A letter from the editor
Dear SoCal Jewish News supporters,
It’s hard to believe that in a few short weeks it will be Purim, aka the upside-down holiday.
It’s been a topsy-turvy time for me, too, which in turn, has reflected on SoCal Jewish News. Although I have been quite open in my private life about what is happening with me, it’s time for me to share this with you, our readers.
I suffer from polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a genetic, hereditary disease that ultimately shuts down your kidneys. A year ago I was listed on the UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) cadaver donor list because I need a kidney transplant in order to survive, and my kidney function had dropped to 14%. At the same time, I was actively seeking a living donor because the wait for a cadaver donor in Southern California is about 10 years (time I do not have).
During the past year, as I held out hope for a donor, I became progressively more ill. I underwent two major hospitalizations, one of which was in a critical care unit. I required two back-to-back blood transfusions, suffered acute hypertension and went into acute respiratory failure. I also suffered numerous infections, ruptured cysts and my kidney function dropped to 7%.
As I grappled and continue to grapple with the progression of my disease and the accompanying difficult side effects of being so ill, the SoCal Jewish News team has stepped up time and time again to ensure that we continued the work we set out to do. It’s an enormous burden on a small, dedicated team, especially when, during hospitalizations for long stretches of time, I was unable to do any work. I am indebted to each and every one of them.
In a miraculous, extraordinary development, after months of testing, a dear friend turned out to be my living-donor match. We both received this amazing news just a couple of short weeks ago and our surgeries will take place next month. She will undergo her surgery in New Jersey (where she lives) and her kidney will be flown out to me at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. I am so incredibly lucky, grateful and blessed.*
In the next few weeks in the lead-up to this life-saving surgery, I still must undergo additional medical procedures and pre-op testing that will be time consuming and difficult. The need for me to remain as healthy and stress-free as possible in order to receive this transplant has forced the SoCal Jewish News staff to make the difficult decision to place our website on hiatus until after I have recovered from my transplant.
I will be under round-the-clock care and unable to return to work for four weeks post-transplant as I learn to adjust to and live with my new kidney. However, the great news is that I will return with a new lease on life, and so will SoCal Jewish News.
We are indebted to the support we have received from you — our followers, our subscribers and our believers. We hope you will continue to post your events in our community calendar here and we look forward to seeing you back here in early May.
For now, I and the SoCal Jewish News team wish you all a wonderful Purim and a meaningful Passover.
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*On average, 5,000 people die in America every year waiting for a kidney. Approximately 95,000 people are on the UNOS transplant list and only about 30,000 of them will receive a kidney. Please consider becoming a living kidney donor. You can learn about it at the National Kidney Foundation here and about UCLA’s living kidney donor program here.
Whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world. – Talmud Sanhedrin 37a