Giving the ultimate gift

[okarol]

December 10, 2007 09:27 am     

Giving the ultimate gift

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

PALO PINTO – Palo Pinto Post Master David Elliott delivered a dose of brotherly love recently when he became an organ donor, giving the gift of life to help out his older brother.

When his brother, Ronnie Elliott, 44, of Texarkana, Texas, desperately needed a kidney transplant at the beginning of 2007, David Elliott said they started doing research about organ donation and what it entailed. His brother’s doctor put them in touch with a transplant center in Little Rock, Ark.

“We kind of decided [in February] to start the process to see if I could donate,” said David Elliott, 42, of Eastland.

However, it wasn’t an easy offer for his brother to accept, receiving a kidney from Elliott.

“I volunteered. He didn’t want anyone in the family to do it and go through all that,” Elliott said. He added that he hadn’t thought about donating organs until this year.

When his brother met with a transplant doctor, Ronnie Elliot learned that the prognosis for receiving a kidney from a sibling is 30 to 35 years while receiving a kidney from a cadaver offers a prognosis of 7 to 15 years, David Elliott said.

“He called me back after I offered it,” recalled Elliott. “He said, ‘If you’re still willing, I’ll do it.’”

After that, Elliott said he did a lot of blood work to make sure he would be a good match for his brother. The first test, he said, was a blood match.

“It was perfect. They said it couldn’t have been any better if it was his own kidney,” Elliott noted. After extensive blood work – “I think I gave 40 to 50 vials of blood” – they got the OK for surgery in the first part of July.

He’d also lost between 27 and 28 pounds prior to the surgery, he said, because doctors told them it would make the process easier.

Although doctors said that Ronnie Elliott needed to go on dialysis, David Elliott said, “He made it through the summer without dialysis. The body accepts organs better if you’re not.”

On July 24, the Elliott family headed to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where the two brothers underwent surgery on Aug. 1.

Since then, Elliott said his brother’s had a real turnaround in his health.

“He’s doing really well. He feels good,” he reported.

In fact, the entire family, he said, is looking forward to getting together for Christmas this year. He said it will be the first time they’ve gotten together since the surgery.

During this lengthy ordeal, Elliott said their family has been supportive and he’s received encouragement from his customers at the post office, even after he was back on the job as of Oct. 1.

“They’ve [family] just been super about it,” he remarked. “Even the customers, they’ve been really great about it. I’ve gotten a lot of good, positive feedback [and] I got quite a few cards.

“Almost everybody asks, even to this day, how I’m doing and how Ronnie’s doing.”

As his brother is a former racecar driver and Elliot is active in the International Motor Contest Association Modified racing, Elliott said the racing community has contributed financially to the family through a Web site posted with information.

After having now undergone an organ donation, Elliott said it’s something he plans on signing up for.

“I will now. I have no problem doing it now,” he said, clarifying that his organs would be donated after his death. “It’s definitely pretty cool.”

And donating a kidney to his brother hasn’t slowed down this avid IMCA Modified racecar driver.

“I’ve been racing about 21 years,” Elliott estimated. “I was informed it would be wiser if I didn’t.”

He then added that he went racing a couple of times recently.

“I haven’t completely given that up. I just have to wear a flack jacket and a kidney belt.”

http://www.mineralwellsindex.com/local/local_story_344092707.html