As a longtime clinical social worker, Dean C. Wolf has spent a good chunk of his life trying to help people struggling with mental illness and addiction issues. Now, as a patient with end-stage renal failure, Wolf, 68, is asking others to help him.
A Westminster resident and Beth Am congregant, Wolf — whose kidneys currently work at only 10 percent of normal function — is desperately in need of a donation and transplant. According to the Illinois-based Living Kidney Donors Network, he is one of 80,000 Americans currently in need of a functioning kidney. The organization predicts that nearly 5,000 people will die while waiting for a donation this year.
Living organ donation is an option that could drastically reduce the number of deaths from kidney disease.
“There is a lot to know about this,” said Wolf, a Bethesda area native and father of one adult son. “The best alternative for me is to seek a transplant from a living donor.”
A kidney from a living donor can last more than 20 years — twice as long as a kidney from a deceased donor, according to the LKDN. Despite the risk attached to any operation that involves anesthesia and invasive surgery, live kidney donation is a relatively safe procedure for the donor, according to the network and similar organizations
Sitting recently in his Owings Mills office, Wolf said he spreads the word about living kidney donation whenever possible, for himself and others. In his conversations with members of the public, he said he finds that most people are learning about the topic for the first time.
Rabbi Moshe Hauer, spiritual leader of Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion Congregation in Park Heights, said there is a Jewish dimension to the act of living donation. Rabbi Hauer, who has spoken with Wolf about his need for a donor, said living donation is “perhaps the quintessential expression of Ve’ahavta l’reyacha kamocha, loving your fellow as yourself.”
While Hauer reached the conclusion that there is no religious obligation to be a living donor, he said he believes that being a donor is an honor since it gives life to another human being.
“There is an issue about saving your brother’s life in Judaism,” Wolf said. “Some rabbis advocate for this.”
Rabbi Hauer delivered two sermons to his congregation about Wolf and his need for a transplant. After the sermons, some congregants came forward with offers to help.
But taking advantage of the congregants’ offers is complicated due to the stipulations of the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984. Intended to stop the trafficking of human organs, the law specifies that living donors cannot profit from organ donations.
That provision of the law makes living donation financially prohibitive to potential donors who cannot afford to lose income from missed work or do not have adequate medical insurance to cover surgeries.
Fortunately, organizations such as Renewal, a nonprofit located in Brooklyn, N.Y., can help offset monetary issues and clarify the legal variables associated with live organ donations. Renewal helps to make living donations viable for many by reimbursing donors for lost wages and paying for surgery and related expenses.
Meanwhile, Dean Wolf waits to find a donor who is compatible with him. He said he refuses to give up hope and tries to live as active a life as possible.
He said he hopes that people will take advantage of the benefits offered by Renewal and similar organizations so that he and others will be able to live longer and healthier lives.
“Living kidney donation is a gift of love and life, a highly significant charitable act,” said Wolf. “It will provide an opportunity for me to continue my work as a therapist and experience the joys of connecting to family and friends, those things that bring purpose and meaning to my life.”
To contact Dean Wolf, call 410-596-4917 or send him an email at deancwolf@gmail.com.
For information about becoming a living donor, contact the University of Maryland at (410) 328-5408 and ask for a living donor coordinator. For information about Renewal, visit life-renewal.org. For information about the Living Kidney Donors Network, visit lkdn.org.
Jordan Loux is a Baltimore-based freelance writer.
Photo of Dean C. Wolf provided
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