Transplant: Second kidney received

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Transplant: Second kidney received


By Karen Blackledge
The Daily Item

DANVILLE — Thomas Parker Jr. felt good after receiving a kidney transplant.

He had a good idea of what to expect, having been the recipient of a kidney 25 years ago.

Parker, 42, of Danville received his second kidney transplant June 12 at Geisinger Medical Center.

He had been on the United Network for Organ Sharing list for a cadaver or a living donor since June 1. “I needed to have a lot of tests done in order for them to put me on the list,” he said.

His wife Judy said this was “to make sure everything was OK to have him get a transplant.” Judy got a call from Geisinger that day at about 11 a.m. Thomas wasn’t home at the time but was close by.

“They said they had a kidney and two others were ahead of him. The one didn’t match and the other didn’t want it because the person was going on vacation,” Judy said.

The Parkers received a call back saying Thomas should be at Geisinger’s emergency department in 10 minutes.

Thomas needed a donor compatible to his blood type of O Negative, which makes up about half the nation’s population.

“He drove himself up. My stepmother went with me and we came home after they took him into surgery,” Judy said, of the operation which lasted about 6 and a half hours.

Thomas came home four days later.

“It will be a while before he will be able to do much,” she said. Both Judy, who gets seizures, and Thomas are considered disabled.

Thomas received his first kidney when he was 17 on Jan. 12, 1985. That kidney was discovered to be damaged in May 2008.

He had been on dialysis since Sept. 8, 2008, and on home dialysis 16 hours a day since October 2008.

‘Highly appreciative’

The second kidney came from a 34-year-old area woman who died of a heart attack.

http://www.dailyitem.com/0113_health_fitness/local_story_244081222.html