A year after kidney donation, friends praise transplants

A year after kidney donation, friends praise transplants

By COURTNEY KLEMM - H&R Staff Writer

DECATUR - It doesn't take long to notice the close companionship and admiration between Steve Johnson and Sarah Shoemaker, friends since their freshman year of high school in Farmer City.

After graduation, they kept in touch off and on over the years, but it took a chance meeting for the two to discover they had the same rare blood type, B-negative, and their lives were never the same.

Johnson began to experience kidney failure in 2003, and at one point, one functioned at less than 10 percent. He began dialysis three times a week, treatments he described as painful and tiring. That's when Shoemaker began to call regularly again.

"She bugged me for a while," Johnson said, laughing. "I even had a few of our classmates come up and ask, 'Why won't you let Sarah give you a kidney?' "

After some convincing of Johnson, Shoemaker made the life-giving sacrifice almost exactly one year ago, donating her left kidney to her longtime friend.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 94,000 people are on the list to receive organ transplants. While 77 people get a new chance at life each day, 19 die waiting for a donor.

Now, a year after the transplant, Shoemaker and Johnson, both 53, encourage others to become donors, especially for blood and those needing a kidney, which can come from live donors.

"The doctors told us that kidneys are the laziest organs because you have two but only need one to do the work," Shoemaker said. "It was really a life-changing experience for me and made my priorities a lot different. Life's too short and precious; God's got better things in store."

The three-hour procedure on Jan. 11, 2006, was no cost to Shoemaker, and Johnson's insurance covered everything on his end. Several community members and former classmates also chipped in to help with transportation costs and postsurgery costs, since Shoemaker needed to take unpaid weeks off work for recovery.

"I've just wanted to thank the community and our friends for their support and prayers," Shoemaker said. "I know we had a lot of people praying for us."

And it seems all of the support paid off. Johnson bounced back so well that he and his girlfriend, Mickie Nelson, who had dated for several years but felt there was "too much going on" with Johnson's condition to take the relationship further, were able to tie the knot last summer.

"He got his life back," said Mickie Johnson. "We were never able to travel before because the dialysis took up too much time. Our days went from one dialysis time to the next time to the next."

At first, Johnson had been reluctant about Shoemaker's donation, noting that he was worried about her health and safety. But Shoemaker underwent rigorous testing, and doctors assured Johnson that if anything should happen, she would be at the top of the priority list for a new organ. Today, Johnson said he has no regrets.

"I get asked every day, 'How are you doing?' and it gets repetitious, but I never mind answering that I'm doing fine," Johnson said. "After a year's time, you just want people to see that I'm doing fine, and Sarah's doing fine. People sometimes have a hard time accepting organ donation or are afraid."

"But these doctors have done it for years," he added. "It's almost down to just an in-and-out thing. I was surprised at how quickly we were out of the hospital."

The Johnsons and Shoemaker encouraged people to talk with a health professional about donating if they are reluctant to take that step.

"Doctors don't waste an opportunity like that," Johnson said. "I used to not think much about it when I renewed my driver's license, but people should think about being an organ donor a little further when they first think to say no."

Mickie and Steve Johnson said they became very close to other patients at the Champaign-Urbana Dialysis Center, where they had a very positive experience, but regret that some of their new friends did not have the opportunity he did. Steve Johnson said he thinks about Shoemaker's unique gift every day and will never hesitate to make the most of it.

"Doctors aren't going to give an organ to people who are not going to take care of it and might ruin it in six months," he said. "Now the only thing I have to do is take anti-rejection medication twice a day. I'll take that any time over dialysis. It's been a very fortunate thing."

Courtney Klemm can be reached at cklemm@herald-review.com or 421-6968.

URL: http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2007/01/27/news/local_news/1020734.txt