MA Deputy Chief Needs Kidney after His 'Next to Nothing'

BEVERLY, MA—It was odd results from routine bloodwork for a physical that first alerted Jeffrey Baxter that something was wrong.

Now, Baxter, Wenham's deputy fire chief, is on the sidelines in the department he helps lead, doing office work as his kidneys have become "next to nothing" and prevent him from joining his fellow firefighters on calls. A restriction on lifting keeps him behind a desk, he explained.

"After 21 years, it hurts when the tone goes off and you can't be part of that call," said Baxter, who lives in Beverly. "I think of all the guys and hope they're all safe."

Baxter and his family, to end 2020, have become advocates for Massachusetts General Hospital's Living Donor program, and they're asking for the public's help in their quest to find Jeffrey Baxter a new kidney.

They have only known about Baxter's health issue for about a year. It started with unexpected news after a physical exam, he explained.

"There's nothing in my family background or anything — kidney disease, anything," he said. "I went and saw my primary care and things like that, and the lab values started going really off. Basically, through lab values, they found this."

Baxter learned that several data-points were out of whack. All signs pointed to kidney disease.

"Protein is one of them. Potassium is another," he said. "Your creatinine and blood levels...it's all things they measure."

As time went on, members of the family — including his 29-year-old daughter Paige — were tested to see if he could get a kidney from someone close to home.

Paige was a match for her father's blood type, "but I have a rarity in my kidneys," she said, "the anatomy of them, and they don't feel it's the best thing to go through. It stinks on that end, not being able to help in that way. But I was like, 'you know what? What if I can't help do it, and my mother can't help do it... we'll rally behind him and find someone who can do it.'"

Enter the Living Donor program from Mass General — a program that allows those who may be eligible to donate as a living donor to begin the steps to anonymously match with a recipient. In that case, possible donors could provide a kidney directly to Baxter or, if blood types don't match, take part in a pair exchange, according to Paige Baxter.

For more information, or to fill out a questionnaire to be evaluated as a potential donor, visit MGHLivingDonors.org.

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