Hope this works...the link has the two interviews in it. . . .
http://www.clickondetroit.com/health/24443084/detail.html?taf=detLocal Surgeons Perform 3-Pair Kidney Transplant
Simultaneous Surgeries Are First For U of M
Sarah Mayberry, M.P.H.
POSTED: Thursday, July 29, 2010
UPDATED: 10:31 am EDT July 30, 2010
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- They're six strangers, from two states, separated by great distances, but now connected to each other forever -- brought together by a remarkable show of generosity.
Ron Piotrowski is a father of five from Grand Rapids, Mich. He's been on dialysis for almost two years, waiting for a new kidney. Mary Ann Bogert is a mother from Mancelona, Mich., a tiny town 88 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge. She's been on dialysis for almost two and a half years, three times a week, four hours at a time. Then there's energetic Karin Guillou, a mom from Canton, Mich., whose kidneys have been slowly failing for the past ten years.
"They said I was going to be difficult to match. I had tremendous support from friends and family. Everybody that was really close to me all tried to match," said Guillou.
Piotrowski and Bogert also had relatives willing to donate a kidney, but neither were a match for them. Doctors at the University of Michigan offered an incredible option: a paired donation.
"The kidney paired donation mechanism provides the opportunity for people who would not otherwise be able to receive a kidney to receive a kidney," said Dr. Alan Leichtman, director of U of M's Paired Kidney Donation program.
Experts said the option of a paired donation is offered to patients who have donors that do not match their blood type or whose kidney isn't a good match for other reasons. Through a sophisticated computer program, the donor and recipient pairs are matched with other pairs in the same situation.
On July 21, Guillou's husband Dave Lanczak donated a kidney to Bogert. Bogert's niece Angela Robinson from Wyoming donated a kidney to Piotrowski. And Piotrowski's 20-year-old daughter Sara Piotrowski donated a kidney to Guillou.
Watch: Local Mom Gets Gift Of New Kidney
Watch: 3-Pair Kidney Transplant Connects 6
It was the first time doctors at the University of Michigan had performed a paired kidney transplant involving three pairs. It was also a medical and organizational triumph involving six surgeries on the same day, with four surgical teams, three operating rooms and one shared emotion -- gratitude.
"Nobody else had to die for us to get this," said Guillou.
The recipients said it's a a second chance at life and a newfound freedom.
"It's giving me a chance to get out and live now. Not be tied down to a chair," said Bogert.
"I can work the hours I want to work. I can hunt when I want to hunt. I can fish when I want to fish," said Piotrowski.
For the donors, it was the chance to save not only their loved one, but also someone else.
"It made it easier. There's three lives saved now," said Sara Piotrowski.
The six said they all feared someone would back out at the last minute or be too sick to go through the surgery.
"I worked ten hours all day Tuesday, waiting for someone to call and say, 'nope, we're not going to do it,'" said Ron Piotrowski.
"We've gone through it three times. The third time was the charm, " said Bogert.
They said they were anxious to meet each other.
"I wanted to know who would sacrifice a kidney for me," said Bogert.
"It's just an added bonus to actually get to meet who it actually went to," said Robinson. "It's just an incredible feeling."
The recipients said their donors are heroes.
Doctors said receiving a kidney from a living donor offers several advantages over a kidney from a deceased donor. The first is a reduced wait time.
"Often it can shave years off the wait," said Leichtman.
In Michigan, patients typically wait four to six years for a kidney from a deceased donor. A live-donor kidney can be transplanted sooner, while the patient is healthier.
Leichtman said kidneys from live donors tend to last longer than kidneys from deceased donors. A living-donor kidney will often last 15 to 25 years, and many last far longer. A average for a deceased donor kidney is closer to eight to 12 years.
U of M plans to perform many more paired donations.
"We cherish the opportunity and hope to have the opportunity to do chains this large and larger in the future if we can," said Leichtman. "The great thing is that a person got a transplant, and another good person got the chance to give it."
Doctors said the donors and recipients from this latest pairing will be recovering for the next month to six weeks. Bogert said she was so confident in her new kidney, she already put a down payment on a cruise.
Six strangers are now connected forever by the gift of life.
"I left it up to God, if this was going to be, it's going to be. And it was," said Bogert. "We're all going to be a big family."
To learn more about paired kidney donations at the University of Michigan, click here.
To find out more about organ donation, click here.
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