Saint Mary's first anonymous kidney donor sees impact transplant made on family'

Saint Mary's first anonymous kidney donor sees impact transplant made on family's life
Print Sue Thoms | sthoms1@mlive.com By Sue Thoms | sthoms1@mlive.com
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on January 25, 2014 at 10:12 AM, updated January 25, 2014 at 10:15 AM

Susan Matheson

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Susan Matheson decided to become a kidney donor when she was helping a man write a memoir about growing up in the Netherlands amid the danger and deprivations of World War II.

She wondered if she would have the courage to fight in the Resistance as he did, or to do anything to help save a life. At the same time, she read about a man who donated a kidney in honor of his son.

“When I read this article about kidney donation, I knew a relatively safe, laparoscopic procedure was something I could do,” she said.

Matheson shared her experience as a living kidney donor in an online chat Friday, Jan. 24. She and Simie Bredeweg, the manager of Mercy Health Saint Mary’s kidney transplant program, discussed the process living donors go through to give a kidney.

In January 2010, Matheson became Saint Mary’s first anonymous donor. Eventually, she met the recipient, a man with two teenage sons. During the chat, she described how the transplant affected the family:

Last year his son wanted us all to get together again so he could thank me again. You see, his dad had been on dialysis for 5 years, starting when this son was about 12. And he always told his dad, "When I'm 18, I'm going to give you one of my kidneys." I donated my kidney when his son was 17. So now his son was free to join the Marines--his lifelong dream, which he was willing to give up to donate a kidney to his dad. So my recipient's son wanted to meet with me again. This was 2013--he had graduated from high school, finished his basic training, finished his special training, and was now crew chief for the Osprey aircraft, and was being deployed to Japan. What a story!

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Duke Guy and Sarah Farkas share an emotional moment in his Mercy Health Saint Mary's hospital room two days after she donated one of her kidneys to him. Photo taken Wednesday, January 15, 2014. (Chris Clark | MLive.com)
Chris Clark | chrisclark@mlive.com

Matheson was instrumental in helping Saint Mary’s develop an anonymous-donor program, Bredeweg said.

“A number of new processes had to be put in place to make sure that information was kept confidential between donor and recipient,” she said. For example, the donor and recipient recover from surgery in rooms that are on different floors and on opposite sides of the hospital.

A reader named Katie asked what happens when someone calls offering to be a living donor but does not know anyone who needs a transplant.

Bredeweg answered:

The next step would be to determine if that donor meets living donor criteria for donation and then initial testing could be arranged. To get more information about our living donor criteria or about all the steps in the donor workup process you can call the transplant office at 616-685-6222, option 6.
Joining the chat were Sarah Farkas and Duke Guy, a recent transplant donor and recipient from Zeeland. Farkas donated a kidney to Guy on Jan. 13. They said they were recovering well from the surgery.
Guy said he was able to cut back on his blood pressure medication and is looking forward to enjoying life post-transplant and post-dialysis:

I'm looking forward to staying up later at night, I started dialysis at 8:45 pm before the transplant, and I'm looking forward to more bike riding and swimming with my grandchildren!
In the week after a story ran on MLive and in The Grand Rapids Press about Guy’s transplant, about 10 people called inquiring about donating a kidney to a relative or friend, Bredeweg said. That’s about twice as many as calls as usual.
A reader who joined the discussion, JLong20755, said she donated a kidney to her sister in 1988. Her sister had severe diabetes with complications, including heart surgery before the transplant.

She added:

The transplant coordinators were very honest with me. They said the transplant was not a "cure-all" but that it would provide a better quality of life for her remaining years. That sounded like a good deal to me.
In regards to how life is now: I am alive and well, never any problems. My sister lived another 15 years.

Bredeweg provided contact information for those interested in becoming a kidney donor:

There are over 300 people on our waiting list at Saint Mary's for a kidney transplant. If you have questions about kidney donation or transplant in general, please feel free to call our transplant office at 685-6222 opt 6 or visit our website.
For more information on living kidney donors and the process involved, see the full discussion.

Sue Thoms covers health care for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email her at sthoms1@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2014/01/saint_marys_first_anonymous_ki.html