One donated kidney can spark chain of organ donationsPHOENIX -- A chain of small miracles started in Phoenix a few weeks ago.
It began when a Michigan man decided to donate one of his kidneys to a person he had never met.
His decision means a Phoenix woman will be able to watch her grandchildren grow up. Now the Phoenix woman's husband will donate one of his kidneys to a perfect stranger. And so on and so on.
This kidney chain _ the first of its kind _ is possible because of a new type of organ donation called a paired donation.
It happens when someone who needs a kidney has a person who is willing to donate one, but their body chemistry prevents a good match.
In a paired donation, those two people will be connected with two other people in the same situation.
Each healthy person then donates a kidney to someone who needs it.
This type of approach, coupled with federal legislation awaiting President Bush's signature, could ultimately transform the field of organ donation.
In Petoskey, Mich., Matt Jones made the decision to donate a kidney simply because he could.
In Phoenix, Barb Bunnell's kidneys were failing, and she was learning that her husband would not be able to donate one of his kidneys to her.
It was Barb's good fortune, however, to be a perfect match with Jones.
On July 18, his organ was removed at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. Moments later, in the operating room next door, it was placed inside Bunnell. It is now keeping her healthy and alive.
"I will be able to live a longer life. And a better life," Bunnell said from her hospital bed before her surgery. "I will not be on dialysis. I will watch my grandchildren grow up."
It is the next step that will transform the one act into a series of life-changing events.
Barb's husband, Ron Bunnell, will now donate one of his kidneys to a woman he's never met.
"I look at it as Barb got this gift from Matt, and I'm just paying it forward," Ron said. "It is terrific to be part of something bigger."
If everything works according to plan, the chain of donated organs started by Jones would continue.
"I thought that if I could help one person live a decent life, that would be great," Jones said. "It's turned out to be a lot more than that."
The first successful living donation was in 1954 in Boston, when a brother gave his identical twin one of his kidneys.
Barb knew for decades that she would eventually face dialysis or need a transplant. She has polycystic kidney disease, a hereditary disorder that killed her mother and grandmother in their mid-50s.
Ron Bunnell, the chief administrative officer at Banner Health, was eager to donate a kidney to his wife.
When Barb, 53, learned that her husband would not be a good match for her, she was devastated.
As her kidney function diminished _ Barb's were operating at about 18 percent of normal _ she started looking into the field of paired donations.
As of a few weeks ago, there were 72,393 people waiting for a kidney in this country, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which works with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Wait time can easily stretch to years depending on blood type and other variables.
But for paired donations, the wait is shorter, in part because while everybody on a paired donation list needs a kidney, everybody on the list also signs up with a person who has a kidney to give.
Barb entered her data with the Alliance for Paired Donation in Toledo, Ohio, in May and a match was found almost immediately.
Paired donations first started occurring around 2000. Before Jones' donation began the kidney chain, the practice usually involved just two pairs.
The benefits of paired donations extend beyond the possibility of a shorter wait. In a paired donation, only living donors are used.
Most people who receive a kidney get one from a person who has died, though living donations now make up 45 percent of transplants. Cadaver kidneys, though beneficial, do not last as long as a kidney from a live donor.
A kidney from a live donor is still working in 80 percent of recipients after five years. A kidney from a deceased donor is still working in about 55 percent of recipients after five years, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Despite the benefits of paired donations, ethical concerns were raised about the practice since it first began. Some ethicists questioned whether the practice equated to "paying" for a kidney by offering one in return.
As more people have chosen this option _ there have been 194 paired donations in this country _ the medical community has come to support the concept.
It has earned the blessing of the Federal Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which governs transplants.
The Journal of the American Medical Association published an influential report strongly supporting paired donations in 2005.
The insurance industry also supports the practice. The cost of a transplant is high but can be significantly less than the cost of spending years on dialysis.
Now people in the industry are excited about the prospect of increased donations. When a person from a paired donation gets a kidney, it shortens the waiting period for others who need one without subtracting from the pool of organs.
Dr. Michael Rees, medical director of the Alliance for Paired Donation, performed Ron's surgery. Rees, 44, has been instrumental in starting the alliance and in creating a computer program that can measure all the variables of a possible donation to make sure the right kidney ends up in the right person.
Rees finds that work rewarding, but an altruistic donor provides the chance for an endless number of sick people to get well.
None of that mattered to Jones, 28. He said his decision to donate his kidney to a stranger was made easier, not harder, because he is a father.
"This is the right thing to do. It's good for them to see their father doing the right thing," Jones said. "And if one of my kids ever needed something like this, I hope somebody would do the same thing for them."
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Information from: The Arizona Republic,
http://www.azcentral.comhttp://www.kvoa.com/global/story.asp?s=6854104............
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