Ten-way kidney transplant benefits Burgeo and Ramea natives

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Ten-way kidney transplant benefits Burgeo and Ramea natives

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Published on February 6, 2012
Brodie Thomas   
 
When Burgeo resident Michael Green agreed to donate a kidney late last year, he had no idea that a woman originally from Ramea might receive it.
He still doesn’t know for sure that Sharon Crewe, now of Stephenville Crossing, received his kidney on Jan. 20. Medical officials won’t say for sure who donated to whom out of privacy concerns, but both Michael and Ms. Crewe have their suspicions.
“On Friday they only did two operations,” said Ms. Crewe. “Michael came out of the OR and I went in.”
The two were part of a 10-person kidney exchange through a program known as the Living Donor Paired Exchange program. Five donors and five recipients took part in the exchange that benefited Ms. Crewe and Michael’s father Ben Green, 57. The three southwest coast residents travelled to Halifax’s QEII Health Sciences Centre for operations on Jan. 19 and 20.
Even if Ms. Crewe didn’t receive Michael’s kidney directly, she benefited from the chain of giving that resulted from the paired exchange program.
Michael, 28, originally wanted to donate a kidney to his father.
Although he wasn’t a match for his father, doctors offered him the chance to donate to a stranger so Ben could get a kidney in return from another stranger.
Michael’s decision to donate was an easy one for him. Ben is a diabetic and his kidneys were failing. In the summer of 2011, Ben started travelling from Burgeo to Corner Brook for dialysis three times a week.
“Dad said they only way he was going to get better was if he got a kidney,” said Michael. “I said, ‘If there’s anything I can do, I’ll give you my kidney. It’s not a big deal.’”
Ben wasn’t too keen on letting his son take part in the paired swap.
“At first I didn’t want to go along with that,” said Ben. “I didn’t want Michael to get involved. But he insisted. After talking to the doctors in there, he was convinced.”
Dr. Ian Alwayn was the surgeon who operated on both Michael and Ms. Crewe. He said paired exchanges such as this are becoming more common.
“This program has been up and running since 2009. It started small in B.C. and Ontario but is now extended to all the provinces.”
Dr. Alwayn said an elaborate computer program creates the potential chains of giving. Every three or four months a match cycle is run and hundreds of potential matches are produced.
Doctors then work out the chains of giving. The 10-person swap that was done in January was likely the largest of its kind done in Halifax so far, but 10-person exchanges have taken place in other parts of the country.
Dr. Alwayn hopes paired donor exchanges will reduce wait times for patients and reduce overall wait lists across Canada.
“We know that kidneys from live donors last longer than kidneys form deceased donors,” said the doctor. “We appreciate and value donors within the chain, such as the Green family.”
Surgery
Michael said he was originally going to fly to Saskatoon, Sask. to donate. At the last minute, that recipient was taken off the list. Michael was then called in to Corner Brook for more tests and bloodwork. He was there at the same time as Ms. Crewe, and the two spoke.
The pair knew each other because the dialysis community is small, and ties between Burgeo and Ramea are close, too. Ms. Crewe had met Ben many times before while receiving dialysis.
Ms. Crewe said she had a feeling about what would happen after that day in the hospital with Michael.
“As we were leaving the hospital, I said to my dad, ‘I’m getting Michael’s kidney.’”
For Ms. Crewe, it was her third kidney transplant. The first was from her mother in 1989. That only lasted four months. The next was in 1993 from a deceased organ donor. That one functioned for 16 years.
The 41-year-old said receiving a third kidney from a live donor was like winning the jackpot.
Ms. Crewe wasn’t originally part of the paired donor program. She didn’t have a friend or family member give up a kidney. She believes one recipient dropped off the list while a donor stayed on. It meant she was contacted at the last minute to take part.
Regardless of whom it belonged to, the kidney she received is functioning. A few days following the surgery, her creatinine levels ranged from 66 to 93. In the days before her surgery, her creatinine levels were at 800.
Ben’s story
Ben said in the early hours after his surgery, his body appeared to be rejecting the kidney. Doctors adjusted his medication and as of last week he was doing great.
“They figured they had a real good match but you can’t depend on what your own body is going to do to something foreign,” he said.
This was Ben’s first transplant. He said he noticed a difference in his health almost immediately.
“The next day I was a totally different person,” he said. “I had more energy. There were no pains in my back or my knees. And I just figured I was getting old.”
Ben said the people of Burgeo were incredibly generous when they heard he and Michael would be travelling out for surgery. They held a bingo and other fundraisers to help with travel expenses.
“I’d say most of the community sent me get well cards and donations,” said Ben.
The coincidences don’t stop with the Burgeo-Ramea connection. Ben stayed with his niece while in Halifax. The niece’s husband’s co-worker took time off work to take part in the exchange, as well.
While on dialysis for six months, Ben began to realize just how many people on the southwest coast are having kidney trouble. He hopes more families will have the opportunity to take part in the paired exchange program.
“They say it’s like winning the lottery,” he said. “I feel pretty strongly that I did win the lottery. I got a second chance at another life.”

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