Sisters share gift of life

[okarol]

Sisters share gift of life
Transplant of kidney deepens oft-tested bond

January 29, 2008

BY KORIE WILKINS

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Two years ago, Elizabeth Willis was tired.

Chemotherapy left her lymphoma in remission, but it ravaged the kidney she received in 1998. She would need another transplant. And until she received it, she again faced dialysis -- a painful, exhausting, time-consuming regimen.

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Willis, 50, of South Lyon didn't think she could handle dialysis again. She had already missed so much time with her two children, 23-year-old Dean and 20-year-old Julia, and her husband, Daniel. So Willis began praying.

Willis said she believes God answered her prayer in March 2006, when her sister Linda Whitfield asked her to lunch. Over salads, Whitfield tearfully offered one of her healthy kidneys.

And on Groundhog Day, 2007, Willis got the phone call that changed her life. Whitfield's kidney was a perfect match. For the first time in 20 years, Willis had hope for a healthy future.

"It was like hitting the lottery," Willis said.

On July 12, Whitfield's left kidney was taken through laparoscopic surgery and then placed into Willis at the University of Michigan Transplant Center.

The two sisters were close as they grew up, but this experience made the bonds even deeper, Whitfield and Willis said.

"She sacrificed so much for me," Willis said.

Whitfield, 49, of Novi said donating a kidney to her sister was a way to honor their father, Wallace Ellison, who died of kidney failure when the girls were young.

For years, Willis never worried that her father's legacy would become her own. But she was in her early 30s when she learned she had high blood pressure. She was diagnosed at age 35 with renal failure.

In 1998, Willis received a kidney donated from a woman her age who had died in Michigan.

But in 1999, she had a backache that kept getting worse. A biopsy showed she had cancer.

"I thought I was going to die," Willis said.

Chemotherapy and radiation put Willis in remission after a 2-year battle. But her donor kidney had failed.

Though grateful, Willis had reservations about her sister's offer. Whitfield was battling spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological disorder that causes voice problems.

"We were scared for each other," Whitfield said.

Whitfield's gift left Willis more fortunate than others who have kidney disease. Marcie Gerlach, spokeswoman for the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan, said 2,581 people in the state were waiting for kidneys as of December.

Doctors told Willis she'd likely have this kidney for 30 years. "It was the first time in a long time I felt I could have a life," she said. "I don't have to live one day at a time anymore."

Contact KORIE WILKINS at kwilkins@freepress.com.

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