Woman gives husband a lifesaving gift

By Mary Riley|Jul 26, 2011 - 9:08 AM|
Woman gives husband a lifesaving gift

(LINDSAY) Thirty years ago, Leslie Ellins gave her husband her heart.
Now, she's going to give him a kidney.

"We're a perfect match," she laughed. So too, it turns out, are their kidneys.

Ms Ellins and her husband, Bill, own a beef farm south of Lindsay, and have travelled a tough road since Mr. Ellins was diagnosed with a rare kidney disorder in 2009.

Ms Ellins said the nightmare began when her husband came down with pneumonia in August that year, which later turned to pleurisy in both lungs. She said they went to several local hospitals that were not able to diagnose the problem, and Mr. Ellins ended up in the emergency ward of one hospital for three days.

His condition worsened.

Mr. Ellins says he has no real memory of being so sick, "but, I knew I wasn't going to get out...it was game over."

"I spent five weeks on an air mattress in his room," said Ms Ellins.

"And, then, Bill's kidneys failed."

It was at that point, she said, a biopsy was done and it was determined Mr. Ellins was suffering from Wegener's disease, which attacks the blood vessels in the nose, lungs, kidneys and other organs. Ms Ellins said the disease is an auto-immune disorder that has "non-specific symptoms" that make it difficult to diagnose.

After treatment began, Mr. Ellins was released from hospital soon afterward, but it meant 10 hours a day of dialysis. The only way to eliminate such gruelling sessions was a transplant, Ms Ellins said, but there is a waiting list for kidney donors of up to 10 years.

But, when she was tested last year, she found she was a match, and she began the process.

"You have to go through psychological testing, too, to make sure you aren't crazy to want to do this," she said.

Scheduled for next month, the surgery is more complicated for her than for her husband. "They have to go in and take mine out, unhook it and all that," she said. "It's more complicated because the kidneys are in a very protected part of the body. But, for Bill, they leave his alone and just put mine into his [body] at the front.

The good news, she said, is the surgery has a high success rate, and Mr. Ellins will no longer need dialysis.

"It's a quality of life. The anti-rejection drugs they have now are wonderful," Ms Ellins said. "We're very blessed that my kidney was a match."

The couple said their battle hasn't been made easier since the company that has employed Mr. Ellins for 44 years recently switched unions, and a battle is still ongoing as to who is going to pay his sick benefits.

Ms Ellins is self-employed, and although they managed to get Mr. Ellins' retirement benefits early (although he has not yet retired from his job) they have had to fund all the expenses themselves.

Looking out at fields now empty of cattle, Mr. Ellins wiped away tears with his handkerchief.

"People look at our farm and think, 'Well, they own a nice farm'," he said. "But, this place is mortgaged to the hilt. We almost lost it."

But, he said he will receive benefits when he turns 65, which will help with the $3,600 per month cost of the medications he will need.

"Those drugs cost $40,000 a year...it wouldn't take long to eat the farm," he said.

But, the couple has a lot of support from family, friends and their church, the Bethany-Pontypool Pastoral Charge (Pontypool United Church), who she says have been a mainstay for the couple. Ms Ellins said she hopes people will sign their doner cards, because while dialysis is a lifesaving treatment, it has a profound effect on the patient's quality of life.

http://www.mykawartha.com/news/article/1048141--woman-gives-husband-a-lifesaving-gift