Family appeals to public in search for kidney donor

Family appeals to public in search for kidney donor

SWAMPSCOTT - In a letter submitted to The Item on Friday, a Swampscott woman appeals to the public in search for a kidney donor for her husband, a retired Peabody elementary school teacher.

Antoinette Marino Theo said her husband, Peter Theo, who taught at Welch Elementary School for 30 years, has been a Swampscott resident for 40 years and is a father of three and grandfather of two.

“Life has not been easy for Peter,” Antoinette Marino Theo wrote. “Both of his kidneys have completely failed, leaving him to depend on dialysis for the past six years.

“For those of you not familiar with dialysis, it takes up a chunk of time. He goes three days a week for four hours each day. The days you do not have dialysis your body is exhausted and recovering from the treatments.”

Last year, she noted, her husband was offered a kidney through Massachusetts General Hospital’s organ transplant center.

“He was called to the hospital to receive a kidney. We were so excited. They prepared him for surgery and five minutes before the surgery he was told there was something wrong with the kidney. He returned home devastated. Being the optimist, it was not long before he said, ‘I’m sure there is another kidney out there for me.’”

Antoinette and Peter raised a son, Christopher, and two daughters, Kerri and Stephanie, who all graduated from Swampscott High School, and today enjoy spending time with grandchildren, Camden and Mirabel.

“The brightest part of the day is when they visit,” Antoinette wrote.

Antoinette tells anyone interested in being a donor that the procedure is done laparoscopically, which is less invasive, and there is no cost to the donor for testing. Peter Theo’s blood type is O positive.

Those interested in being a donor should contact one of Massachusetts General Hospital kidney transplant coordinators: Ann Marie King at 617-724-1218 or Anne Seaward-Hersh, 617-643-6511, and mention Peter Theo.

“Please be the hero that the Theo family needs,” Antoinette wrote. “We will be forever grateful for this Gift of Life.

http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2011/10/24/health/health01.txt