Article published Dec 27, 2007
GIFT of LIFE: Northville man donates kidney to life-long friendBy Jason Carmel Davis
STAFF WRITER
About 90,000 people die each year waiting for a kidney transplant.
Those in need of the procedure are placed on a waiting list, and a number of factors hinge on whether or not someone is a match. Once it is determined that donor and recipient are compatible, the surgery takes place.
But so many things have to fall into place before the surgery can proceed: blood types have to match, and donors can't have a certain number of arteries lining into their own kidneys or have kidney stones. Blood type is key. If the recipient is type A, he/she can only be matched with a type-A or O donor. Possible recipients who are type-B must be matched with other type Bs.
But when everything does line up, the recipient is given what many would consider the best gift of all: the gift of life.
Northville resident Joe Eckhout, 53, recently gave a flesh-wrapped present to his best friend since second grade, Rich Davis, 53. Davis, who lives in Mooresville, N.C., inherited Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) from his father, who passed away at 59 following 10 years of being on kidney dialysis.
Both of Rich's sisters have the disease, too, and one, Karen, received a kidney May 11. Rich's brother, Bob Davis, was tested and hoped to be his big brother's donor, but the two didn't match. So, Eckhout stepped in, no questions asked, and set out to assist his best friend in a life-saving process.
"I knew his parents were gone, both his sisters have the same disease and he and his brother didn't match, so I stepped up," Eckhout said.
Eckhout's wife, Barb, said Joe didn't think for one second about not helping his buddy, but the process was a long one, and she was nervous from the start.
"I was a little freaked," Barb said. "I wanted him to do it, but this is something major, and I was scared. But the doctors did their best to put everyone at ease."
From Northville to North Carolina
In August, Joe began the testing process at the Charlotte (North Carolina) Medical Center Transplant Clinic. He would periodically have blood drawn, which would be sent by Federal Express overnight to the Charlotte Medical Center for testing.
The week before Thanksgiving, Joe traveled, again, to the Carolina Medical Center for continued extensive psychical and psychological testing. The week of Thanksgiving, Joe received a phone call. He was a match.
"We were so elated," said Nan Davis, Rich's wife. "Those two have been buds for so long, we feel like God was preparing them for this."
Joe wanted the transplant to take place immediately, since he knew Rich didn't have much time before he would begin dialysis. Rich began feeling ill and Joe did not want to see his right-hand man suffer further.
The four-hour surgery took place Dec. 12 — two days before Rich's deceased mother's birthday. Barb made the trip south with Joe and was joined by Nan, Bob and Karen. The quartet had their own personal room to sweat out the four-hour procedure in.
"Every time something happened, we'd get a call updating us," Barb said.
Everyone was relieved once the successful transplant took place. Rich, who became pale because of his condition, "got the color back in his face," Barb said. Joe even received a letter from his surgeon — both Joe and Rich had separate teams of doctors throughout the process — deeming him a hero.
"I'm still a little doped up," said Joe, who returned home to Northville Friday. "And Rich is on something like 20 pills. But we're doing better than we were."
An epidemic
PKD is a genetic disorder characterized by the growth of numerous cysts in the kidneys and is the most common genetic disorder in the U.S. But not everyone knows about the sickness.
"This is a problem all over the country and the world," Joe said. "I was oblivious to (the disease) until all this went down."
The kidneys are two organs, each about the size of a fist, located in the upper part of a person's abdomen, toward the back. The kidneys filter wastes and extra fluid from the blood to form urine.
"You basically have to rebuild your urinary tract," Joe said. "It's brutal."
They also regulate amounts of certain vital substances in the body. When cysts form in the kidneys, they are filled with fluid. PKD cysts can profoundly enlarge the kidneys while replacing much of the normal structure, resulting in reduced kidney function and leading to kidney failure.
When PKD causes kidneys to fail, which also usually happens after many years, the patient requires dialysis or kidney transplantation. About one-half of people with the most common type of PKD progress to kidney failure, also called end-stage renal disease (ESRD).
In the United States, about 600,000 people have PKD, and cystic disease is the fourth-leading cause of kidney failure. Two major inherited forms of PKD exist:
Autosomal dominant PKD is the most common inherited form. Symptoms usually develop between the ages of 30 and 40, but they can begin earlier, even in childhood. About 90 percent of all PKD cases are autosomal dominant PKD.
Autosomal dominant PKD is the most common inherited form. Symptoms usually develop between the ages of 30 and 40, but they can begin earlier, even in childhood. About 90 percent of all PKD cases are autosomal dominant PKD.
The symptoms and signs of PKD include pain in the back and lower sides, headaches, urinary tract infections, blood in the urine and cysts in the kidneys and other organs.
Diagnosis of PKD is obtained by ultrasound imaging of kidney cysts, ultrasound imaging of cysts in other organs and family medical history, including genetic testing
PKD has no cure. Treatments include medicine to control high blood pressure, medicine and surgery to reduce pain, antibiotics to resolve infections, dialysis to replace functions of failed kidneys and kidney transplants.
Anyone can help
Aside from listing the organs you'd like to donate when you pass away, there is a new process out there that makes it somewhat easier for those in need of kidneys to get them.
The kidney swapping program matches donors with recipients. When relatives want to donate but do not match, kidney exchanges between families can help patients avoid long waits on the transplant list and the serious decline in health that often occurs in people who are on dialysis for years at a time. In the United States, tens of thousands of people are on the waiting list for a kidney each year, but only a fraction of them get transplants. When this process takes place, all donors and recipients are placed under anesthesia at the same time so no one backs out.
"It's OK to get a kidney from a cadaver," said Nan, who noted Karen received her kidney in that manner, "but it's best to receive one from a living person."
Extremely grateful
While Joe thinks nothing of it, Nan said she's overjoyed by what Joe has done for her and her husband.
Rich, who, like Joe, is still feeling the effects of the medication they're on, said he's extremely grateful for what has transpired.
"(Joe's) given me my health back and helped he to live a high quality of life," Rich said. "We've been friends since second grade, and we've stayed good friends through the years. I was the best man at his wedding and he was best man at mine.
"I'm very thankful for Joe."
Northville Record staff writer Jason Carmel Davis can be reached at (248) 349-1700, ext. 108, or jasondavis@gannett.com.
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