Adopted sister finds she's a perfect match

Adopted sister finds she's a perfect match

By Karl Anderson, Staff Writer
Alamogordo Daily News
Article Launched:10/28/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT

Cases where family members donate organs to one another is not that rare. But for Alamogordo resident Mark Eaton, who has suffered with kidney disease since the age of 12, being able to receive a kidney from his sister was unexpected.

Eaton never dreamed his sister would be a match because she was adopted.

Eaton, who owns EZ TV and Appliance Repair in Alamogordo, was diagnosed with Alport's disease when he was 12 years old. Alport's disease is a degeneration of the kidneys which ultimately shrinks their functionality. The resulting scar tissue basically preserves the original size of the kidneys with little or nothing functioning within.

"By the time I was 18, I was being treated with high levels of steroids," Eaton said. "Back then, it was a scientific guess on the part of the doctors. It was a relatively unknown disease that had originally been called proliferactive glomarial nephritis."

The doctors at the time told Mark's parents, Ken and Sandy, that there was nothing that could be done.

"They gave Mark a life expectancy of 18 months," Sandy said.

The steroids kept Mark in remission until he was 42.

"When I came out of remission, I got progressively worse," he said. "At age 45, I had to begin dialysis treatment every day."

Mark said he had two choices, hemo or peritoneal dialysis.

With hemo dialysis, the blood of the patient is removed, cleaned and put back in the body on a daily basis, usually three times each week.

Peritoneal dialysis is where dextrose is put into the peritoneum, a membrane lining the abdominal cavity that connects and supports the internal organs. This draws the impurities out of the blood by filtering them through the peritoneum wall.

"I chose the peritoneal dialysis because it gives me more flexibility as far as where I can actually go and what I can do," he said.

Mark has to devote 10 hours each day to the process, which he said can be painful at times.

"I'm thankful the option exists to even have dialysis," he said. "Because the other option is well not good."

Mark is one of 75,000 people on a national list who are still physically able to receive kidneys from donors, provided they are available.

The reality is that by the time a recipient gets to the top of that list, their body may no longer be able to handle the transplant itself.

Amber Norvell, who was adopted by the Eatons when she was still an infant, said she had considered donating one of her kidneys to Rodney, another brother, 12 years ago.

"I was a lot younger then, and Rodney ended up getting a kidney from a cadaver donor," she said. "It was just in time. He was failing fast."

Last year, Amber decided she wanted to help Mark.

"Even though he never shared his gum with me when we were growing up, I couldn't let him suffer any more," she said in jest.

Mark had already completed all his testing by May 2006 to qualify for placement on the donor list.

"In November of 2006, I began testing to see if I would even be a suitable donor for Mark," she said. "The testing was all done at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque and at Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center. This past August, I was informed that I was a perfect match."

The surgery is scheduled for next month at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. "I anticipate a recovery time of six to eight weeks," Amber said.

Mark said the kidney from Amber will end his need for dialysis completely.

Amber said ever since she made the decision to give Mark one of her kidneys and has spoken to other people about it, she has been amazed at how much people begin to talk to one another and question whether they would or would not do something similar.

"I encourage everyone to talk about this subject," she said. "Because in reality, everyone is in this situation as a potential donor."

"I think the neat thing in Amber's case is that she gets to see the results of her decision," Mark said, adding "I think she got over the fact that I never shared my gum with her."

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