A gift from the heart

A gift from the heart

by: DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Monday, February 09, 2009
2/9/2009 3:31:00 AM

Lacie Bradshaw has already given her fiancee, Juan Luis Perez, his Valentine's Day present.

In fact, the way she figures it, "I'm set for Valentine's Day for the rest of my life."

Let other couples exchange more traditional gifts. Long after their flowers have wilted and their chocolates have been eaten, Perez will be enjoying the kidney that Bradshaw gave him on Thursday.

"It's hard to express how much it means to me," Perez said from his hospital bed at St. Francis Hospital. "She's given me something that will allow me to live."

Perez, whose friends know him as "Louie," had been undergoing dialysis treatment three times a week for more than three years and had been on a kidney transplant list since September 2006.

He said he was called in as a "backup" for a potential transplant in June 2007. However, he said that things were looking pretty bleak until Bradshaw decided last October to give a kidney for the man she loves.

The couple was not even officially engaged then, but as Bradshaw says, "Who needs rings when you've got kidneys?"

Bradshaw underwent a battery of medical tests and even a psychiatric examination ("They want to make sure you're in the right state of mind and make sure you're not crazy," she says) before giving up her left kidney.

Bradshaw, 24, said that the main concern now involves the challenges she will face if she ever becomes pregnant.

Perez, 32, said the couple does plan to start a family, but has been told that Bradshaw should be just fine as long as she is supervised by a doctor who specializes in monitoring "high-risk" pregnancies.

Perez said his problems centered around kidney reflux, the abnormal backflow of urine from the bladder into the ureter and up to the kidney.

He said that he was having problems with high blood pressure and even seizures before doctors diagnosed the problem and put him on dialysis. A place on a kidney transplant list soon followed.

Cassandra Padilla, Perez's 23-year-old niece, said that dialysis "consumed" her uncle's life. She said the uncertainty of always having to be ready for a call about a just-available kidney even forced him to opt out of family trips.

Padilla has a unique perspective on the situation because besides being Perez's niece, she also has been Bradshaw's friend for a long time. The two women were in same high school graduating class in Hobart in 2003.

In fact, she says her friendship with Bradshaw led to Bradshaw and Perez spending a lot of time together and becoming a couple.

Only one step remained in the relationship between Bradshaw and Perez. Perez took care of that Tuesday night with an engagement ring inside an ice cream dish at the Polo Grill at Utica Square.

"I've been planning that since New Year's," Perez said.

The timing was crucial on that Tuesday night dinner. Both Bradshaw and Perez had to fast on Wednesday in advance of their mutual surgeries on Thursday.

Padilla said "for her to be a match was just a miracle." He'll have a part of her forever — literally."

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