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McKinney

Kathrynne McKinney

English 1201

Professor Cassel

4 August 2017

When it comes to peoples experience with kidney failure, most people I asked thought it was

heredity, or caused by alcoholism. Both can be a factor of kidney failure, but not in my case. I was born

prematurely, which resulted in a disease called kidney dysplasia, which basically means that my kidneys

didnt grow much after my birth. And what I did have was only sufficient for a few years until I was in

kidney failure. Which ultimately led to dialysis and transplant. When it comes to kidney transplant most

people dont know much about the topic. A lot of people I know have never had a surgery, let alone an

intensive surgery such as kidney transplant. I have personally gone through it, so I know how hard it is. It

took me about a year and a half to feel like myself again. But now a lot of my symptoms such as nausea,

black spells, insomnia, high blood pressure, and etc., have been alleviated. I feel much better. And

because of my personal experience, I have a lot of curiosity when it comes to the topic which is why I

chose to research whether kidney transplant is a successful treatment for people in kidney failure.

Since a lot of people dont really know many factors that cause kidney failure, which is a cause

for treatment aka transplant, I would say that would be one of my topics in my paper. Lupus, premature

birth, UTIs, or even the flu could all be cause for failure. Anything that lowers your immune system puts

all of your organs at risk. Most people dont know that when your immune system in suppressed, all of

your organs usually work at a lower rate.

A majority of the public is very ignorant when it comes to organ failure transplant. This is a big

problem because transplant require organs, and deceased organs are not enough for all the people in

need. There is a stigma attached to surgery because it is scary! There really isnt any negative opinions

when it comes to transplant besides the fact that they hope they wont need one. The biggest issue is
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that more people should donate and even if they arent a match to a family member they can still help

them with a donation pool. They give their organ to someone and their loved one still receives a kidney

from someone else who is a match.

My thesis statement is whether kidney transplant is an effective treatment for kidney failure.

According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network: Failure of the transplanted kidney is

reported in about 4 percent of deceased-donor kidney transplant recipients within one year after

transplant and in 21 percent of cases five years after transplant as of Jun 24, 2016. Another main topic

of my paper is that people should be more open minded when it comes to donation in all forms. There

are over 80,000 people on the kidney transplant waiting list and many people wait more than 5 years

for a kidney from a deceased donor. The waiting list has doubled in size over the past 10 years - and it

continues to grow. I still need to learn about the impacts of transplants on other people, physically,

mentally, emotionally.

1. How long do transplants usually last?

2. How effective are transplants for organ failure?