LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY)– One Lafayette resident is on the organ transplant waitlist for the second time. Now, he and the American Kidney Fund are working with lawmakers to get more protections for organ donors and recipients.

Pesh Patel is one of over one hundred thousand in the US on the waitlist.

“We went to our respective congressmen and senators’ offices to discuss the initiatives that are important to kidney patients,” Patel said. “The two that we focused on were the Medicaid cuts and the Living Donor Protection Act.”

They’re pushing for Medicaid to fully cover the cost of dialysis for those who cannot afford insurance.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of people that say, you know, ‘I have to decide between paying rent or paying insurance,'” Patel said.

They’re also hoping to change the Living Donor Protection Act to allow kidney donors paid time off to recover from surgery.

“After donating an organ, there could be some physical side effects,” Patel said. “So, we want to make sure that these patients that step up to save lives, literally they’re saving lives, have the same time afforded to them as other people.”

Patel continued, “On the state level, the Living Donor Protection Act only covers bone marrow donors. It does not cover solid organ donors, so we’re trying to change that also on a state level.” 

Patel said steps were made, but “One trip isn’t going to solve everything.”

Just like his first transplant didn’t solve everything for him.

“Once I received the transplant, I didn’t look at it as a treatment,” Patel said. “And it is a treatment; it’s not a cure. I looked at it as a cure. So, I thought I was going to live until 100 and everything was going to be gravy, and it was not.” 

He got a kidney transplant when he was diagnosed with End State Renal Disease, the end stage of chronic kidney disease. A few years later, his body rejected it. Now, he’s back on the waitlist.

“I was the one that said after the transplant rejected that I’m never going to have dialysis again,” Patel said. “I’m never getting a transplant again. I was just kind of done with it.”

“Then fast forward, once I found my purpose of being an advocate and helping others,” Patel said. “I said I need to fight for myself, so I can help others.”

He urges everyone to get a kidney screening and advocate for others who are waiting for their lives to be saved.

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