Kidney Mama

Billy the Kidney’s writing today about an Australian reality show about organ transplants called “The Gift.” I don’t suppose that it’s coming to Netflix, but what a great idea for a show with built-in pathos.

To its credit, the one previous series of this program is credited with a 40% increase in organ donor registrations in Australia – off an admittedly low base figure, given that Australia has one of the worst figures in the Western world for organ donations.

Show it here, show it here!

Natalie Cole is doing great after receiving a kidney from a living donor, reports CNN.

Thankful as she is for the gift, Cole is prevented from knowing who donated the organ. (emphasis added) ”I don’t know who they are. I have not met them, it’s all anonymous,” Cole says.

One thing she did know, however: the family specifically requested that the organ go to Cole. “That’s what was so awesome, their family basically requested that the kidney go to me,” she says. “We are not sure how they knew.”

Maybe because you talked about it on Larry King? Just sayin’.

Would she like to meet the donor? “Absolutely, are you kidding? I would probably kiss them all over the place.”

Seems to me that someone knowing that one’s kidney went to famous person Natalie Cole would be more the privacy issue than Natalie knowing who gave her the kidney.

But you never know why these decisions are made about “privacy.” When I found out I was a match for Anthony, they wouldn’t tell him because of HIPAA. So I called him up.

Me, I hope that Natalie’s donor writes a letter to her and says, hey, it was me, and they get to meet.

Soddy-Daisy High School teacher Trevor Fuller says only four months ago, he could barely climb the stairs to get to his 2nd floor classroom. Now, he’s not only climbing stairs, he’s taking 5-mile bicycle rides.

In a recovery described as “amazing” by his doctors, Fuller is back at work just 100 days after a kidney transplant procedure at the Cleveland (Ohio) Clinic. His 21-year-old son Ryan, a UTC student was the donor. Both Fullers are doing well, and have resumed their normal routines. (WRCB-TV)

I just like to say, “Soddy-Daisy teacher.”

I just got this from Anthony, who became kidney family in June when we completed our transplant.

I am the lucky man who has custody of Nancy’s kidney. We are family, and I am happy to report that I had not imagined how good I would feel in general as a result of the kidney transplant. I encourage everyone who needs a transplant to pursue it and anyone who would like to donate to make that move. It will be one of the most significant things you ever do in your life. We are all in this world together.

I cannot thank Nancy enough. My friends and family send her love every time I speak to them, and most of them have never even met or spoken to her. It is a special gift, and granted it does take a special person to give it.

Thanks, doll. You’re pretty special, too.

Gotta get me one of these: Hello Kidney T-shirts at wrongtees.com, via Digg.

A Texas brother is ponying up a kidney, notes the Denton Record Chronicle.

Rick Hamilton is donating a kidney to his younger brother just because it’s the right thing to do.

“I’m his brother. He needs it and it has to be done. And that’s the way it is,” said Rick Hamilton, 60, a detention officer at the Denton County Jail. “I think if the situation was reversed, he would do the same for me.”

I’m not so wild about the phrase “altruistic donor,” because … if you are handing off a part of your body to someone, well … all donors are altruistic.

Anyway, I have a soft spot for stranger kidney matches. That’s how I did my donation. Here’s a little tale about another stranger-danger kidney donor from South Dakota from the Argus Leader. She looks at it a lot like I did: “Why the heck not?”

Cori Tonjes met Scott Fraser for the first time Monday. Today she will save his life.

Sometime around noon at Sanford Transplant Center, Dr. Anatolie Usatii will remove a healthy kidney from Tonjes’ body and transplant it into Fraser’s. When they leave the hospital, the donor and recipient will return to their own families and their own lives.

Here’s my personal gripe:

Live donors always are questioned about their motives, but doctors are particularly concerned when a donor doesn’t know the recipient.

“We certainly need to be very careful with that,” Usatii said.

Yes, anyone who would help a stranger is certainly suspect.

These paired transplants are really taking off. I am slowly warming to them. At first, to be honest, I wrinkled my nose at the idea. It felt like “I will only help someone when someone helps my friend,” which seemed more “kidney as hostage” than donation. But before you comment, I did change my mind!

These things help a lot of people now, and if I needed a kidney, I would find anyone I could who was willing to donate and get on one of these pair lists. Anyway, here’s a story from The Washington Post on a recent 7-kidney swap that my matchmaker, Chaya, had a bit to do with (shameless plug).

When Lori Sough gave away the first stained-glass item she’d made, a delicate angel, it was a fitting token. The stranger who received Sough’s gift, Terry Bond of Mechanicsville, was an angel in her own right, having given Sough a kidney, and with it, a new shot at life.

Deborah Cass donates her kidney to sister Bev in South Yorkshire, England, reports The Star.

“You don’t need two kidneys. You can be born with just one and Bev needed it more than I did.”

Faheem Malik Jahaan is donating a kidney to longtime friend Qa’id Aqeel, reports the Oakland Tribune.

While theirs is certainly a tale of close bonds and bravery, they say the main reason they want to share their story is because of the need for organ donations from people of color.

“We want to encourage Africans and people of color to register as donors,” said Aqeel, a community program coordinator at Claremont Middle School in Oakland. “I know people are hesitant to get involved with the medical community, but it’s a beautiful thing to be able to do this for someone you care about. I’m not nervous at all. In fact, I’m excited about it. It’s really been a peaceful process.”