Three-quarters of the 4,000 Canadians on transplant lists are waiting for a new kidney http://www.mrtimes.com/health/American+Rotarian+donates+kidney+Pitt/6597183/story.html By Maria Rantanen, The Times May 10, 2012 It was a chance conversation at a Rotary function that has allowed Phil Rosario to get a new kidney.
Phil's kidney is currently functioning at between 13 and 15 per cent as he is suffering from polycystic kidney disease.
Phil was being trained to use an inhome dialysis machines just four weeks ago, something he was expecting to use several times a week while waiting for a kidney donation - the current waitlist is about nine years.
But some time ago his wife, Keesha Rosario, who belongs to the Rotary Club of Haney, was at a function where the Mayor of Oak Harbour, Wash. was attending.
Oak Harbour Mayor Scott Dudley overheard Keesha explaining her husband's plight and approached her.
Because of a family history with kidney disease, Dudley had been thinking of donating one of his kidneys.
Dudley, however, had to go through a battery of tests first to determine whether he was a match for Phil - and he was.
Phil knows how lucky he is as getting a match for a kidney transplant can be tricky.
Phil said he was in "shock" that Dudley came forward to offer him a kidney.
"I know it's incredible - it's the biggest gift I could receive," Phil said, adding that it will save him about nine years of stress and dialysis.
Surgery is scheduled for this Monday in the early afternoon, and Phil expects to be recovering in hospital for about five days.
As of Wednesday, the two men had not yet met, but Phil said they are scheduled to meet today (Thursday).
After the kidney transplant, Phil will have to take anti-rejection medication for the rest of his life, something he said is a "small price to pay."
While he has been extremely tired with his disease, taking naps every day and cutting back on his work - he runs his own business, a car-dent removal com-pany - he doesn't believe in whining and complaining.
"I won't let it get the best of me," he said. "[It's] the hand I've been dealt."
Phil, who turns 38 the day after surgery, said the only fear he has is that of the "unknown."
Currently, he is taking seven or eight different medicines a day to keep him healthy and increase his heart function.
He has been told the difference after getting his new kidney will be like night and day.
Phil's mother is visiting from Hamilton, Ont. and coincidentally will be here for Mother's Day on Sunday. But her main reason for coming was to support her son during next week's operation.
Phil and Keesha have lived in "Rosario resort" in Bonson Landing for three years and love living in Pitt Meadows, which Phil calls "quiet and serene."
Phil said his experience with polycystic kidney disease, a genetic disease that he was diagnosed with two years ago, and the need for a kidney transplant has made him acutely aware of the larger need for organ transplants.
There's a need for more education and awareness about organ transplants, Phil said.
Now that he's receiving a kidney, he understands it at a deeper level.
"You'll save a life - it's the greatest gift of life," he said.
There are 4,000 people in Canada waiting for an organ transplant, and of those, three-quarters are waiting for a kidney, according to the Canadian Association of Transplantation.
To become an organ donor or for more information about organ transplants, go to
www.transplant.ca.
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