Natalie Cole Inundated With Offers For A Kidney

LOS ANGELES — Natalie Cole's fans want to give her a kidney. The 59-year-old singer told Larry King on Tuesday that she was diagnosed with kidney failure, and while she was till on his CNN show, dozens of viewers wrote in offering to be tested as possible donors.

Without a donor kidney, Cole says she will be on dialysis for the rest of her life.

The daughter of Nat King Cole said she was diagnosed with hepatitis C in February 2008. Her kidneys failed after treatment and she has since been seeking a donor.

Comments

[Pippilangstrumpf]

08:54 PM on 04/02/2009

My daughter's husband is in desperate need of a kidney. He is back in the hospital today with severe pain and they cannot figure out what it is.
The week before last, when they first discovered he was in kidney failure, he went through 6 blood transfusions, a painful kidney biopsy, was in the hospital for almost a week and is now in dialysis 3 x's a week.
They just got married last summer and this is just so much more than any young couple should have to bear.
My daughter never leaves the hospital and is beside herself with fatigue, frustration and fear. Of course, they're on the donor list...but who knows how long this will take.

Below is a link to a recent article from Salon Magazine about the current state of kidney donorship. It was rather sobering.

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2009/03/27/my_kidney/?source=newsletter

You just hate seeing your kids in pain, you know?

[Kidney Donor & Kidney Matchmaker]

06:13 PM on 04/02/2009

I donated a kidney to a stranger and it was the greatest experience of my life. If I can do it again, I would do it again tomorrow!

I now have a project to help others who are in desperate need of a kidney. My brother as well donated a kidney - to someone on my list of people in need of a kidney.

Many articles have been written about me, including in the February 2009 issue of Prevention Magazine, page 9. I was also on an ABC-TV Los Angeles special, "Giving Life: The Story of Organ Donation" which aired on March 22, 2008. I wasl also a couple of times on "This American Life" on NPR.

I have made numerous kidney matches. I don't get paid for this and don't charge a fee.

Natalie Cole has had a tremendous amount of offers for kidney donation and can only get one kidney! If someone would like to donate a kidney - please get in touch with me. People in need of a kidney have been contacting me from many parts of the USA and internationally as well. And it can be very diffiicult to get donors.

Thanks so much. Hope to hear from you. Being a kidney donor myself, I can give you all the information you need. Also lots of information on my website.

Sincerely,

Chaya Lipschutz
TheKidneyMatchmaker.com

[Aesthete]

05:47 PM on 04/02/2009

When the baseball player, Mickey Mantle needed and received a new liver because of a past alcohol problem, I don't recall that begrudging remarks were made against him. Ms. Cole is an entertainer who has fans and it is only natural that many of them would want to help. I'm sure that the many fans of the late Elvis Presley would have offered to help him if he had needed an organ transplant.

[kathy001]

01:39 PM on 04/02/2009

I'm always shocked by the nastiness directed at people like Natalie Cole who have problems and are offered help by their fans. The people who throw Ms. Cole's past drug abuse issues at her have no clue what her life was like or what happened to push her toward drugs but they sure are Johnny-On-The-Spot to bring it up and use it as a weapon, whether it is relevant to her current problems or not.

If these folks ever have a problem or a medical issue, I sure hope there's nothing the least bit shady or self-destructive in their background that would give others cause to claim they brought it all on themselves.

[snakeman]

01:11 PM on 04/02/2009

My nephew needs a kidney, will one of these people donate one to him?

[CR46]

05:46 PM on 04/02/2009

They might. Is there a national registry of people who have been "typed"? I was put in the national bone marrow registry when a friend needed a bone marrow transplant( I was not a match) but three yrs later gave bone marrow to another person that I didn't know.

[IslandGyal]

12:36 PM on 04/02/2009

Girl I am generous but bad lucky; it would be my luck to give away a kidney and then up end needing one myself a short while later.

[Yamunation]

12:14 PM on 04/02/2009

I hope she finds a donor asap.
And I hope the same people are wiling to donate to anyone, celebrity or not.

[stevi]

12:04 PM on 04/02/2009

HLA match testing is an expensive endeavor and I wonder how many of these potential donors will really be able to afford to go through with this. It's not easy to find a match no matter how many potential donor are available and the Donor Registry has limited funding as it is. To do this privately is even more difficult.

Natalie will be in my thoughts, along with her family and loved ones.

[JScott]

05:23 PM on 04/02/2009

From what I"ve heard /read the person receiving the kidney health plan covers the costs for the one donating.

[stevi]

11:42 PM on 04/02/2009

For the surgery, but does the recipients health plan cover the screening of hundreds of potential donors?

[Flavor]

11:32 AM on 04/02/2009

I pray Natalie, that you can find a donor. My dad had to go back and forth on dialysis for years. He finally after 5yrs on dialysis got a match. God Bless You Natalie.

[JScott]

11:25 AM on 04/02/2009

She must be doing the dialiysis with the fistula (where the machine connects with the person) in her diaphragm, normally it's on the arm you don't write with, and she's seen in public in sleeveless clothing and there's no fistula on her arm. I hope she can get a kidney soon.

[Jacqueline3]

11:22 AM on 04/02/2009

I don't think this is right. There are millions of people on transplant lists that need kidneys, liver, etc. For someone who has abused drugs throughout their lives to get these organs before someone, through no fault of their own, need these organs is unfair. I said this when Mickey Mantle was bumped up the list for a liver many years ago. She should wait her turn just like everyone else.

[Aabby]

11:41 AM on 04/02/2009

but if someone who would otherwise not donate offers her a kidney specifically, how can she be denied that? and how can you be so sure where she got the virus?

[MalloMel]

12:46 PM on 04/02/2009

I totally agree with you. I would go further in saying that to deny her a kidney that otherwise would not be donated, is just plain mean.

[IslandGyal]

12:39 PM on 04/02/2009

Jacqueline3,
Compassionate social conservative?

[Jacqueline3]

02:08 PM on 04/02/2009

I know first hand, my aunt died after years on dialysis. Have you know anyone who needed a transplant? Do you know what it is like to see them waste away to nothing? Until then, keep your comments to yourself. it is not fair to people on the transplant list. She should get a kidney because she is famous?

[jacobomorales]

11:11 AM on 04/02/2009

How did she get Hep C?

[cocolola]

11:37 AM on 04/02/2009

Years ago she was a drug addict. She was in such bad condition that her mother had to run her day-to-day affairs through Power of Attorney. It's sad, but that stuff like sometimes catches up with you. I wish her the best.

[ZellaBee]

02:00 PM on 04/02/2009

Doesn't mean she contracted it that way.

[Aabby]

11:42 AM on 04/02/2009

The virus is dormant for years before it causes issues so its is really hard to pinpoint date of infection.

[cycodad]

10:45 AM on 04/02/2009

NATALIE is one of my favorite singers. My prayers go up for her. The CREATOR knows her needs and HE will provide. May the CREATOR bless you Natalie. You are still BEAUTIFUL.

[Lucille]

10:42 AM on 04/02/2009

I hope she can get her resources together and organized to properly process the offers of a kidney donation.

I've seen people on dialysis and it's an horrfic thing to have to endure several times a week. I pray that God's will be done and that if it's his will, a kidney be found for Natalie Cole very soon. Amen.

[crayola 08]

10:27 AM on 04/02/2009

even with all her health problems she looks great for her age.

[cocolola]

11:40 AM on 04/02/2009

She looks fabulous.