Directed Deceased Donor: Kelly recovers after ‘Christmas Miracle’

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Publish Date: 2/4/2011
Directed Deceased Donor: Kelly recovers after ‘Christmas Miracle’

Karen Lungu
The Daily Record

After almost two years on dialysis, Becky Kelly celebrated receiving two new kidneys from her friend, Shellen Rhoden, who died Dec. 16, 2010, of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. The last words Rhoden’s husband, Scott, whispered to Shellen as she took her last breaths were that she was a perfect match for Kelly.
For the past couple of years, Kelly has kept her friends updated on her health through her “Find Becky a Kidney” Facebook page. On Dec. 16, Kelly posted this message, “Pray for me! I have a call to come to Houston for a transplant. I will know after noon to get on a 2 p.m. flight. They have to put the organ on a pump and make sure it will work in my body. Thanks for all your prayers and support. They are working!”

In 2009, Kelly, 58, was diagnosed with kidney disease. Kelly’s family, friends, and co-workers at Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility rallied around her. One friend started the “Find Becky a Kidney” Facebook page. Several others set up a weekly booth during the Farmers Market. Others helped transport her to doctor and hospital appointments. Kelly was told she was a one in a million match, and she knew her best option was a live donor.

As her health deteriorated, Kelly reluctantly retired her teaching position at CTCF last year. She also switched from hemodialysis to peritoneal dialysis, which kept her homebound.

In August, Kelly’s childhood friend, Scott Rhoden, contacted her, and told her his wife wanted to donate her kidneys to Becky. Initially, doctors were reluctant to consider Shellen an organ donor because of her advanced ALS and her age. LifeGift, an organ procurement organization in Texas, took up the cause for Shellen and began the matching process.

One of the last messages Shellen heard, shortly before her ventilator was turned off, was that she was a match and her kidneys were going to Kelly.

Shellen died Dec. 16 while Kelly was en route from Colorado Springs to Houston Methodist Hospital. One of Shellen’s kidneys indicated a slight necrosis, so both kidneys were transplanted into Kelly, and both began working immediately.

That day, Kelly’s friend, Linda Carlson, posted on the “Find Becky a Kidney” Facebook page, “Bec is in Houston tonight at Methodist Hospital, and is scheduled to receive a kidney tomorrow AM from her high school friend Shellen, who died today of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Please send prayers to Shellen’s family, Bec – and the transplant team. As soon as I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”

Kelly posted her own updates on Dec. 18, two days after the surgery and again on Christmas Eve, the day she was able to go to her father’s house in Brenham, Texas, to recuperate.

On Jan. 6, Becky wrote, “It has been almost three weeks since I had my kidney transplant. My Christmas miracle. My surgeon said that they had only done three or four double transplants ever! My doctor said that it would take one in a million to match me. My good friend, Shellen, was a perfect match. That’s a miracle. She is my angel. I thank God for Shellen every day. Thank you all for all your prayers and support. I know I am blessed.”

Kelly continues to recuperate in Texas, making twice-weekly visits into Houston for testing. She hopes to come home later this spring.

http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/community/community-story.asp?ID=15813