Lynnfield family begins quest for kidney

LYNNFIELD – Tony La Rosa is in need of a kidney, and his family is traveling all avenues, including the information highway, to find him one.”We know this is a long, long, long shot,” said Tony’s wife, Joyce La Rosa.La Rosa and her husband, who is 75, both spent their careers in education. He retired as a principal in Melrose and she as a teacher in the Saugus school system, she said.”So I set out letters to all the teachers and administrators we’ve known,” she said. “And the kids put it on Facebook.”Joyce La Rosa called herself technologically challenged but thought putting the quest for a living donor with Type O blood out there in cyberspace was better than doing nothing.Tony La Rosa, a Eucharistic minister at Salem Hospital and former volunteer cook at My Brother’s Table, suffers from chronic kidney failure. Joyce La Rosa said he is considered a perfect candidate for a transplant because other than the kidney problem he is in good health. Unfortunately the La Rosas have been told by doctors that Tony will never receive a cadaver transplant because, due to medical regulations, there are few in this area.”And the waiting list is so long,” she said.According to Johns Hopkins University, the average wait time for a kidney transplant is between three and five years, and in some areas of the country, considerably longer. Joyce La Rosa said in this area it is closer to five to 10 years. A transplant from a living donor also lasts twice as long, she added.”Unfortunately no immediate family members are a match,” she said.Despite their outreach, Joyce La Rosa said thus far the only response they’ve received is from a good friend she taught with years ago. She said the woman has filled out an online assessment application and is waiting to see if she could be a match.Her husband remains in good spirits, though, and the family does have other options, she said.”The alternative thing to do would be dialysis,” Joyce La Rosa said. “He’s not terminal and he has a good attitude. You can go two, three or four times a week or you could do it at night, which is what we would choose if it comes to that.”She is hoping, however, it doesn’t come to that. She said she heard of a North Reading resident who went into kidney failure after rotator cuff surgery, put his plight out on social media and ended up with a donor from California.”You won’t know unless you try,” Joyce La Rosa said. “And what else are we going to do?”Anyone willing to help the La Rosas can go to www.bidmc.org/transplant and click on a link at the bottom of the page that says “Start Your Donor Evaluation Process.””You will be contacted once the form is reviewed by the donor team,” she said. “I know this is a big request, but I make it on behalf of my husband who devotes every day of his life to making a difference to his family, friends and even strangers.”For more information or to reach out to the family, Joyce La Rosa said they can also be reached at [email protected].