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Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: News Articles => Topic started by: okarol on February 24, 2010, 08:15:26 PM
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Publish Date: 2/21/2010
Siblings doing well after kidney transplant surgery
Karen Lungu
The Daily Record
As siblings, Ron and Becky Taylor always have been close. Now, they share another special bond. On Jan. 14, family and friends gathered around the bedsides of the brother and sister just before they went into surgery together, as Becky donated a kidney to Ron.
“I think the surgery went as well as the doctors could ever hope for,” Becky said. “Ron’s kidney — the new one — started working right away, so that’s always a good sign.”
The transplant went so well, Ron, 61, and Becky, 60, were up and walking the day after surgery, and both were released from the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver three days later. While Becky was able to come home to recuperate, Ron spent some time in a Denver hotel, making frequent visits to the hospital for additional testing to make sure his body accepted the new kidney.
“The staff up there is just exceptional,” Becky said. “Everybody is just so good at what they do. It’s just a very caring, professional staff all the way around.”
When he finally arrived home, Ron had messages from people he has never met, whom also have gone through transplant surgery, wishing him well.
“I didn’t know them at all, but they both called, telling me they had transplants and how well they’d gone, just offering me their encouragement,” Ron said.
Becky hopes their experience will encourage others to look into organ donation.
“My recovery has been pretty unremarkable, as far as no complications,” she said. “They didn’t put me on any restrictions at all, and I’m not on any medications. Basically, I’ve just gone back to my normal routine, walking and exercising. I think I’m pretty much back to normal, doing all the things that I did before.”
Becky’s recovery has gone so well, she said, she doesn’t expect to have to go in for her first follow-up visit until about six months from now, and she is working full time. In the fashion of good-natured sibling rivalry, though, Ron has been quick on his sister’s heels in recovery.
“I probably didn’t start exercising until about a week after she did,” Ron said. “Now, I’m pretty much back to normal.”
“It’s nice to seeing him able to go places and do things that he was restricted in when you have to do dialysis three times a week,” Becky said.
Ron, who was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2006, began dialysis in October 2008. After spending three days a week at dialysis for the past year and a half, he now is looking forward to greater freedom. For the next three months, he will continue blood tests at least once a week in Denver
“I think at that point they’ll let me go over to my kidney doctor in Pueblo,” Ron said.
He also is back to his weekly volunteering at the Royal Gorge Regional Museum and Local History Center and Loaves & Fishes.
Both credit having a strong support system for their speedy and problem-free recuperation.
“We’re really thankful for everybody’s support and prayers, because I’m sure that had a lot to do with it,” Ron said.
“We had so many people praying for us,” Becky said. “All the way from Idaho to Georgia, we just had family and friends. That kind of support is just pretty awesome.”
The first phase of living organ donation includes a medical history and physical examination, blood and urine studies, chest X-ray and EKG, consultation with a social worker for a psych/social screening and an evaluation with a nurse coordinator. These usually can be completed in one outpatient clinic.
For more information on organ donation, visit organdonor.gov.
Karen Lungu can be reached at klungu@ccdailyrecord.com.
http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Top-Story.asp?ID=13008