Youth doing well with his sister's kidney

Youth doing well with his sister's kidney
By Erica Molina Johnson / El Paso Times
Posted: 09/05/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT

EL PASO -- Less than a week after his third kidney transplant, Eastwood High School junior Wayne Curtis is recovering well and hoping dialysis remains only a memory.

His older sister, Caila Curtis, donated the kidney that on Monday was placed in the center of his abdomen between the spots of his previous two transplants.

"It's amazing. I'm doing good," Wayne, 17, said during a telephone interview from Children's Medical Center in Dallas.

This was Wayne's 58th surgery.

With his sister's donated kidney, he no longer must endure 10-hour nightly dialysis. His last dialysis session was Sunday.

"I'm happy. It's been working out really great for Wayne," Caila said. "He's definitely looking a lot better than he has in a long time. He looks better than I do right now."

Sandy Curtis said her children's surgeries were unexpectedly long and complicated. Doctors encountered two extra arteries attached to Caila's left kidney when they went in to remove the organ laparoscopically. Her surgery stretched to six hours, two more than her family was expecting.

Doctors again encountered complication when they began the surgery to transplant the organ to Wayne.

"They had to connect it three times before they were happy with it," Sandy Curtis said.

She said her son's surgeon had to remove substantial scar tissue from around Wayne's bladder. There also were difficulties removing his dialysis catheter.

"We had lots of complications during surgery and, amazingly, they're
both doing great," Sandy Curtis said.

Caila, 20, again will be evaluated by a doctor on Tuesday and should return soon to classes at the University of North Texas.

She said she could not even tell she's missing a kidney.

Wayne's recovery will take a little longer, though his kidney function was near normal on Friday.

He took drugs weeks before the surgery that essentially killed his immune system to allow the transplant a better chance of success.

"We were told that he is doing incredibly, incredibly well, but we are a long way from being out of the woods because of his immune system," Sandy Curtis said. "We have a long way to go to make sure he doesn't reject the kidney. The next three months are very critical."

She said her son is likely to be in the hospital for another week. They will remain in Dallas for about six weeks after that as he receives follow-up care and monitoring. He'll also start receiving tutoring next week to keep him current with his classwork.

Wayne received his first kidney transplant when he was 2. His body rejected that organ after only 10 days.

His second transplant at age 7 lasted seven years.

Sandy Curtis observed: "It's just so amazing to sit and watch the hand of God -- miracles, daily miracles."

For more information about organ donation, visit www.donatelifetexas.org or www.organ.org.

Erica Molina Johnson may be reached at emolina@elpasotimes.com; 546-6132.

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