By Nancy K. Crevier

When Fred Ferris puts an olive in his mouth and likes it, he will know if it is myth or fact that kidney recipients sometimes take on the likes and dislikes of the donor. "I hate olives, so if I like it…" said Mr Ferris.

He is hopeful he will one day have the opportunity to test that theory. It is a more than three-year wait, on average, for the more than 100,000 people in the United States in need of a kidney transplant to find a match. With both kidneys failing, Mr Ferris has been on the national list since 2013, three years after he was diagnosed with stage four kidney disease, related to type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

"The average wait time in this area, for my blood type, is five to seven years," he said, if he waits for a match from a cadaver donor. Only about 18,000 kidney transplants actually take place each year.

"But, if you get someone to donate on your behalf - a living donor - and if they are a match, the transplant can take place as soon as the schedule allows," said Mr Ferris.

Since 2010, a national "paired exchange" program for kidney transplants has been in place, and it is this program that Mr Ferris wants to promote.

If the living donor is not a match for the person he or she knows, the donor can opt into the paired exchange program and donate a kidney to someone else.

"It's like a trade of kidneys," Mr Ferris explained. "There is a chain of kidneys waiting for the right person. The more living kidneys available, the more chance someone else on the national list has of getting a cadaver kidney, which is better than none," he said.

The advantage to having a kidney from a living donor is that those kidneys can last up to 20 years in the recipient. A cadaver kidney may live only around seven years, he said, and then the waiting game begins again for a matching kidney. Second-time transplants, though, move up on the national list, making the waiting period somewhat less.

There are surgical risks, as with any surgery, for the living donor. There is also the risk of being left with only one functioning kidney. Donors are thoroughly tested, both psychologically and physically. No donor is accepted if donating would endanger his or her health. "They want to make sure, too, that a donor is not under any pressure to donate," said Mr Ferris.

On the plus side, he said, people who take part in the paired exchange program are given high consideration if, in the future, that person ever needs any kind of organ transplant.

Mr Ferris had a co-worker at United Health Care in Shelton offer a kidney, late last year. After testing, it turned out the kidney was not compatible. "She decided to take part in the paired exchange program, though," he said, which means that when a match is made, someone else in need will receive a healthy, functioning kidney.

He is active on the national transplant list, as well as participating in the paired exchange program. "Anytime I see a phone call from New Haven, I get a little butterfly in my chest," he admitted. "It could be a call that a kidney is available."

On July 2, he received a call that raised his hopes - a kidney from the paired exchange program was available to him, and seemed to be a match. Unfortunately, by the following week, that transplant opportunity turned out to be a false alarm.

While he waits, he continues the schedule he has followed since 2013. Three times a week, four hours at a time, he checks in to the Danbury DaVita Dialysis Center, where his blood is freed from contaminants that healthy kidneys normally flush from the system, during the dialysis process.

"Dialysis has brought my life back, even though I lose 12 hours a week to it," said Mr Ferris. There are other precautions he must take to lead a "normal" life, now.

On vacations, he must set up appointments in the area to receive dialysis. He avoids eating fruits high in water, such as melons and strawberries, and must not consume foods high in potassium. He avoids processed foods and takes several prescription vitamin supplements.

"I can't eat nuts or dairy," he said, a hard enough challenge for the average Newtowner, but doubly hard for someone related to and living adjacent to the Ferris Farm Creamery.

Because of dialysis, he is limited to 32 ounces of fluids a day, whether from drinks or fruits and vegetables. For thirst, he chews on ice pellets, or chews gum.

Although he has controlled his diabetes for 20 years, finding out he had kidney disease was a surprise, Mr Ferris said.

"I had some pains in my side, but not a lot of physical symptoms. I got tired a lot. They found the kidney disease during a regular diabetes check-up," he said. It is common, he was told, that kidney disease symptoms are often silent, until the advanced stages.

The staff at Danbury DaVita Dialysis Center has become like family to him, said Mr Ferris. As much as he has come to love them, though, it is a family he would like to have to visit only once in awhile. That could become a reality, if a kidney from the paired exchange program or a cadaver becomes available to him.

"It's important for people to be aware of the paired exchange program, and to become organ donors, if they are not already," Mr Ferris said.

There are only two kidney transplant hospitals in Connecticut, Mr Ferris said. One is Hartford Hospital in Hartford, the other is at his hospital, Yale-New Haven in New Haven.

His outlook remains positive as he patiently waits. Some day, he hopes, he'll be digging into a jar of olives, postsurgery.

To find out more about the paired exchange (Kidney Paired Donation) or to become an organ donor, visit www.unos.org. Educational material about kidney disease can be found at www.kidneyfoundation.org. For information on financial assistance for kidney transplant, visit www.kidneyfund.org. Monetary donations are accepted at any of these websites.