Life on the waiting list: ‘You have to be very, very careful’

deshante_ervin

Patients waiting for new organs take extra precautions to stay healthy

De’Shante Ervin is taking additional precautions these days.

The 40-year-old Southfield resident is currently in need of a kidney and knows that even a common cold or flu-like symptoms could postpone a life-saving transplant.

“When that call comes, you have to be ready,” he said.

For Ervin, that means trying to eat right and stay in shape, as well as trying to avoid the potential for infection that everyone faces on a daily basis. As an African American, he knows he’s more at risk for the coronavirus, too, which means he and his family are even more diligent about social distancing.

“I’m pretty much staying at home. Outside of going walking at the track. I’m trying to stay away from people as much as possible,” said Ervin, who wears a mask and stands apart from family, even during gatherings. “I’m not going around anybody. I have to make sure my immune system is right.”

He and his wife, Crystal, are also planning what will happen should their 17-year-old twins have to return to school for their senior year this fall, or if their district will provide remote learning.

Even with the additional precautions, Ervin knows he may have a long wait on the waiting list. Minorities tend to wait longer for donors because there is a reluctance among some in multicultural communities to sign up on the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.

While transplants can be successful regardless of the ethnicity of donor and recipient, the chances for a successful match and long-term survival are higher if both have a similar genetic background. Also, minorities tend to be at a higher risk for conditions like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, which can lead to organ failure. Of the more than 100,000 people on the national transplant waiting list, nearly 60 percent are minorities. About 29 percent are African American. In Michigan, 871 of the 2,140 people waiting for a new kidney are African American.

Ervin has been listed for a transplant for more than a year and is undergoing dialysis. Diagnosed as diabetic when he was 19, he gets dialysis treatment three times a week, and each session usually takes more than four hours. He’s currently unable to work.

“It can be taxing,” he said.

August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month, which highlights the need for minorities to sign up as donors and encourages everyone to lead healthier lives.

“As minorities – or people in general – it’s very important that we support donation,” he said. “You never know whose life you’re saving or how many individuals you’re saving with this gift of life.”

Read More Posts

Kendall Todd received a heart transplant shortly after being added to the national waiting list.

“We are so grateful for them. They didn’t have to donate. They chose to.” 

When Cewanda Todd was 19-weeks pregnant, she was told her unborn daughter had a heart…

Read More
15th annual Kountz Callender Drew Transplant Symposium

Detroit MOTTEP and Gift of Life Michigan host 15th annual Kountz Callender Drew Transplant Symposium, March 19

Event focuses on reflective voices, riveting results and revolutionary future in transplantation The Detroit MOTTEP…

Read More
Dr. Alfred Bolden and Rev. Dr. Remonia Chapman

30 Years of Detroit MOTTEP – The beginning of building community, hope and trust

Dr. Alfred Bolden’s involvement with organ, eye and tissue donation started over thirty years ago…

Read More
This year, saving lives is on your tax form.

Michigan residents can save lives when filing taxes

Tax forms provide opportunity to join Michigan Organ Donor Registry  Six million Michiganders file tax…

Read More
Jessica Bailey with her father, Deacon Lawrence Bailey, at a Detroit Lions game.

Kidney recipient and passionate advocate becomes tissue donor

Deacon Lawrence J. Bailey was a kidney transplant recipient, husband, father and a fervent advocate…

Read More
Dr. LokMan Sung

New members join Gift of Life Michigan Governing and Advisory Boards

Gift of Life Michigan is proud to announce new board members who will bring fresh…

Read More
Scroll to Top