Living donors honored for gift

SUN., SEP 30, 2007 - 10:45 PM

Living donors honored for gift

By Nathan Leaf
608-252-6126
nleaf@madiosn.com

Even among living organ donors, Jerome Thetreau is in rare company.

It was one thing for the retired plumber from Marinette, about 50 miles northeast of Green Bay, to give up his kidney to help save the life of his friend, Steve Tipler. But when he went in for the first operation of his life to have his kidney removed, Thetreau was one day shy of 70.

"I can 't say he 's the oldest (donor) ever in our program but he 's in the upper end, " Kathy Schultz, spokeswoman for the program, said.

On Sunday, Tipler was among a group of donor recipients and others who gathered at the Edgewater Hotel to honor nearly 200 living donors who gave organs to people through UW Hospital 's transplant program in 2006 and 2007.

Tipler had already received a kidney from a cadaver more than 25 years ago and was on dialysis after it failed. It didn 't take much to convince Thetreau, who knew Tipler through the Knights of Columbus, to donate his kidney though initially they were told he was to old to be a donor. But in UW Hospital they found an organization willing to take the chance, Thetreau said. Schultz said the program had the most kidney transplants, 346, in the country in 2006.

"I still have a hard time believing it, " Tipler said of Thetreau 's willingness to give him a kidney. "If it wasn 't for Jerome, I wouldn 't be here. "

But the operation has also been a wonderful experience for Thetreau. "It 's very emotional, " he said recalling the procedure with his friend. "I 'm just about ready to cry. "

Also among those on hand to thank the donors Sunday was Chris Klug, a 34-year-old professional snowboarder. Klug won the Bronze Medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, just over a year after receiving a liver transplant in Denver. He had been diagnosed several years earlier with primary sclerosing cholangitis which led to liver damage.

"My message to them is Thank you ' for the gift that they give, " he said. "The need is great and unfortunately there just aren 't enough people like them out there. "

Klug said Sunday 's event was a good chance for people to see how successful transplants can be. "We 're not just prolonging death here, " he said. "I 'm not living a compromised lifestyle. I 'm stronger than I 've ever been in my life and they need to know that it works. "

Sandy Isola, 62, was one of those given an extension on life by her sister Shirley Reed, 60, in March at UW Hospital. On Sunday, just talking about the experience brought the sisters, who both live in Michigan 's Upper Peninsula, to tears.

It only took a few trips to see Isola, who has diabetes, struggle through dialysis before Reed offered one of her kidneys.

"I can 't even tell you what it meant, " Isola said. "It was like being reborn. To think that someone would give you part of their body. "

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=248653&ntpid=2