Brother saves sister's life with kidney, thousands of others in need

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Brother saves sister's life with kidney, thousands of others in need

11:33 PM EST on Monday, February 25, 2008

Reported by: Kathryn Barrett

CHESAPEAKE -- A shortage in organ donors makes it difficult for many to get the help they need, but one sister is grateful for a brother willing to give up a kidney to give her a second chance.

Oliver Davis and his sister Alisia were not always close. The two have a three year age difference between them, and Alisia’s illness.

“Sometimes, it scares me a little bit,” said Oliver. “Sometimes she has those moments where it does get worse, and she has to stay in the hospital a couple of days.”

Alisia played soccer, cheered and ran track, but practically overnight, she got sick. At the age of 12, doctors diagnosed her with lupus, a disease of the immune system in which the body is unable to distinguish between infections and its own immune system.

“With me, it started off with my joints,” said the 23-year-old. “Basically, as the years progressed, I was on prednisone and different treatments, and then it started to affect my kidneys and then I developed high blood pressure.”

The disease’s confusion leads it to essentially attack itself, and the cycle caused Alisia’s kidneys to fail.

Instead of going to a dialysis center, the College of William and Mary graduate has done her own peritoneal dialysis since her kidneys crashed in November. Four times a day, for 20 minutes each time, a special fluid drains into her abdominal cavity, removing waste and excess fluid from her blood. It’s the job healthy kidneys normally do.

“I mean, it’s not horrible,” she said. “It’s just kind of annoying to do four times a day, but it could totally be a lot worse.”

That’s because the donor organ shortage forces most people to wait five to seven years for a kidney. Alisia is getting hers from her brother.

“I was like, definitely,” said Oliver. “That’s my sister. Of course. I mean, I just figured anybody would.”

Unfortunately, just anybody doesn’t.

The lack of donors, especially African-Americans, is striking. According to a LifeNet Health study, the number of African-Americans awaiting organ transplants increased 166% over the past decade.

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More than 2,100 Virginians are on a waiting list today for kidneys, and while 19% of Virginia's population is African-American, African-Americans make up 58% of the list.

"The impact of their story and the success of their story will hopefully show other families in the same situation that living donation is an option,” said Alisia’s kidney transplant surgeon, Dr. David Salzberg, MD, of Vascular and Transplant Surgeons of Virginia.
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More info on African-American organ needs

“I really wish he didn’t have to go through this for me,” said Alisia. “But I’m definitely, definitely grateful.”

Transplant teams say the best part of the process is seeing the new kidney function almost immediately, and when Alisia came out of surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, she said she felt the difference.

“I’m feeling great,” she said. “Instantly better. I’m so grateful.”

Oliver was released from the hospital over the weekend, and six days after the transplant operation, his sister got to come home.

Sitting in Alisia’s bedroom, the two talked about their sore incisions, but both said they felt well considering what they went through.

“I definitely feel his good kidney working in me,” said Alisia. “That’s really nice to know.”

In spite of the disease that caused Alisia’s kidneys to fail, her surgeon said the Davis family has much to be optimistic about because her new kidney will likely last for a lifetime.

“Because of the anti-rejection drugs we uses these days [for organ transplants], combined with the medications used to treat lupus, the life expectancy of the transplanted kidney is very, very good,” Dr. Salzberg said.

It’s all thanks to an ordinary brother who did an extraordinary thing by giving a sister the gift of life.

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