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Living Related & Unrelated Donors |
This is not intended to be a forum for debating the ethical/moral issues; the allocation issues or other transplant related controversies in the field. This is intended to provide straight forward information on the process; what it entails and what to do to make your wish occur.
As such, SEOPF will monitor the posts to this board and reserves the right to not post messages and/or remove messages felt to be inflammatory.
We are very grateful to Joyce Roush, RN, who has agreed to follow this Forum and provide her insight and expertise. Joyce's expertise in this arena stems from her being a living unrelated kidney donor in 1999. Her introduction follows as well as a link to the BBS style forum. Please book mark the forum page and not this introductory page.
On September 7, 1999, I did what many people all around the country and the world considered crazy. I donated my kidney to a complete stranger. This is my story. If you are curious, perhaps this story will diminish that curiosity. If you are considering donating a kidney yourself, then my prayer is that you will be inspired, just as I was to save the life of another.
The most frequent question I am asked is "Why would you donate a part of your self to someone you didn't even know?" The answer for me has always been obvious. "Why would I not?" As a registered nurse, I am well aware of the fact that having only one kidney would in no way affect my health. The reality of our miraculous bodies is that we can live as well and as long with only one kidney as with two. In fact, I can tell you honestly that I feel better since having the surgical procedure in September, than I have ever before. Perhaps it is my body's way of taking care of itself. I eat less, I have completely lost my taste for alcohol (not that I was ever more than a once a month social drinker) and yes, I still go to the bathroom just as much as ever!
My decision to donate a kidney was made in the blink of an eye. I had attended a conference where I became aware of a new procedure developed to remove kidneys from living people. Called a laprascopic nephrectomy, it required only four small incisions, the biggest one three inches. The surgery usually took four hours and the patients were able to return to work in two to three weeks. (Prior to the development of this procedure, the incision was eight to twelve inches long, the hospitalization time a week, and the recovery time six to eight weeks.) I knew immediately it was something I wanted to do.
I didn't know anyone who needed a kidney transplant, but that didn't stop me from approaching the speaker, Dr. Lloyd Ratner from Johns Hopkins Medical Center and informing him that I wanted to donate a kidney to whoever in the country might need one. At that time there were over 40,000 people waiting or a kidney transplant. I knew one of them would match my blood and DNA type.
Dr. Ratner thought I was crazy. "No one has ever done this," he said. My family was, to put it mildly, shocked. None the less, I persevered. While sensitive and cooperative, I was relentless in my desire to help another in need. My life had been blessed. My family and friends were all healthy. I would have been willing, had the need ever arose, to donate a kidney to someone I loved. God's grace had spared me that need, but 40,000 people had not been spared, and I was just as determined to help one of those individuals.
It took Johns Hopkins eighteen months to complete my evaluation, find a suitable recipient, and schedule my surgery. First, Johns Hopkins had to determine if my doing this was ethical. I had to be thoroughly evaluated. That entailed having many tests and diagnostic studies. The doctors wanted to be absolutely sure that donating a kidney would in no way interfere with my own health. I traveled to Baltimore two times from my home in Indiana to have all the tests completed. I even met with a psychologist so that he could determine that I was mentally stable enough to make this decision. My kidney was perfect, but the doctors had to determine that I would be if I lived the rest of my life with only one. Finally, the day after Labor Day, my dream to save a life came true. I entered the hospital to donate one of my kidneys to a thirteen-year old boy, Christopher Bieniek. It was for me, one of the greatest moments in my life.
My surgery took five hours. I was hospitalized for four days and returned to work in two weeks. I have four small incisions that are hardly noticeable. Christopher has done great. He returned to school within a few months and is resuming the life of a normal thirteen-year-old. I talk to Christopher and his family every two weeks. My own family, while reluctant at first, now is proud. Our two families will be forever be connected by the awareness that one life was shared while another life was spared.
It has been almost two years since I made the decision to donate my kidney. It has been five months since that dream came true. My life, while continuing on with the normal day-to-day activities and responsibilities will never be the same. For me, for one moment, I had the honor to make a difference in the life of another. For that blessed honor, I will be forever grateful.
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