U.S. Games
- Living Donors Share Their Experiences
- U.S. Transplant Games Veteran Lora Wilson Joins Team Pittsburgh as a Living Donor
Living Donors Share Their Experiences
By Lora Wilson
I arrived early for the living donor/donor family program and asked if I could join living kidney donor Wayne Ellenberger and his wife Deb from State College, PA. In no time, we were sharing our stories.
They heard a radio plea for a living donor to help a widower in their area who was on dialysis and struggling to raise three small children. It was a sad story and they discussed it later that evening, but then Wayne forgot about it, or so he thought. In a dream that night, he felt called to step forward to help this stranger in need.
After testing at Hershey Medical Center, it was determined that Wayne was a good match for the intended recipient, but another person matched better, so Wayne was then asked if he would consider donating to a young girl from Texas who needed a second kidney transplant. Testing revealed that this potential match would not be optimal so surgery was cancelled at the eleventh hour.
Months later, another request came, this time to help a male college student. Wayne recalls waking in the recovery room and hearing the nurses say, "He's fine, but what about her?" He thought this was odd and asked if they were talking about his kidney recipient. It turns out that the young man was unable to follow through with the surgery, so the next person on the list, a young woman named Jill, took his place.
Unfortunately, Jill suffered complications that resulted in failure of the transplant, but she wrote to Wayne and Deb to express her gratitude for his gift and the opportunity to have a second chance for a healthy life. They have exchanged small gifts and notes, but have not met.
Along the way, with each obstacle, despite the opposition of friends and family (except Deb who was always supportive) Wayne continued to say "yes" to living donation and to feel inexplicable peace with that decision. He accepts the outcome and is content in knowing that he did all he could to try to help Jill. He wants to learn how best to communicate his story to promote living donation in his community.
We were joined at our table by some young men from Team Florida who actually hail from Southern California. They were sporting custom T-shirts listing the top 10 reasons to become a living donor. Living donor Michael Murphy and his friends also have a website: www.livingdonorsonline.com to educate, advocate and support living donation.
The speakers at this session encouraged us to share our stories, recognize the common threads that tie us to others and advocate for changes to promote organ donation in our communities. Many of the attendees were already acting on this important message.
U.S. Transplant Games Veteran Lora Wilson Joins Team Pittsburgh as a Living Donor
Third time's the charm. I've attended the NKF US Transplant Games on two other occasions, accompanying my husband who is a kidney/pancreas recipient. This time is different because as a living altruistic donor, I am now an official member of Team Pittsburgh and the games are being held in my hometown!
Pittsburgh is proud of its prominent role in the history of transplantation. Since the mid 1980s, hundreds of clinicians and scientists have trained here, and gone on to share the miracle of transplantation around the globe. Undoubtedly, many of the visiting transplant athletes are alive today because of advancements developed right here.
Being part of a wonderful team and participating in a national event to promote transplantation is an amazing opportunity, but it was certainly not my primary reason for becoming a living donor. However, these games did play an important role in sparking my awareness of living donation, and showing me that living donors lead normal healthy lives after surgery.
At our first games in Minneapolis in 2004, I remember being moved to tears by the parade of donor families bearing their treasured quilts at the opening ceremonies. At the 5K walk, we met a woman from the Midwest who was transplanted in Pittsburgh and we felt lucky to live so close to one of the most respected transplant centers in the world.
By 2006, I had started to think about living donation. At the Louisville games, I questioned the wife of a Team Pittsburgh medalist who was preparing to donate her kidney about the pre-surgery clinical work-ups. I remember being inspired by Ann Lopez's speech at the closing ceremonies. She reminded us that healthy people have two functioning kidneys, but we only need one. If everyone who is able to donate would do so, there would be no waiting list for kidney transplants.
I read an article last Christmas stating that there is now scientific evidence to show that giving makes you healthier and happier. I am proud to march into the opening ceremonies with living donors from all over the U.S. Look at our smiles and you will see firsthand how blessed it is to give. Each of us gave part of ourselves to help one special individual, and by participating in these games we hope to inspire others to share the gift of life.
