that he return to the clinic if he felt dizzy or ill.

Maybe you've heard of high blood pressure be called "the silent killer"? Supposedly, many people have high blood pressure that goes undetected and/or untreated because they don't feel ill. As your blood pressure gradually increases, your body normalizes itself to that and feels "normal". As a very unfortunate result, Matt's symptoms didn't come until it was too late. Due to the high blood pressure, his already compromised kidneys failed in June of 2009, just shy of his 23rd birthday.

For 16 months, Matt and his family focused their efforts on creating awareness for his need for a transplant after receiving the heartbreaking news that none of them were themselves able to donate. Matt underwent 4-hour long hemodialysis treatments 3 days per week, he completed the transplant recipient requirements at the University of Minnesota Fairview Transplant Center in Minneapolis, was placed on a deceased donor waiting list in December of 2009, was interviewed by channel 10/13 news in Duluth, and participated in the 2010 National Kidney Foundation's Kidney Walk fundraiser.

After much prayer and support, Matt received a phone call on September 27th, 2010 that a compatible living donor had been found! Less than 3 short weeks later, Matt received a kidney transplant at the University of Minnesota Fairview Transplant Center on October 22nd, 2010. There are no words to express our appreciation to the kind soul that so selflessly gave Matt the most amazing of gifts, another chance at a healthy life. People like you give us all a reason to never lose hope.

Although our prayers for a donor had been answered, numerous complications followed. Ultimately, the ureter from the transplant kidney healed partially shut where it was sewn to Matt's bladder causing an obstruction and a whole world of problems. After countless interventions in attempt to resolve the issues, Matt was told that the new transplant kidney was severly damaged and destined to fail as well. It was only a few short months later that not only did it fail, but started doing him more harm than good, and Matt underwent surgery to have the transplant kidney removed on

August 5th, 2011.

It has been a struggle to understand how this could have happened after having gone through so much, but the difficult truth is that even when you do everything right, sometimes things just don't work out in your favor. A certain percent of these delicate surgeries are bound to fail and there is no amount of science or medicine that can explain why. With that said, many times they do work and there's no giving up until it does. The odds are the same this time around, but there's no reason why transplant number two couldn't be a success. With your help and continued support, we are given the strength hold fast to our conviction that Matt will one day soon be healthy and dialysis-free.