Barry Released From Hospital Following Kidney Transplant

[okarol]

Barry Released From Hospital Following Kidney Transplant
   posted 5:29 pm Fri February 27, 2009 - WASHINGTON
from ABC 7 News

D.C. Councilman Marion Barry, reportedly feeling good, is headed home after being released from the hospital around noon Friday.

The former four-term mayor appeared with longtime friend and kidney donor, Kim Dickens, Friday. Barry underwent surgery last Friday to have one of Dickens' kidney transplanted into him.

Barry says he already feels like a new person, expressing gratitude to surgeons at Howard University and Dickens.

"I feel better now, just one week later...I don't feel lethargic like I do sometimes," Barry said, expressing gratitude for the donor's selfless act.  "First of all I thank God for putting that spirit in her--and I thank her for exhibiting that kind of spirit," he said.

Kim Dickens, a 47-year-old single mother and life-long District resident, has known Barry for more than a decade and says when she heard of his need for a kidney she didn't think twice.

"For me it was simply a no brainer," Dickens said. "There was a need. He was in need of a kidney and I had two healthy ones. So be it."  Dickens added she cried when she learned they were a match.

Barry blamed his kidney failure on diabetes and high blood pressure. He thought he'd have to wait five years for a donor. But Dickens stepped up, and now the former mayor has a new lease on life.

"I feel more energy, less lethargic," he said. "My body feels more exuberant now than it has been in a long time."

Barry's doctor says the 72-year-old's prognosis is good, but there is still a 10-percent chance of rejection.

"That's why we're getting the blood test and following him --getting his blood tested -- seeing him once a week, so should a rejection episode happen, we have the medication that will reverse the rejection episode," Howard University Hospital Dr. Clive Callendar said.

Barry says once he is feeling better he will crusade for more African Americans to become organ donors.

And around town, some offered their best wishes.

"It's good he's going to be in good health and I wish him the best," said, George Jordan, District resident.

"I'm glad he's back recovering; I'm sorry about his problems he's having," said, Christine Jackson, District resident.

Those problems, however, go way beyond his medical condition. Barry had cited his kidney failure as the reason for not filing overdue taxes, saying he has been undergoing daily kidney dialysis for the past three months on top of struggling with diabetes and high blood pressure.

But despite Barry's recent good fortunes in health, he is still haunted by his legal problems. A federal judge has not set a hearing date of April 2 to discuss the councilmember's tax woes.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0209/599124.html