Chattanoogan, 73, In Need Of A Kidney Transplant

Greg and Gloria Miller and their sons, Craig Breen and Miquel Miller

After 37 years Greg Miller retired from the US Geological Survey as an oceanographer. With his work he traveled around the world – any place that had water – and has been on all seven continents. Since his retirement he has volunteered with various organizations including the Performing Art League of Chattanooga serving as president for three years. He has volunteered for work with Habitat for Humanity and Master Gardeners. He serves on the vestry at his local church as well as the search committee for a new rector. In his spare time his hobbies include making wine, gardening and is an avid reader. He enjoyed traveling along with his wife before his kidney failure.

None of the doctors Greg has seen know for certain what caused his kidneys to begin to fail in July 2021. He knows in February 2021 he had a kidney function of 70% and then in July it was 29%. He was swarmed and stung numerous times by yellow jackets the week before this July test was done. The doctors say that may have caused the failure but normally the patient is in the hospital if kidney failure is the result of stings. They just don’t know but, regardless, his kidneys have continued to decline.

Greg was first told here in Chattanooga that he was too old for a kidney transplant since he was 73 by the time it was decided his kidneys were going to fail. Later his wife, Gloria, who is a Type 1 diabetic, read on one of the Facebook groups she participates in of an ER doctor of the same age in another state saying he just had a kidney transplant. She got in touch with him and learned each transplant facility sets their own criteria for transplant requirements. At that point they reached out to Vanderbilt for an appointment and was unable to get one for over six months. Then they contacted Mayo in Rochester MN who promptly got him in for testing. In November 2024 he was given approval to be on the transplant list at Mayo. In December he had the testing done at Vanderbilt and was approved a few weeks later to be on their transplant list.

The best chance for someone with Type O blood, as Greg has, is to find a living donor. His father, who is 97 years old, is unable to donate. His oldest son was unable to be a donor since he had donated his kidney to his wife in 2010. His youngest son, Miguel, wanted to donate but, due to health issues, was unable to do so. Two friends had offered but again were not able to donate for past medical history.

One does not have to be Type O blood to be a donor. Instead of being a direct donor, they can participate as a paired donor. In this program, the non-directed donor gives to a person waiting for a transplant, and that recipient’s donor is willing – but incompatible – donor gives to the first person waiting. So each recipient has a willing but non-matching donor and two lives are saved this way.

According to an article by NPR, Dr. Abigail Marsh, who studies altruism as a neuroscientist at Georgetown University, began brain-imaging studies of extraordinary altruism which is how she described those people who donate organs. She found the size of their right amygdala — a region in the brain that processes emotions — to be larger than average, suggesting a greater capacity for empathy.[1] Greg and his family just hope to find such a person to be his donor. He has read of two recently who were such donors in Tennessee. One lady in Clarksville saw a magnetic tag on a car in a parking lot asking for a kidney donation and she realized she had the same blood type and could help that individual. She was a perfect match. Another man was on a local TV station in Knoxville asking for a kidney donor and received several people willing to be tested to be his donor. He got his transplant from an altruist individual. Greg and his family are just hoping to find that one altruist person for him.

When one becomes a living donor through the National Kidney Registry they can be reimbursed for travel & dependent care as well as lost wages up to $2,000 per week for up to twelve weeks. A donor can return to work in two to six weeks depending on the nature of their work. All medical cost is paid by the recipient’s insurance. For more information on becoming a donor: https://www.kidneyregistry.com/for-donors/am-i-qualified-to-donate-a-kidney/