A Plea For Help – Blue Prince Dev Announces One Of Its Lead Play Testers Only Has A Few Months To Find A Living Kidney Donor
Folks, this is a news piece with a high degree of urgency behind it. Blue Prince developer Dogubomb has revealed that one of its lead play testers requires life-saving support from its fanbase and the broader gaming population the world over.
Matthew “Iggy” Kowalski, a lead playtester at Dogubomb requires a kidney from a living donor in the next few months.
The situation is urgent. You can catch the repost from Dogubomb below:
Iggy himself has gone to great lengths to expound on his current woes on his website, going into great detail about his trials and tribulations with ADPKS (Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease):
“Hey! So I got some good news and some bad news. First the bad news, I need a living kidney donor. Basically I was dealt a genetics problem, specifically ADPKD or autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. This causes my kidneys to have cysts grow all over them and make the them massive in size. As they do so, the kidneys grow less and less in function. Think like the chest buster in Alien, except it’s not an alien baby and we don’t anticipate it coming to theatres this fall.
You can learn more about polycystic kidney disease (PKD) here: https://pkdcure.org/
There is no other viable option besides finding a living donor. That’s pretty much it. Without it, I’m probably gone in a few years. That’s why it is incredibly important to ask everyone I know to give a thought on it, and see if they’d be willing to personally help save my life. The bar to donate is really high-the clinic will not let someone donate who it is not safe to do so.
There’s serious risks associated with a deceased donor’s kidney in my case (contracting HIV, hepatitis, etc.). They also don’t last nearly as long as a living donor. I will likely never get one as there’s a 7 year wait list to get one. I will not make it that long. My doctors and the transplant doctors strongly recommend a living donor for the best outcome and it’s the only viable option as the rest drastically reduce life expectancy or I just die.
Luckily though, if Iggy can secure a kidney then he’ll be on a fast-tracked road to recovery and to that end, has set out a number of factoids to dispel some popular myths about the kidney donation process:
“OK that’s all terrible, depressing and awful! But there’s some good news in all this!
THE GOOD NEWS! If I can find a living donor willing to be so gracious as to donate a kidney, the outcomes are expected to be quite good in my case. The organ may last 20-30 years, should we get that far-apparently you can just hotswap these in and out. Considering my biological age and health they’ve reviewed, they said the only major risk is having major surgery. There is no other viable option for me.
The surgery itself might be in months, or a few years. Naturally we want to hold off as long as possible from doing this, to use up what I currently have if you will. But it’s vital to get the word out now so we can make the plans for when the time comes, we’re ready to do it.
There is a lot of information available on the University of Michigan Hospital websites for this stuff and they will absolutely talk with you and answer each and every question they have but here’s the first few I think are the most useful for someone who’s literally never heard of this before and quell some myths.
- MAJOR MYTH NUMERO UNO-You do NOT need to be a perfect match to me! They can coordinate with many other donors to find the ‘best-fit’ (and thusly best outcome). E.g. Most basic case: if someone is 4 feet tall trying to give for a 6 feet tall person and they have the opposite pairing, they swap them so the recipient in this case gets a kidney that is sized appropriately for their body size and will function better.
- IMPORTANTI STEP NUMERO DOS! The transplant group will NOT let you donate if it’s unsafe for you to do so. They will do a bunch of basic tests, starting with a blood test coordinated near you. The general information site below goes through all the steps to prepare for this.
- As far as I am aware, the actual procedure is completely free to you. The transplant center and your local physicians should work together to help make sure any testing and stuff is likewise covered by insurance/minimal to zero cost to you.
- If you’re a US Citizen, lost wages and travel expenses are covered. (The center can help you with these resources. A lot of it is government + non-profit support.)
- International donors may still have reimbursement for non-procedure related costs but it might go through different systems.
- There’s additional benefits you get post-donor as well.
- By and large this whole situation is completely different than my experiences with the rest of the US healthcare system. I did mention the entire procedure is covered right? RIGHT? There’s actually support available for donors both before and after…like what how? Yup. Please inquire with them about exactly what you get, because it can vary which entity may help you or reimburse you.
- Until we get closer to actually doing the transplant, you won’t need to fly / drive out. The procedure would be expected to happen in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- They’ve been incredibly patient with me, and I expect nothing more than them willing to answer each and every question that you have. They flat out encourage it. This is an important decision and it is treated as such.
So alright, you’d like to explore if you can donate and how to do so! The donor center must hear from you directly that you’re interested before they can work with you. You can do this in one of two ways: There’s a form and a phone number you can call. They told me up and down the form is easier, but if you had some immediate questions too, maybe the phone number is more for you.”
If you think you can help Iggy source a new kidney, please hit the link and hopefully this talented individual can get the help that they deserve – https://umichumhs.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4YiUs39kUHCjYbk?Q_CHL=qr
Blue Prince is out now on PS5. You can read our Blue Prince PS5 review here.
Source: Dougbomb via PC Gamer
