Woman volunteers kidney to near-stranger

Woman volunteers kidney to near-stranger

Organ donation bonds pair in dramatic way

February 4, 2009 - 2:12 PM
NATASHA LINDSTROM Staff Writer

Seven months ago, Carolyn Davis was almost a stranger to Reggie Gomes, except for the occasional smile at a church service.

Now, Davis and Gomes are forever bonded by a living organ - Davis' kidney.

Gomes, 63, of Hesperia, first found out about his kidney failure 20 years ago, when doctors told him his high blood pressure was killing off his nephrons, which the kidney uses to clean the blood and balance blood chemistry.

For several years Gomes' kidney performed well enough to get by without dialysis, but in January 2008 he began four-hour kidney dialysis treatments three times a week.

Gomes couldn't take his 13-year-old son camping, and it took him six weeks to plan a trip to Las Vegas to see the Blue Man Group because he had to find a local doctor and dialysis clinic there.

Then one day during a worship service, Gomes made a prayer request in front of the congregation for his kidney.

Shortly after, Harold Davis, Carolyn Davis' husband, approached Gomes at another service and offered to become his donor. When Harold Davis found out he was too old, Carolyn Davis jumped in and offered hers.

Carolyn Davis, of Oak Hills, had just made the age cutoff to donate a kidney - a few months later and her 61st birthday would have disqualified her.

"I'm a firm believer in God. Jesus Christ is my savior and this is all his doing - nothing else can explain it," Gomes said. "(Carolyn Davis) asked for a donor's packet and I gave it to her, and she took off running like a fullback. She was aggressively writing letters, making phone calls, and finally she got the doctors' attention and they started screening her."

Testing began in July, and after weeks of blood screenings, urine samples and other tests, doctors confirmed Carolyn Davis' kidney was a perfect match.

"She's one of the angels that God has roaming the earth," Gomes said. "I've just been in awe with every step that was taken and successful. I was just more in awe (that) I was basically a bystander watching the miracle play out. It was just incredible."

For months, only Davis, her husband and the Gomes family knew about the tests and procedures Davis was going through to prepare for the major transplant.

"I kept it on the sly on purpose - I didn't want to make a big deal out of something that I wasn't sure would happen, so before letting my family know in particular I wanted to make sure that everything was going along well," Davis said.

At Thanksgiving, Davis confessed to her three adult children that she was about to donate a kidney. They were "very humbled by the thought," she said.

The surgery finally happened on Dec. 22, and it was an immediate success, Gomes said.

"What a Christmas gift," Gomes said. "The doctors said they put the kidney in and it just took over. She gave me a kidney on steroids, with an attitude."

Davis said she and Gomes continue to strengthen their friendship.

"We're bonded," Davis said. "It's almost like, gosh, we've always known one another. It's wonderful and I'm glad to be a part of helping him to feel his best and live a fuller life."

Reggie Gomes hopes to take a summer camping trip with his family in the Big Bear Mountains or near the beaches north of Santa Barbara - something he couldn't do when he was constrained by triweekly dialysis treatments.

"Most of all it's very freeing," Gomes said. "The leash is gone. I don't have to worry about being in town or making far-reaching arrangements in order to do the dialysis. The dialysis no longer controls my life, and I'm hoping that it never will again."

To see statistics on kidney donors, read Thursday's edition of the Daily Press. To subscribe, call 241-7755 or click here.

Natasha Lindstrom may be reached at 951-6232 or at nlindstrom@VVDailyPress.com.

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