Kidney donor urges others to take action

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Kidney donor urges others to take action

Aidan E. Bauernschmidt
Features Editor
Thursday April 17 2008

Twelve years ago, Cheryl Way’s husband was in dire need of a kidney transplant. A disease that had plagued him since childhood was causing his organs to fail. Thankfully, his sister, Cathy, was able to donate hers to keep her brother alive. Eleven years later, Way was able to say thank you in a rather unique way.

Way, who holds the position of payroll assistant, donated her own kidney to Cathy’s husband, John, just over a year ago, after he was diagnosed as needing a transplant. At first, John was uncertain of Way’s decision.

“My first conversation with him about it had him asking, ‘why are you doing this?’” she said. “I looked at the situation: if it wasn’t for Cathy, I wouldn’t have my husband. Also, our sons are the same age, and I didn’t want my nephew to grow up without a father. It just seemed like the right thing to do.”

Way had to undergo a lengthy testing process once she agreed to be a donor. The blood work, CAT scans and other tests took nearly a year to accomplish. Finally, she was screened as having two of the six antigens in her blood matching John’s; remarkable, considering that their only relation is by marriage.

March 6, 2007, the surgery was performed. Way’s kidney was removed and inserted in the place of one of John’s failing ones. She remained in the hospital for three days and was back to work in five weeks. “It really took five to six months before I was back to feeling 100 percent,” Way said, “but it was really an amazing experience.”

Way has worked for the College for over 16 years, though she has only been working in human resources for three. When she first came to Etown, Way worked in college relations before leaving her job to give birth to her son and become a stay-at-home mom.

She came back to work and now has such responsibilities as managing payroll and student employment. “The College was wonderfully supportive of my donation,” she said. “In the scheme of things, five weeks isn’t quite so long.”

Way has also been in touch with other donors from the National Kidney Foundation’s Web site (www.kidney.org). She said it has been fascinating speaking with people whose stories are so similar to, or so different than, her own.

“During our lives, we look back and ask ourselves, ‘what have I done that really mattered?’” Way said. “I can look in the mirror and know that I’ve done an amazing thing. It really is an amazing feeling, that you’ve literally given life to someone else. It’s hard to describe.”

Way strongly believes that no person needing a kidney should ever go without. She also believes that while cadaveric kidneys (those removed from a dead body) can save lives, kidneys removed from a living person are preferable.

“There is no reason that anyone needs to die waiting for a kidney,” Way said. “Not when we all have two. God gave us two for a reason — to give one away.”

Way felt strongly that she wanted to get her story into the eyes of the public, especially now, during Organ Donor Awareness Month.

“Young people need to know; so many of them want to be involved with making changes,” she said. “Many young people have that sticker on their driver’s license, ‘organ donor.’ I want to share the word that you don’t need to die to be an organ donor.”

http://www.etownian.com/article.php?id=1004