A New Road to a New Kidney

So much has been going on during the last almost-three weeks that I have not been able to write about until now. Three weeks ago this coming Monday, I received a call from Suzanne, the paired-donor coordinator at UCLA. She said she had found a potential match for me in a four-way exchange. This means that four unmatched donor-recipient pairs are matched to others within the four pairs. So I will receive a kidney from a stranger, and Janet (she's an A and I'm an O) will give to someone in Virginia. So, too, with the other five people in the chain, which may in fact be a loop.

A chain is when an altruistic, or non-directed, donor (someone who is donating to a stranger) starts the chain. The recipient of the altruistic donor's kidney then has his or her friend or family member donate to some other stranger who also has an unmatched donor. The chain can conceivably go on forever, though it is generally broken at some point. A loop would be that Friend A (who is friends with Recipient A) donates to Recipient B. Friend B donates to Recipient C. Friend C donates to Recipient D. Friend D donates to Recipient A. The latter may be what's going on in this proposed four-way. I don't know because Suzanne is so harried trying to make arrangements between the four pairs, the surgeons, the four medical centers etc. that she can only give me broad brushstrokes when I speak with her.

This past summer, Janet and I were scheduled for surgery with another pair, but the other recipient turned out to be incompatible with Janet. That is known as a paired donation.

So three weeks ago this coming Tuesday, I went into UCLA for blood tests. Suzanne said that though the computer said I had a match, this needed to be confirmed. Last Friday, about a week and a half after taking the tests, I found out that, yes, I am compatible with my donor. Janet told me today that all four pairs are compatible.

During this wait for results, I didn't want to say anything to Cindy and then have to retract it, should I not be compatible with my donor or should any of the other pairs in the chain not be compatible. But this Monday I called Suzanne and asked her what I should say to Cindy. I didn't want to leave her hanging.

Suzanne told me to tell Cindy that this was not a sure thing, but if it did work out, it would mean that four people would get a new kidney. Suzanne said I could ask Cindy to be my back-up, should things fall apart in one way or another. I called Cindy on Monday and left a message, then left a Facebook message later in the week. Last night she called. She's gotten a promotion and is working a lot of overtime. She seemed happy at the prospect of four people receiving kidneys in this chain. I told her I'd let her know any news as soon as I knew.

Yesterday Suzanne was supposed to tell me if everything had the green light, but yesterday things were still up in the air. She said she'd know for sure by today. But she still doesn't know. The reasons for the delay, however, are becoming clearer: One of the donors farther up the chain (perhaps the person who donates to another UCLA patient whose friend donates to me) is "difficult to reach"--not a good sign. Also, he now wants to fly out to LA to have the transplant done at UCLA because he read that the recipient fares better if the kidney is harvested at the same medical center in which the transplant is taking place. Suzanne said he is looking at old data, that current stats show similar success rates for donor and recipient at the same medical center and for cases in which the two are separated by hundreds or even thousands of miles.

If the surgeon could talk frankly with this donor, he might tell him that four people's lives are held in the balance and that insisting on coming to LA will delay the process or even totally disrupt it as UCLA would then have to follow its own protocol, adding potentially months of retesting. But as the law is, the donor cannot in any way be coerced. So all the surgeon can do is give the potential donor educational information, perhaps email him studies that show similar success rates for same- and different-med center transplants. Suzanne said that if she hears anything over the weekend, she'll call me. Janet and I were scheduled to go into UCLA for final tests and surgeon consults on Monday, but that is on hold until or if Suzanne gets a go-ahead from this donor.

So things are moving in the right direction, but many hurdles still must be cleared. Not least of which is that everyone has to pass his or her EKG. If one person fails, the whole chain is null and void.

If you're a praying person, I sure would appreciate some prayers. Envision every step of the way from here on in going smoothly so that four people will have the best Christmas presents ever--new kidneys!