Organ Donation Gives a Second Chance at Life

Traditionally, for a 5^th wedding anniversary present, couples exchange gifts made of wood. But for Aaron Stitt and Wayne Cook, they exchanged a gift more precious. A life-saving kidney.

After having been together for 12 years, and legally married for 5, Wayne received a living organ gift from Aaron, giving him a second chance at life.

Until then, Wayne had been one of the 120,000 people waiting for an organ to be donated. In fact, of the 30,000 organ donor transplantations each year, only 6,000 are from living donors.

While 80% of organ donations are from people who have died, the 20% from living donors can come from relatives, spouses, friends, coworkers, neighbors ­- or even complete strangers.

Oftentimes, even close relatives aren’t much more compatible than strangers. But thanks to continuing advances in transplantation, even equally incompatible people can donate or receive an organ.

For example, for people with different blood types, the organ recipient goes through plasmapheresis treatments before and after transplantation to remove antibodies from the blood to prevent immediate rejection of the kidney. Other advances ensure that the organ isn’t rejected later.

That’s what Wayne went through to receive his kidney from Aaron. While there was another friend who was interested in donating, Aaron wanted to be the one to donate to his husband. A big commitment, obviously, but Aaron wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Watching Wayne work full time and going to dialysis 3 times a week was really taking a toll on him,” said Aaron. “Dialysis was such a burden on his life and on our married life. Everything revolved around dialysis. We just wanted to live the way we had before Wayne got sick.”

That had been way back in 2007 before Wayne was diagnosed with kidney disease and glumerolonephritis, which affected the autonomic functions of his kidneys. Back then, he was told that within 5 years he would be dependent on dialysis to live. True to his diagnosis, he began dialysis treatment in 2012, going 3 times per week, 3 and a half to 4 hours each time.  He was also working full time as a retail manager in Orange County, California.

Wayne knew that he was going to be hampered by dialysis until he received a transplant. He was always prepared right from the beginning that eventually he would need a transplant.

After doing extensive research on the procedure and risks, and meeting with someone who had donated, Aaron was convinced that he wanted to be Wayne’s living donor. Countless tests and screenings were conducted until Aaron received the green light that he could be the donor.

Six years after diagnosis, the live donorship was scheduled for November 19, 2013 ­- just 12 days from their 5^th anniversary. With their moms by their sides – Aaron’s had flown in from Michigan and Wayne’s from Ohio – the couple was ready to re-start their lives together.

The night before the surgery, the 4 of them spent a quiet evening together reflecting on the big changes that were about to take place the next day.

For Aaron, this was the first time in his 32 years that he had ever had any type of surgery. He said he wasn’t nervous at all. He had made his decision a year prior, was thoroughly counseled about the procedure and was prepared for whatever happened. “The benefits far outweighed any risks,” Aaron said with a grin.

Very early that next morning, Aaron underwent the 4 hour surgery to remove his kidney at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Wayne had to wait until Aaron was completely cleared before he could be prepped for surgery. He said it was an excruciating wait while Aaron was undergoing his surgery. He kept wondering how Aaron was doing.

“I was very worried about him,” said Wayne. “Aaron’s gift to me was so bittersweet. He was making such a huge sacrifice for me to live.”

Five hours to implant Aaron’s kidney and Wayne was out of surgery. Aaron had been in recovery while they performed Wayne’s procedure.

Once they were both lucid, Aaron just had to see Wayne. He was wheeled to Wayne’s room so they could reunite after their mutual ordeal. Their joint description of how they reacted when they saw each other confirmed that their decision was obviously the right one.

While Aaron only spent 1 day in the hospital and was back to work as a retail manager in less than a week, Wayne was quarantined at home for several months to recover and reduce his exposure to diseases. He couldn’t even be around their ‘boys’ – 2 adorable doggies named Charlie and Milo.

Back to work about 2 months now, Wayne says life is the best it’s been since the couple moved from Michigan to California in 2008. In fact, he just celebrated his 44^th birthday last week.

“A day with Aaron, relaxing and enjoying. A day without dialysis,” Wayne added.

“I have such a renewed zest for life and such a sense of security,” said Wayne. “Plus my life, my career was basically on hold because so much of my energy was devoted to dialysis treatments and being ill.”

For Wayne, he’ll need to take immunotherapy medications for life, alter his eating schedule just a bit and drink 2 liters of water every day. Plus drink another liter of fluids to continually flush his kidney. That’s a small concession compared to the strict diet, 12 hours of dialysis he used to endure every week after work and his progressively declining health.

“I’m so active now and ready to get back to advancing my career,” said Wayne. “And best of all, living a life with Aaron … all because of everything he gave up for me.”

For Aaron, life went on pretty much as normal. He says his health is actually a little better because he needs to drink so much water per day – 2 liters, as well, to keep his remaining kidney healthy – that he rarely has the desire to drink soda.

“I’m actually healthier than I was before. Plus, I have this amazing scar as a souvenir,” he said as he proudly pulled up his shirt to show the fading incision from where they removed his kidney.

Seems like they both gained something precious from the experience.

Now how is Aaron ever going to top this gift for their next anniversary?

If this article made an impact on you and may inspire others to become a living organ donor for someone in need, consider sharing it with them and having them contact Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Matching Donors and Kidney Transplant Centers.

Sources

http://donatelife.net/understanding-donation/living-donation/

http://www.unos.org/docs/Living_Donation.pdf

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