The greatest gift

The greatest gift

Published: Friday, January 04, 2013

By Amy A. Winnemore
LIFE EDITOR

A year ago, Jeannine Ahern wasn’t able to enjoy the holiday season like she once did. Polycystic kidney disease had stolen much of her appetite and robbed her of energy.

But this Christmas, life has completely changed because of a gift her friend Maureen Carden gave her; a kidney.

Softball days

Maureen and Jeannine both grew up in Havertown and attended Archbishop Prendergast High School. They got to know each other better later on because of their spouses, Mark and Matt, who are both Monsignor Bonner High School graduates and longtime friends.

Jeannine met her husband Matt while both were having lunch in the cafeteria at Delaware County Community College

“When I saw her, something just struck me,” says Matt, of his then college classmate.

The Aherns and the Cardens stayed in touch, raising children in the same Havertown neighborhood, playing for softball teams and attending Annunciation B.V.M. Church in Havertown.

But while pregnant with her first child, Jeannine began having kidney problems. She was later diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), an inherited kidney disorder that enlarges the kidneys and interferes with kidney function due to multiple cysts on the kidneys. During the early stages of the disease, the cysts enlarge the kidney and interfere with kidney function. The disease progresses slowly, ultimately causing end-stage kidney disease in which dialysis and transplantation are the only forms of treatment.

The wait

As of last Friday there were 117,100 people nationwide waiting for organ transplants, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Of that number, 95,051 candidates were in need of a kidney transplant. About 21,132 transplants were performed from January to September last year; 16,714 were from deceased donors while 4,418 were from living donors. Jeannine had been waiting on the transplant list for more than two years.

“I couldn’t travel more than two hours away in case we got the call. I had my bags packed, ready to go whenever,” recalls Jeannine, during a recent interview at the Carden’s Havertown home.

As she waited for a transplant, Jeannine prepared herself for the mental and physical toil of dialysis and had undergone a dialysis access, an entranceway into your bloodstream that lies completely beneath your skin. Dialysis is a treatment to replace the filtering function of the kidneys when they reach end-stage renal disease.

“I was scared. I had eight percent kidney function. I was more afraid of dialysis then surgery,” says Jeannine.

Over the years Karen O’Neill had gotten to know Jeannine and her family.

“Dialysis is three days a week, four hours each treatment. You also factor in the driving to and from treatment, waiting and the whole process takes up most of your day,” says O’Neill, a 30-year dialysis nurse and also transplant coordinator at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Decision time

While at a pancake breakfast at church, Maureen noticed Jeannine’s name on the sick list in 2011.

A number of friends had undergone testing to see if they could donate a kidney, but unfortunately none were a match, until Maureen.

“Mark calls and says Maureen is a match,” recalls Matt of the exhilarating moment.

After a donor is identified, O’Neill assists them to with all the testing. There are no age limits for donors, as long as they are in good health.

“We need to clear the donors medically, surgically and psychological,” explains O’Neill. “The process can take 8-12 weeks, but if the donor is motivated, we can fast track them and get as many appointments done in one day as possible.”

Before surgery, O’Neill says the entire case is pulled together and the donor must be cleared by the transplant interdisciplinary team, social worker, dieticians, surgeons, physicians and financial coordinator.

“We review all that data and then a surgical date is set,” says O’Neill.

The night before the transplant surgery, Jeannine and Matt and their kids Alison, 21, Sean, 24, and Brad, 17, got together with Maureen and Mark and their kids Becca, 18, Jack, 16, and Julia, 13, along with Will, the Carden’s family dog.

“I made the decision slowly. It all just blended together,” says Maureen.

“It was the perfect storm, we’re spiritual people,” says Mark.

June 26

Arriving at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital during the pre-dawn hours on a warm summer day, the Aherns and the Cardens were ready for a life-changing experience.

For Matt, it would be a draining day filled with mixed emotions of worry and hope for his wife.

“I knew she was going into surgery for something positive. It was the light at the end of the tunnel,” says Matt.

As the women prepared for surgery, Jeannine says she would have understood if Maureen decided at the last minute that she changed her mind.

“I was full of nervous energy, but I wasn’t scared,” says Maureen.

In the waiting room Matt and Mark, the normally comedic duo, let their friends help lighten the mood. One friend actually brought in a can of kidney beans. At 3:15 p.m., they got the all clear.

Recovery and hope

After years of illness, Jeannine felt better within a week.

“I can’t take Advil and I need to drink lots water and exercise pretty regularly. I feel healthy,” says Jeannine, who must take anti-rejection medication.

Maureen, who underwent laparoscopic surgery, was back home in just a few days.

As the women recovered, their friends helped by starting a meal train and their kids cleaned up their houses. The experience has not only touched the two women, but also their families. “It’s a gift to us to be able to do something. There’s been a ripple effect through the community and with the kids,” says Mark. The Carden’s daughter Becca wants to work in the medical field now. “I think my mom’s brave, I’m proud of her,” says Julia Carden.

So sick this time last year, Jeannine seems excited to start the new year with renewed energy.

“Not only did Maureen save my life, but now more people have moved up the transplant list,” says Jeannine, who adds the family hopes to take a big trip next summer. She’s also very involved with the Polycystic Kidney Disease foundation (PKD).

“They’re now intertwined. There will always be a bond,” says Matt.

To learn more visit www.pkdcure.org.

http://www.delconewsnetwork.com/articles/2013/01/04/life/doc50e738172d648749819485.txt?viewmode=fullstory