A Christmas ‘miracle'

A Christmas ‘miracle'

By Jeff Raymond
Staff Writer
Fri December 28, 2007

An Oklahoma City woman's death has saved the lives of three people.

Heather Clark and Cecil H. received kidneys, and Danny Stout received a liver on Christmas Day from the woman who died on Christmas Eve.

The unlikely three-way Christmas gift marks a busy year for Integris Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute at Baptist Medical Center.

Heather Clark
Clark, 25, has been on dialysis for five years, including her 4½ years of marriage. Her kidneys began failing at age 20.

Clark and her husband, Bryan, are looking forward to things like not getting up at 4:30 a.m. three days a week to have her blood filtered.

The two also are planning bigger things: They never took a honeymoon. Now they can.

Clark's lupus had made her weak, but when her body attacked her kidneys, she began dialysis and contemplated waiting for a call that could come at any time — or not at all.

She would return home from dialysis, collapse on the couch and sleep for the afternoon.

"I actually had to stop school because it was too hard to do school and dialysis and work,” the former nursing student said. "It made me more tired, more worn out, more weak.”

On Christmas Eve, a transplant coordinator called to wish Clark a merry Christmas, a gesture she appreciated but thought odd. Then came the news: a kidney was available.

"I was ecstatic, and then I went numb,” she said.

Reality hit when she was prepped for surgery and started to feel drowsy; she had the operation at noon on Christmas.

During Clark's five-year wait for an organ, Kathy Clark of Oklahoma City put her daughter-in-law's health in God's hands.

"It will happen when it happens,” she told herself.

Heather Clark has to take it easy for a few weeks but should be able to do most of what she wants to after six weeks. She thanked the donor's family for their generosity, saying: "It's just an awesome gift.”

Cecil H.
Cecil H. asked that his full name not be used out of respect to the donor's family. The 63-year-old Oklahoma City resident had been on dialysis since May 2004 and had both his kidneys removed in June 2007. He lost 50 pounds after surgery — 25 pounds for each of his enlarged, cyst-laden kidneys.

For the last month, the retired banker was on daily dialysis.

"When you're on dialysis, you're kind of on a roller coaster,” he said. "Those of us on dialysis are considered 100 percent disabled.”

When he received the phone call, he had two hours to get to the hospital. About 10 a.m. the next day, he had a new organ.

"It is wonderful to have received this kidney, but there are hundreds out there waiting. It's a total change of life,” he said.

Once he leaves the hospital, he can return to his favorite hobby, fishing; he has a trailer and boat on Lake Eufaula.

"That's really going to make a life for me,” he said.

Cecil H. returned to Oklahoma City after living in St. Louis, wanting to be closer to his son and grandchildren and choose his doctors at Integris.

Danny Stout
Receiving a new liver also was a birthday gift: The Owasso resident turned 58 Thursday.

Last weekend, he had turned down a liver to be able to spend time with his ailing father. Three days later, another call came, and his grandchildren helped persuade him to take care of himself.

Despite the abdominal pain and fatigue caused by autoimmune hepatitis, Stout had kept his job as a manager for a Tulsa tire company, even working Christmas Eve.

"One day he can be up and walking and be fine, and the next day he can be in serious condition,” said his wife, Pamela.

By midmorning on Christmas, after a five-hour operation, he had a new liver.

Stout had been on the transplant waiting list for about 2½ years. His wife said she doubted whether he would get a new liver.

"They tell you right up front that you will probably die before you get one,” she said.

Stout's recovery should take about three months. He should be able to return home next week.

"Any time you cut in your stomach muscles, you're not going to be good for a while,” he said.

http://newsok.com/article/3186012/1198814280