Dockter will give kidney to brother

Dockter will give kidney to brother

Jackie Hyra, The Jamestown Sun
Published Monday, November 12, 2007

Darlene Dockter is looking forward to Nov. 19, when she will have her left kidney removed at MeritCare Hospital in Fargo, N.D.

“I’m excited,” Dockter said.
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She is giving her kidney to her brother, Bryan Anderson, of Fergus Falls, Minn.

Dockter said her brother has had a difficult life. At age 2, Anderson had polio and was in an iron lung for a long time, eventually losing his right arm. In his teens, he suffered broken bones in a car crash, and he was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes 20 years ago. He was placed on dialysis and given a kidney from a cadaver when his own kidneys failed 15 years ago, but the transplanted kidney is now failing, and he has been on dialysis since the summer.

The decision to give a kidney to her brother was complicated by the fact that her husband, Rick, is in the end stages of kidney failure. In 2000 he was given three to five years to live.

“When this came up, Rick and I discussed it and he said, ‘You need to do this. It’s your brother,” and I couldn’t have loved him more,” Dockter said.

She began undergoing a battery of tests in October, checking her blood against her brother’s for compatibility and checking her own health. After being tested for cholesterol, triglycerides, blood clotting, heart and lung function, Dockter was declared not only healthy but a perfect match for Anderson to receive her kidney.

“You know what he said? He wanted a younger kidney. He’s kept his sense of humor throughout all of this,” she said.

Dockter said she has no second thoughts about donating a kidney and she felt no fear except for a brief moment when she misread a notice about her surgeon, Dr. Timothy Monson, and thought this would be the first time he would be operating during transplant surgery.

“Then, when I found out he had done hundreds of these, I was all right,” she said.

Anderson’s transplant surgeon will be Dr. Bhargav Mistry, who is also an experienced transplant surgeon.

“We’re going to have the best doctors and the best medical care,” Dockter said. “I trust the doctors 100 percent.”

Dockter said surgery to remove her kidney will take approximately 1 1/2 hours, and once she has been sutured, her brother will be brought in for surgery. Her kidney will be cleaned and chilled, and any excess fat will be removed before it is transplanted.

“From the time they remove the kidney from me to the time it will be placed in my brother will be 45 minutes,” she said.

Dockter said she will be in the hospital three or four days, while her brother will be hospitalized for up to two weeks.

“Bryan and I are hoping we can have a good Thanksgiving dinner together,” she said, although her doctor warned her it will be hospital food.

Dockter said her only regret is that, after three or four days in the hospital, she will not be able to return immediately to her pet-grooming business. She may have to recuperate for four to six weeks, although she thinks she’ll want to return sooner. She has no thought of retiring.

“I wouldn’t give it up for anything,” she said. “I love my kids.”

And her business’ clientele must think highly of her as well. Dockter said they all said they would wait for her to return to work to have their pets groomed, and they tell her she’s doing a wonderful thing donating the kidney. She doesn’t see it that way, though.

“It’s my brother,” she said. “This is something I just felt had to be done.”

Dockter also said she disagrees with people who say she’s giving her brother the gift of life.

“God is the only one who gives life. I can only help extend it,” she said.

Sun reporter Jackie Hyra can be reached at (701) 952-8455

http://www.jamestownsun.com/articles/index.cfm?id=56765&section=homepage