Jody Found a Kidney

Testimonial from Jonathan Dixon
11-30-09

I would like to start this by saying that I believe I have been extremely lucky and I hope that anyone reading this who needs a kidney transplant can be half as lucky as I have been.

I was born with kidney disease and had a kidney removed at nine months old. At the age of eight I started to have problems with my other kidney resulting in ten surgeries between the ages of eight and sixteen. By the time I was sixteen I knew that one day I would need a kidney transplant.

My parents had been warned when I was very young that I would need a transplant and my older brother Richard (12 years older than me) knew that my family had expectations for him to provide the kidney for that transplant. It was eighteen years between him knowing that he would one day be expected to give up a kidney to the day it actually happened. That is a long time for someone to live with something like that on the horizon every day.

In 1997 I moved from the UK to live in Cleveland and was again fortunate to be introduced to a great nephrologist at the Cleveland Clinic. I was under their care from 1997 to early 2003 when they determined the time was right to do the transplant before I would need dialysis. This was the time my brother had been waiting for and he did not hesitate for one moment. In fact he had one more hurdle to manage which was that he was too overweight to undergo the surgery. He had to lose 40lbs before they would operate on him which amazingly he did in just six months just in time for a transplant date of 22nd December 2003.

The transplant went very well, my brother was out of the hospital after two days and I was out after three days. My brother stayed in the US until after Christmas and flew back to the UK and was back to work within ten days. I was again very lucky as my brother was an exact match so I do not have to take steroids.

There was once complication which came in the form of a pulmonary embolism. About three weeks after the transplant I felt a pain in my calf which I put down to a pulled muscle. In fact it was a DVT and about four days later the embolism traveled to my lung. I was extremely luck to be at the hospital for a post transplant checkup when I mentioned the pain in my chest. I was lucky in that one in three people die within a minute of getting a pulmonary embolism. After ten days I left hospital and got back to the business of recovery. I can not stress enough the value of exercising eating well and constantly challenging yourself before and after the transplant. All the effort you put in will be repaid double during and after your recovery. I returned to work 2 months after the transplant (it would have been 6 weeks if it had not been for the PE). Take it from me anyone undergoing a major surgery should take and leg or chest pain extremely seriously and see your doctor, do not self diagnose like I did!!

Six years later my brother and I are both doing great. I am living in Austin doing the same job I have done for fifteen years. I have energy now that I never had before the transplant it has truly transformed my life. My brother is healthy and also doing the same job as he did before he gave me his kidney. His two children now fourteen and sixteen, although understandably nervous about their father undergoing surgery are both very proud of what he did. So if you are reading this and are thinking about donating a kidney, please, please do it. I think my brother would agree it is worth it. To anyone waiting for a transplant, do everything you are told to do keep yourself as fit as possible and when you get that kidney treasure it as if it were the last ounce of gold on the planet.

TOSA Donor Family Testimonial - Carmen Polhemus- Google Video

Carmen Polhemus

TOSA Donor Family Testimonial - Sandra Haggray- Google Video

Sandra Haggray

TOSA Donor Testimonial - Julie Chambers - YouTube Video

Julie Chambers

Decision To Donate
Terra Tisdale, terra@tisdale.com

The decision to donate was very easy.  I am often shocked to learn that the family members of someone who has been on dialysis for a while have NOT even offered to be tested! This is an absolute foreign concept to me.  There are few people who are on dialysis that don’t have living family members.

The first step towards getting tested is simply having blood drawn by both the “potential donor” and the recipient.  This is really a VERY SIMPLE process, no different than going to your doctor and having blood drawn to have blood work done.

The great part is that the donor can live in a totally different state and have the blood work done at a lab in their home town.  Many people do not realize that this is an easy way for families to begin the process to see if they can help save their family members life.

Preparing for the Surgery

There are a series of tests they will run on the potential donor until they come to a reason to stop the tests.  The tests are NOT painful but merely procedures that have to be done for the doctors to make correct diagnosis. They will also do some mental evaluations to make sure that you are mentally and emotionally ready to move forward with this procedure.

Once their series of physical and mental tests have been completed then the board will meet to discuss if this is a good match and should they do the procedure.

I donated to my sister on October 30, 2008.  We checked into the hospital the previous day and they came and got me early Friday morning.  I was blessed to be able to donate to her laproscopically.   This is a much less invasive procedure and recovery is a great deal faster.

I could not tell you how long the surgery lasted, because I was totally out of it.  I remember waking up in my room and seeing people but would quickly fall back asleep.  I remember only wanting to sleep and not get up.  But the time comes (the following morning after surgery) that the nurses come in and stress to you how important it is to GET UP AND MOVING!

All I really wanted to know was “how was my sister doing”.  They had her on one floor and me on another, so I couldn’t go in and check on her and see for myself.  Once I got up and began walking I did not want to get back in the bed!  My husband actually talked to the nurse and told her he was going to take me in the wheelchair to another floor so I could see my sister.  That really helped me to see her and how well she was doing. 

I was released on the 3^rd day after surgery.  I felt bloated and just wanted to rest.  I didn’t have a lot of energy for the first two weeks.  I would sleep sporadically throughout the day the first couple weeks.  It took me about 5 - 6 full weeks till I felt like myself again.  They had told me I would be back to speed within 4, but everyone is different.

Do I regret feeling tired during that time or the pain I felt the first couple of days… NOT ONE BIT!  I am very excited to see my sister feeling well and able to do things with her family she wasn’t able to do previously.

Constraints After Surgery 

Honestly it has been about 3 ½ months since I donated to my sister.  I have felt great for a while and everyone that sees me says “wow if I didn’t know first hand that you had surgery 3 ½ mths ago I could never tell it”!  I feel great!  I don’t feel any different than I did previous to donating. 

I was told by the doctors that I was not to go sky diving or participate in karate, neither of which I would anyway!  So I didn’t loose anything, but I gained something… being able to see my sister be the wife and mother she wants to be to her family.

So for me, it’s a TOTAL WIN – WIN situation.  I can’t encourage people enough that this is something definitely worth participating in!  The thought of knowing I gave up a few weeks of feeling good in order that my sister can lead a normal life, makes it totally worth it!  I would definitely do it all over again without hesitation.

Donated Kidney
Sheri Libby, SRLibby@aol.com

I donated my kidney to my brother 5 years ago.  It was wonderful to be able to share my life in such an intimate matter. 

Regarding the procedure
It was surgery and there was recovery.  I went for several interviews and an intensive process to be sure that I qualified.  We were a perfect match and it was a no brainer as to my decision.  It involved several trips to the doctors, intensive evaluations both physically and mentally.  My biggest concern was that I might not pass their tests.  My kidney was removed laparoscopically through my C-section scars.  I really tried to get the plastic surgeon to do a tummy tuck at the same time, but they wouldn’t combine the procedures.  Just before they put me under, they gave me an opportunity to change my mind.  No way.  My room at the hospital was not close to my brothers.  It was on another floor.  I wish that we could have been in the same room.  I really cannot remember how long I was in the hospital (I think about 3 days), but I know that I was released before my brother.  I was still not feeling great and I had this bloating feeling from the surgery.  But it resolved after about 24 hours.  I was not supposed to drive for a week.  I felt fine.   I don’t think I even needed to go for a follow up visit.   I cannot say it was nothing.  If it works, it would be really something!

After

My life has only changed in how I see the world since the surgery.  I am not supposed to take Motrin, I am not supposed to sky dive or ski, I am supposed to protect the remaining kidney.  I do all of those things, except sky dive-what a sacrifice!  I feel great.  I feel no different than before.  I have this intense high knowing I made a difference.  My brother is great!  Better than before.  Would I do it again?  Absolutely.  Does this make me an angel?  No, but sometimes it makes me feel like one!

Honestly, I really don’t feel like an angel at all.  Just very lucky!

A Transplant Recipient's Story
Bryan Rollins, bryanjrollins@gmail.com

I'm Bryan Rollins, and I'm an organ transplant recipient.  I've lived in Austin for 15 years.  New Years Eve on 2003, I was about to go out for a big night on the town in downtown Austin, and before I left my house, the hospital called and told me to immediately come check myself in.  I learned that I had lost 2/3 of my kidney function, and that I'd lose the remaining 1/3 over the next three months.  I spent a year on dialysis, and on December 20, 2004 - I received the greatest gift I'll ever receive - a kidney transplant from my cousin Diane.

Since then, I've started doing triathlons and have completed four sprint distance triathlons and three Olympic distance triathlons.  Every year I go back to California to climb a mountain with my cousin - sort of a kidney reunion.  And maybe the biggest accomplishment is that I got married in May 2007 to my wife Lisa!   An organ transplant doesn't just sustain life, it transforms it.

But not everyone is as lucky as I am to have found a match in my family - everyone else must wait on the list, for an average of 5 years, before they receive a transplant.   I would ask everyone to register to be an organ, tissue, and eye donor!  90% of people believe in organ donation, but so few are registered.

I now serve as a member of the Texas Organ, Eye, and Tissue Donor Council, which advises the Texas Department of State Health Services on organ donation legislation.   Please register to save the lives of more Texans in need!