Amesbury man lives 'routine' life, thanks to deceased donor

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Amesbury man lives 'routine' life, thanks to deceased donor

By Steven Rosenberg, Globe Staff  |  March 18, 2007

AMESBURY -- Sumner Feldman calls himself a regular guy who does the same things as other 77-year-old men. He sometimes sleeps late, goes shopping nearly every day, and likes to eat out.

"Living a routine life is what it's all about," said Feldman, who shares a home with his wife, Annette, near the Merrimack River in Amesbury.

But Feldman also knows what's it's like to have his life turned upside down.

Thirteen years ago, he had just retired as associate commissioner for data processing for the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services. He planned to relax and travel, but felt weak and couldn't sleep at night.

Then he went to the doctor.

"The doctor came in and said, 'Look, your kidneys failed, and you have to go on dialysis right away or you could die.' I mean, it was that simple," said Feldman, who was born in Lynn, grew up in Newton and Brookline, and moved to Amesbury three years ago.

But Feldman learned that undergoing dialysis was anything but simple. It required him to go to a clinic three days a week.

In order to live, Feldman was hooked up to a machine for each treatment, which filtered waste products and excess fluid and salt from his blood. While the treatment took four hours, the preparation and travel time to and from the center on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston from his home in Brookline brought the whole process closer to seven hours.

Feldman planned his life around the treatments, which took a toll on him.

"It beats you up," said Feldman, who added that it would take him at least one day to recover from each treatment.

After a year, he put his name on a list for a kidney transplant, and for the next two years, continued dialysis and hoped. During that time, he met other dialysis patients who were involved in the New England-based Kidney Transplant Dialysis Association (users.rcn.com/ktda1/).

The 4,000- member organization has a newsletter, support meetings, and a hot line, and also gives financial assistance to patients. Feldman joined, and eventually became the group's vice president and president.

The afternoon of May 10, 1997, seemed like any other dialysis day for Feldman. But shortly into his treatment, he received a phone call. A person had died and had donated a kidney. That kidney was reserved for Feldman.

By late evening, Feldman was in the midst of a five-hour operation at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. When he woke up the next morning, he felt good.

But six weeks later, his body began to reject the kidney and he returned to the hospital. His heart briefly stopped, and he was fitted with a pacemaker. It took him months to recover, but with the right medication, the kidney kept working.

Nearly 10 years later the kidney is still working fine, said Feldman, who gets his blood checked every six months to monitor the donated kidney.

In the last two years, he's taken trips to Italy, England, and France. He doesn't know the identity of the person who donated the kidney but said he's forever grateful. He also knows the donated kidney could stop working.

"I know that it's possible that there will come a time when this transplant will fail," Feldman said. "Then I'll be faced with that decision again, to go on dialysis."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/18/amesbury_man_lives_routine_life_thanks_to_deceased_donor/