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Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: News Articles => Topic started by: okarol on February 17, 2014, 10:59:03 PM
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Her one true love offers a gift of life
By Cheryl Clock, The Standard
Friday, February 14, 2014 2:40:19 EST PM
Fixing stuff is what he does. At home, he’s resuscitated back to life big things like the furnace and air conditioner. And a couple years back, he built a dining room and kitchen addition on to the back of their St. Catharines home.
At Post Foods in Niagara Falls, he works shifts as an industrial electrician. He trouble shoots and MacGyvers a fix. In his words: “Oh you need that part? I’ve got one of those. Let’s fix it.” He’s also a qualified millwright.
So, the way he sees it, it’s only natural that he wants to fix his wife.
She’s in renal failure, on dialysis, and needs a kidney. He’s got two and only needs one. They’ve been tested and he’s a match. So, to him, the solution is obvious.
“I fix stuff, so, OK, I’ve got to fix this. If I’m good, take it, go, and let’s fix it.”
Lew, 54, and Sharri, 53, Anderson have been married almost 25 years. They have three step-children together and three grandchildren.
When we asked readers to write about their one True Love and tell us a story about something they did to increase their love for each other, Sharri was one of the first to contribute. She wrote about his gift of life.
He stole my heart 31 years ago and now he is giving his left kidney in return. What a wonderful man he is to say I love you in that way.
They met through friends in 1983. One night, on their way to a Christmas party, Lew called attention to the fact that the hem on Sharri’s skirt was unraveling and he bent down to fix it. Instead, he got onto one knee and pulled out an engagement ring.
Money was tight, so Lew sewed royal blue taffeta dresses for all four bridesmaids. An accomplishment he’d rather describe this way: “I built them,” he says, smiling.
He once told Sharri they were meant to be together. She is named after Shari Lewis (ventriloquist and Lamb Chop puppeteer). Lewis is Lew’s full name.
In 2010, after 20 years, they renewed their vows. They were going to wait until 25, but Sharri had a feeling they should do it sooner. The following year, on a Valentine’s cruise to the Bahamas (along with a requisite stop at the Daytona 500), Sharri’s legs, then whole body swelled. She gained 20 pounds in four days, and couldn’t fit into her clothes.
Back at home, she was diagnosed with high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney disease. By March 2013, she was on dialysis. Three times a week, for four hours each time, her blood is passed through an artificial kidney machine and waste products removed. Without a transplant, she will need dialysis for the rest of her life.
“That took away a lot of what I had,” says Sharri. “My ability to travel and do things with my grandchildren.”
For a short period, she used peritoneal dialysis at home. Her blood cleaned while still inside her body rather than in a machine.
But for various reasons, she’s since had to revert to hemodialysis at a clinic in the Falls.
The couple is good to go on a transplant, but Sharri needs surgery on her leg before plans can be finalized. They are hopeful that surgery will take place soon.
Lew tries to make every appointment, rearranging his shifts at work to sit with Sharri for four hours of dialysis. If he can’t stay, he’s particular about making her comfortable before he leaves for work: he plugs in her headphones (yes, he’s aware a nurse could very well do that), gets her a tea and muffin and covers her with a blanket.
“He’s my rock,” says Sharri. “There’s nobody I trust more.”
For Lew, the decision to donate was a no-brainer. For Sharri, acceptance was difficult.
“It was harder for me to say yes,” she says. “How do you ask someone to give you such a big part of themselves?”
She is troubled by the what ifs. What if something happens to Lew? What if the transplant doesn’t work?
But that’s where their coupleness takes over. He is the optimist; she is more cautious. He takes the laundry up and downstairs because she can’t; she folds. He fixes things around the house. She gets up with him at 6 a.m. to make his lunch and share conversation over coffee and breakfast.
“Somehow, we balance each other out,” says Sharri.
It’s what got them through tough times like when Lew was laid off at Niagara Machine Products on Eastchester Ave. And it’s what will get them through a transplant.
“He’s everything anybody could want and a little bit more,” she says.
His is, after all, her one True Love.
“I don’t ever want him to go out the door without having said ‘I love you,’ she says.
“Life is short. You never know.”
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2014/02/11/her-one-true-love-offers-a-gift-of-life