Donor brothers understand gift of life

Donor brothers understand gift of life

By ZACH BENOIT Of The Gazette Staff | Posted: Saturday, September 12, 2009 11:45 pm

It's common, practically expected, for siblings to share.

But for the Cabrera family, it's a bit different. Two brothers - Ming and Nardo - share a kidney disease, complications of which killed their mother in 1976, and a third, Rick, gave one of his kidneys more than 20 years ago to help save his brother's life.

"I probably inherited it from my mom," Ming Cabrera said. "And so did my brother."

At the age of 18, in the mid-1970s, he was diagnosed with nephlosclerosis, a condition in which tissue in the kidney gradually scars up and wears out. About 10 years later, the condition had gradually progressed to the point where Ming needed a new kidney.

"I was in the Philippines going to school," he said. "It just got to the point where I had to do it."

One of his younger brothers, Rick, turned out to be a match and was more than willing to donate one of his kidneys. After about two months of testing and blood work, doctors determined that Rick, and his kidneys, was healthy enough and ready to donate.

"It wasn't a tough decision," he said. "It was just a family thing we needed to do."

On May 14, 1986, Ming received a new kidney. He still has to take medication for high blood pressure - a symptom of the condition - and will take immunosuppressant drugs his whole life to make sure his body doesn't reject the kidney. Otherwise, he said he is more or less a healthy, 51-year-old man.

"It means a lot," Ming said. "I've been able to work, I have a family. I have a life."

The third brother in the family, Nardo, lives in Yorba Linda, Calif., and has been struggling with kidney disease since his teenage years. Lynn Cabrera, his wife, said he found out he would need a transplant while siblings were being tested to donate one to Ming.

For the past three years Nardo has been on dialysis, which essentially does the work the kidneys normally do, and for the past year, he's had to be hooked up to a dialysis machine for at least 10 hours a day.

After several years of setbacks, changing hospitals and being told they would have to wait up to 10 years for a transplant, an old workmate of Nardo's contacted him in the fall of 2008. He said he had heard about the man's condition and wanted to donate a kidney.

Testing showed he was a match, but the donor, Michael Medina, was initially rejected because of concerns of a previous back injury, Lynn said. But once the Cabreras tracked down a hospital that could perform a less-intrusive surgery that wouldn't put as much pressure on his back, the surgery was back on.

"That was about two weeks ago," Lynn said. "They said, 'Yes, Mike was going to be able to give.' Our faith, while strong, has definitely grown through this process."

On Sept. 16 - the birthday of Gloria Cabrera, the brothers' mother who died more than 30 years ago - Nardo is scheduled to receive his new kidney, while Rick will be there to offer advice and comfort to the donor and his family.

Born in Butte and raised in Billings, the Cabreras are some of the lucky ones when it comes to kidney transplants. There can be thousands of people on a kidney waiting list, and depending on the region and the severity of the kidney condition, the wait for a new one can be more than 10 years, and there is always a need for new donors.

"Donation is nothing to be afraid of," Rick said. "People should at least go and get tested. It lets them to give the gift of life."

To that effect, the National Kidney Foundation of Colorado, Montana and Wyoming will be holding the first-ever Billings Kidney Walk today to raise money and awareness for community assistance programs and kidney health screenings in Montana.

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