Woman sheds weight, kidney for friend

Woman sheds weight, kidney for friend

Thursday, April 05, 2007
DAVE PARKS
News staff writer, The Birmingham News

When Debbie Waid decided last year to donate a kidney to a close friend, a doctor told her she needed to lose 20 pounds before undergoing the operation.

She viewed it as a challenge to qualify as an organ donor.

"Once I found out I wouldn't be considered for that until I lost 20 more pounds, that was a motivating factor," said Waid, who had been dieting before deciding to donate an organ.

"I had already begun my weight-loss journey," Waid said.

Waid took off 30 pounds over the Christmas holidays, and Tuesday, the 54-year-grandmother from Trussville donated a kidney to 60-year-old Dale Marbut of Center Point.

Waid's husband, Steve, said his wife was doing fine Wednesday, other than feeling some post-operative discomfort. She was expecting to go home soon, he said.

And, he said, doctors at UAB Hospital were also pleased with Marbut's condition.

In an interview before the operation, Debbie Waid said she heard Marbut's kidneys had failed because of diabetes, and he needed a transplant.

She immediately volunteered to donate a kidney to Marbut, who attends church with her at Trussville Church of Christ. She has known Marbut for decades, having met him while they were attending Jacksonville State University.

"We're brothers and sisters in Christ, and I would do anything for one of them that I would do for my physical brother and sister," Waid said.

While being evaluated for the kidney donation, a doctor told Waid that she needed to lose another 20 pounds. So she took off another 30 pounds, losing 50 pounds in all over six months.

Traditionally, transplant doctors have discouraged people from donating kidneys if their body mass index exceeded 30, which is the threshold of obesity as defined by the Centers for Disease Control.

For example, a 6-foot-tall person weighing 221 pounds would have a BMI of 30, and be considered obese.

Obesity has been associated with health problems such as high blood pressure and other conditions that have a negative impact on kidney function. However, in recent years "prudently selected" obese donors have been considered by some transplant centers because of the huge demand for organs, according to a recent article in the journal Nature Clinical Practice Nephrology.

Waid, who has seven grandchildren, said donating a kidney seemed like a natural thing to do. She has always been healthy, and financially was able to take off a couple weeks to recover from the operation.

Marbut critically needed the transplant. He had been on dialysis since October, and his wife, Glenda, was recently diagnosed with lung cancer.

"I hope this transplant helps Dale feel good because he needs to take care of his wife right now," Waid said.

Marbut was grateful to Waid, a supportive church and UAB.

"I just got lucky," he said. "It's amazing."

E-mail: dparks@bhamnews.com