The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
IN NEED OF KIDNEY
Fifth-grade teacher Michael DeMaintenon suffers from chronic kidney disease
DURHAMVILLE, N.Y. » In the summer of 2004, Michael DeMaintenon learned he suffered from chronic kidney disease. Since January, his kidney function has dropped to 10 percent and he’s looking for a donor.
A fifth grade teacher at Durhamville Elementary School, DeMaintenon has been teaching for 16 years. Ever since he found out he had nephrosclerosis, or scarring of the kidneys, DeMaintenon followed his doctors’ orders to the letter and has managed to live a relatively normal life.
“My case is kind of unique,” DeMaintenon said. “Thus far, I haven’t had a lot of the symptoms typical of a person with kidney function this low.”
DeMaintenon said that when kidney function gets as low as his, most people suffer from fluid build up in the legs, anemia and a build up in the blood of things the kidneys normally filter out, such as potassium, phosphorus and calcium.
In the fall of 2015, DeMaintenon’s overall kidney function declined to 20 percent. He told any close friends and relatives and his colleagues at work who didn’t know about his illness,
with several people coming forward to offer to be a kidney donor. But for one reason or another, they weren’t able to.
“First, the living donor coordinator does an overthe-phone interview. And then if the people pass that, they go to blood tests and urine tests,” De Maintenon said. “If they pass that, they do a full physical and psychological work up.”
De Maintenon’s blood type is O positive, so his kidney donor also needs to be O positive, O negative or a specific kind of A type blood, A2. There are six antigen matches as part of the test and the more antigens that match, the better chance of success for the operation.
Besides types not matching or donors living an adventurous lifestyle, doctors want to be sure the person donating comes out of the operation happy and healthy. If there are any red flags the donor can be in trouble during or after the operation, the deal doesn’t happen.
DeMaintenon said that since his health was good overall, he and his doctor decided the best course of action was to ride out his condition while looking for a donor until they couldn’t. When DeMaintenon’s kidney function dropped to 10 percent, he decided to go to social media and get help there.
“The response has been overwhelming,” DeMaintenon said. “People have been coming forward and I’ve spent a lot of time on the phone fielding questions from complete strangers to relatives of former students I’ve had. It was extraordinarily humbling.”
DeMaintenon told his students last week about his condition after going public, explaining what was going on in his life and that there was the distinct possibility he could be out for a while if he got the transplant by the end of the school year.
“They’ve had a lot of questions. Everything from my health personally to who the substitute is going to be. Typical concerns of a 10- or 11-year-old kid,” DeMaintenon said. “A few students have written notes to wish me well and a few former students have come back. A student brought a prayer blanket the other day with a prayer she said for me at church.”
While DeMaintenon has managed to avoid many of the symptoms of his disease, he’s not free of them. In 2012, DeMaintenon said uric acid started to build up in his blood and caused gout flares.
“Those are awful,” DeMaintenon said. “They finally found some medicine that has helped me out and I haven’t had a gout flare in over a year.”
Gout affects the joints, causing a painful form of arthritis that DeMaintenon said made him feel like he was trapped in a 90-yearold man’s body. Normally an active person, DeMaintenon hasn’t been able to play softball, basketball or football.
“I’ve had to reign that all back in. After the transplant, I’d like to start doing those things again. It’s part of having an active lifestyle,” DeMaintenon said.
DeMaintenon’s condition has loomed in the back of his mind for the last 14 years and has stopped him from living the active lifestyle he wants to. Until he can get a transplant, DeMaintenon is determined to keep a positive attitude.
“I have a lot of good things going on. Despite this condition, I’ve had a very blessed life. My wife and I are very close and we’ve been through a lot of things together. Those experiences really galvanized our relationship. I’ve been blessed with three beautiful, very intelligent, very talented children and I really enjoy working at Durhamville,” DeMaintenon said. “You couldn’t have put in with a better group of people. There’s a lot of positive things in my life and I try to focus on those positive aspects and not focus too much on the problem.” 130Broad Street Oneida, NY 13421
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If anyone is interested in donating, they can contact DeMaintenon’s living donor coordinator Lavell Jones at SUNY Upstate Medical University at 315464-5413.