Husband saves wife by donating kidneyBy Gina Joseph
Macomb Daily Staff Write
Monday, February 12, 2007r
It's safe to say Shawn Robinson is off the hook for Valentine's Day, this year and maybe even the next. After all, it's not every day a guy saves his wife's life.
"I can't say enough about it," said Pam Robinson of Fraser, who underwent a kidney transplant made possible through her husband Shawn's donation. "He has never been through surgery. Yet he did this for me. He's a great guy. We've been married for 32 years."
Pam and Shawn are the same age, 52. An athletic and energetic couple, they've always enjoyed activities such as swimming, cycling and walking, which is how the two met in the first place. They bumped into each other on a sidewalk, were introduced by a friend, dated and have been married ever since. They have three sons, ages 21, 24, and 27 and their own construction company. Theirs is a busy life.
Or was until March, when Pam was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease, a life-threatening illness that affects more than 600,000 Americans and approximately 12.5 million people worldwide. Cysts grow and over time multiply, increasing the mass of the kidneys, resulting in a number of problems including renal failure. It doesn't have a dramatic effect on a person's outward appearance because it is an internal disorder. Pam's condition was discovered because of high-blood pressure and family history.
In 1986, Pam's father, Joe Gaunt, died of PKD. He was 59. After the diagnosis, Pam found herself in the same horrible predicament as her dad -- sitting in a chair hooked to a dialysis machine, three times a week, four hours a day, and unable to travel away from home without great difficulty.
"Watching my dad for all those years," Pam said, "I knew I didn't want to be attached to the kidney machine. My sister was 2 years old and he wanted to live long enough to raise her. He was on the machine for 15 years. He died four days before her 17th birthday."
"It was scary," said Shawn, referring to the situation he and Pam suddenly found themselves in. "She's a trooper and she just did what she had to do."
She went on dialysis.
During her visits to the center, Pam got to know some of the other patients. One of them told her about an informational meeting for people interested in organ donation, which she and Shawn decided to attend.
"It was really cool to see how life can change," Shawn said.
One minute you're on dialysis, like Pam. The next minute, you're getting a new organ and a second chance at life. It's a different life having to take immune suppressant drugs, but still drastically improved. Shawn and Pam met two transplant recipients: one received a kidney from the cadaver of a young child and the other from a living donor.
"A healthy body easily replaces blood, blood platelets and bone marrow, so they can be donated more than once. A person can donate a single kidney or part of the liver while alive. The remaining kidney can provide some of the function of the donated kidney, and the liver grows back (regenerates) to its original size in a few weeks. It is also possible to donate part of one lung, part of the pancreas, or part of the intestine, although these organs do not regenerate," according to the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
After the meeting Pam's name was added to the transplant waiting list. The prospect of a new kidney was encouraging for Pam. Shawn, however, didn't want her to live the life her dad led for 15 years, so he volunteered to become a living donor.
"Every test came back good and it just snowballed," Shawn said.
A couple of weeks ago, a team of transplant specialists at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak successfully completed the removal of Shawn's left kidney and Pam's transplant surgery. The first words joyfully expressed by Pam following the operation were, "No more dialysis!"
"I was a little sore afterward," Shawn said. "The thing that threw me off was having no energy, but other than that I feel fine."
"He really, really loves me," Pam said, of her husband and his wonderful gift.
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