Woman closer to finding donor

Publish Date: 2/21/2010

Woman closer to finding donor

Karen Lungu
The Daily Record

For almost a year, Becky Kelly has gone through kidney dialysis three days a week while awaiting a kidney transplant. Her resolve to get a new kidney, as well as restore her once good health and active lifestyle, remains strong.

“I have learned you must be an advocate for your own health,” Kelly, 57, said. “I have wonderful friends and family who are there for me at all times, even when I get sad and angry.”

One of those friends, Molly Hamilton, is a longtime colleague of Kelly’s. Though the two have known one another through years of working together for the Department of Corrections, their friendship didn’t develop until they teamed together on a two-week project.

“She would have to leave early and have dialysis quite often,” Hamilton said. “I really didn’t have a clue about it, so she told me all about it.”

The more Kelly shared about her kidney disease and what she was going through to obtain a donor, the more Hamilton wanted to find a way to reach out.

“When she told me about the donor process and how slim her chances might be to find an exact match, I wanted to help, and the only way I knew how was through the computer,” Hamilton said. “After she was (approved) to be a recipient, I got the OK from our executive director to put a message on our bulletin board about Becky and information about the donation process.”

The response was amazing, Hamilton said, who began funneling calls and letters to Kelly’s transplant coordinator at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver.

“After that, I was inspired to keep trying to get the message out,” Hamilton said. “I felt we need a place to keep reaching out to people and a place for Becky to put her updates, so I turned to Facebook.”

In December, Hamilton started a Facebook group, called “Find Becky a Donor,” inviting all of her friends to join. Those friends invited others, and the group rapidly grew.

“Today, we have 376 members from all over the United States,” Hamilton said. “And, the number grows every day. Becky puts her updates on there so everyone can see how she is doing, and there is information in ‘info’ tab on how to see if a person is a compatible donor.”

Hamilton also added an “event” tab, which soon will be used for donor awareness campaigns.

Recently, Kelly was able to post some good news on the “Find Becky a Donor” Facebook wall about a possible donor.

“This donor has not reacted to my antibodies, which is very important,” Kelly said. “But the donor must go through several other tests, so I have to be careful about getting my hopes up. So, please keep up those prayers. They are working.”

Of all those who have contacted University of Colorado Hospital about possible kidney donation for Kelly, 20 were an initial match, though five did not work out. Because testing is expensive, others will not be tested until it is known whether the one possible donor continues to have positive results.

However, there are many others out there awaiting a donor, Kelly said. More than 100,000 people of all ages need life-saving transplants. An average of 18 people die each day from lack of available organs for transplant.

In living donor transplants, the risk of dying is less than 1 percent. People are born with two kidneys, but can live a long and healthy life with one. The remaining kidney simply grows larger and takes over the function of two.

Use the search option on Facebook to join the “Find Becky a Donor” group or email Hamilton at mollyhamilton@bresnan.net.

To learn more about registering as a living organ donor for Colorado, visit coloradodonorregistry.org.

Karen Lungu can be reached at klungu@ccdailyrecord.com.

http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Top-Story.asp?ID=13009