Are YOU
My Type?
About Me
Hi, I’m Debi Braendle, and I’ve been proud to call Southwest Florida home for 28 years. I’m retired now, but my days are usually filled with the things I love most — volunteering with nonprofits, spending time with my family, reading, and swimming.
For more than 10 years, I’ve been living with kidney disease. It has progressed to now my kidneys are failing. I am days away from needing dialysis, something I’ve hoped to avoid for as long as possible. I’m on the deceased donor list at Tampa General, but the wait is long, and my time is running out.
A living kidney donor is my best chance at a longer, healthier life — one where I can stay off dialysis, remain active, and keep doing the things and spending time with the people I love.
My blood type is B, but I may also be able to receive a kidney from A2, A2B, or O donors. And even if we’re not a direct match, the Paired Kidney Exchange Program can still help me find the right donor.
I’ve spent my life giving to others. Today, I’m asking — with hope and humility — for someone to help give me the chance to keep living mine.
Could you be my match?
My Ideal Match
Someone with a giving heart (and a compatible blood type)
Healthy, non-smoking, and at least 18 years of age
Ready to make a difference that lasts a lifetime
If this sounds like you…
Let’s make a life-saving connection!
If you feel led – through faith, compassion or kindness, please consider being tested as a potential donor. Click the button below for FAQs and to learn more about becoming a living kidney donor through Tampa General Hospital’s program.
About Tampa General Hospital
Tampa General Hospital is #1 Transplant Center in the Nation
Tampa General Hospital’s Transplant Institute consistently demonstrates its commitment to providing access to care to those in our community with advanced organ disease and now ranks #1 in the nation. We have been a national leader in advanced organ disease treatment and transplant surgery for 50 years, and TGH is one of only a few dozen hospitals in the U.S. to have performed more than 14,000 transplant surgeries.
Living Donor Kidney Transplant Program
Tampa General is home to one of Florida’s leading Living Donor Kidney Transplant Programs. At Tampa General Hospital we have tremendous experience in kidney transplantation. Nationally, more than 100,000 patients are on the kidney transplant waiting list, with more added each day. Living donor kidney transplantation is an important alternative. Living donor transplants often provide:
- Better long-term outcomes
- Shorter wait times
- Reduced complications
- Faster recovery for recipients
Share Your Spare
Living donor kidney transplantation is possible because we are born with two kidneys. When surgeons remove a donor’s kidney, the donor’s remaining kidney grows slightly to provide adequate kidney function. Since the 1950s, surgeons around the world have performed living donor kidney transplants.
What are the advantages of living donor kidney transplantation?
The main advantage for the recipient is that they can receive a kidney without having to wait on the deceased transplant waiting list. Patients who wait for a deceased transplant may have more medical problems, are usually weaker going into the surgery and are more likely to have complications. Another advantage of living kidney donation is evidence of better short- and long-term patient and graft survival. The advantage for the donor is knowing that they are helping someone who needs a kidney transplant.
What are the general requirements to become a living donor?
Generally, you should at least 18 years old. You should not have any major medical or psychiatric illnesses, and you must not be pregnant. You should not be overweight, though you may still be a potential donor if you lose weight. You also must be able to understand the risks of this surgery and be able to comply with our instructions for follow-up medical care. If you smoke, we recommend you stop prior to surgery.
Click below to learn more about Tampa General Hospital’s Living Kidney Donor Program.
Are You My Type?
Call the team at TGH to learn more about the Living Donor Kidney Transplant Program at 813-844-8669
Contact me at Debi at [email protected]
To the world, you may be just one person, but to one person, you may be the world.
Thank you for visiting RuMyType.org and learning about my journey. Please consider becoming a living kidney donor. Even if you aren’t my match, you could still save someone else’s life — and you can still help me through something called paired exchange.
What if We're Not a Match?
Tampa General participates in a Paired Kidney Exchange Program, which allows willing donors and recipients who aren’t compatible to “swap” with another donor-recipient pair. TGH is a proud partner of the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation (APKD), a national leader in kidney paired donation. This way, everyone gets a kidney that’s the right match.
So even if you can’t donate directly to me, you can still help me get my kidney. And your gift could save two lives instead of one.
If you wish to start the process of being a living kidney donor, fill out our online questionnaire here.
Debi Braendle
TGH Living Donor Kidney Program
813-844-8669