Health

March 31, 2009

Saving Mom

Swoyersville man donated a kidney to his mother

EILEEN CIPRIANI Times Leader correspondent

An average of 18 people in the U.S. die every day awaiting an organ transplant.

“We need to make people aware that organ donation saves lives,” says Dr. Manish Gupta, a member of Geisinger Wyoming Valley’s surgical transplant team. “A single donor can have an impact on 50 lives.”

Over the past decade, the transplant waiting list has more than doubled. Studies have shown that while more than 90 percent of the U.S. population supports organ donation, only 30 percent have placed the organ donor designation on their driver’s license, according to the Gift of Life Donor Program.

There are two types of organ donors. Living donors are individuals who choose to donate one of their kidneys, a lung, portion of their liver, pancreas or intestine.

Deceased or cadaver donors are those who have registered to allow their organs to be donated at the time of their death.

Both types of donations can lead to successful transplants.

Violet Jones of Swoyersville knows all too well the benefits of a living donor kidney transplant. In 2005, Jones was feeling tired and visited her family physician. After a battery of tests and a referral to nephrologist Dr. Raymond Joseph, a physician at Renal Consultants, Wilkes-Barre, she learned she had Stage 4 kidney disease and needed a transplant.

At that time, local hospitals did not offer transplant services, so Jones was referred to the University of Pennsylvania. Doctors there explained her transplant options — living donor kidney versus cadaver kidney.

Jones’ family members, including her sons, Russell and Charlie, immediately volunteered to be tested to see if they were compatible donors. Charlie was a good match.

“It never entered my mind I wouldn’t be a match,” says Charlie. “I never had a second’s hesitation, I know I did the right thing.”

His mother was not so sure and tried to talk him out of donating.

“I was concerned because he had a family,” says Violet Jones.

Charlie Jones, also of Swoyersville, says his wife, Mary, was very supportive of his decision to donate his kidney to his mother. The couple has two children, Samantha, who serves in the U.S. Air Force, and Charlie, 13.

Violet had had an earlier bout with cancer, so the surgery had to be delayed until she was cancer-free for two full years.

She received her son’s kidney Oct. 25, 2007. After a short recovery, she was back to her normal routine. Her family saw a noticeable difference.

Charlie felt his recovery was relatively easy; his kidney was removed using laparoscopic techniques, leaving him with only three small incisions.

Charlie began working from home after a few weeks and was back at the office in six weeks, feeling healthy.

Meeting the need

Although increases in living donations have made more organs available, the need still is far greater than the supply and not all transplant procedures can be performed with a living donor. With over 100,000 people on the United Network of Organ Sharing list, the need for donors is significant, making education critical to increasing awareness about organ donation.

Dwendy Johnson, the satellite community coordinator for the Gift of Life Donor Program, works every day to educate residents in Eastern Pennsylvania of the importance of organ donation. Her efforts are intensified during April, National Donate Life Month.

“Pennsylvania is a very giving state, on average 44 percent of the state’s residents have indicated they are willing to be organ donors on their driver’s license,” says Johnson. Luzerne County lags behind, with only 39 percent agreeing to the designation on their licenses.

According to Johnson, you can indicate your willingness to donate when you renew your license. You can also visit www. donatelife-pa.org or www.donors1.org and place the organ donor designation on your driver’s license.

Additionally, Johnson stresses the importance of letting your family know you wish to be an organ donor.

“Families need to discuss organ donations among themselves, as decisions have to be made at a time of tragedy,” added Gupta. He notes that open communication among families will increase the number of donations.

A board-certified general surgeon, Gupta joined the Geisinger Health System to perform kidney transplants at the medical center in Plains Township. Kidney transplants are the most common transplant procedure, with over 1,000 performed by the Geisinger Health System since the program began in 1981. Unfortunately, the number of hopeful recipients is outpacing the number of donors, with 83,000 people awaiting a kidney transplant nationally — 5,000 in Pennsylvania alone.

Transplant surgeons at Geisinger Wyoming Valley performed the first cadaver kidney transplant in 2006 and the first living donor kidney transplant in 2008. The average wait time for a cadaver kidney is five years, but living donor transplants significantly reduce a person’s wait, which can save lives.

There are major advantages of a living donor kidney, explains Gupta. A patient does not have to wait a long time, often undergoing the transplant before the need for dialysis.

Living donors are usually healthy and kidney function is better in the short and long term.

Additionally, new techniques, like laparoscopy and other minimally invasive techniques to remove the donor kidney, have meant a quicker recovery for the donor.

“A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine says that living kidney donations is a relatively safe procedure, donors did not see an increase in incidents of kidney disease due to donation,” says Gupta.

“I don’t see why people would hesitate, especially a family member,” says Charlie Jones, who encourages others to consider being an organ donor.

For more information

April is National Donate Life Month. For more information on organ donation, visit the Gift of Life Donor Program Web site at www.donors1.org or call 800-donors-1.

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