By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
The Christ Hospital Health Network Life Center kicked off National Donate Life Month Friday with a flag raising at its Joint and Spine Center in Cincinnati.
Todd Kuiper received a kidney from a donor in Seattle, Washington, through the Shared Donor Pool program. He was among those who shared his story Friday at Christ Hospital’s flag raising program to kick off National Donate Life Month (photos by Mark Hansel).
The event included staff, donors and recipients who gathered to share stories of triumphs and successes from those who gave, and received, the gift of life.
Last year, Todd Kuipers was in end-stage renal disease. His kidney function was down to 10 percent and he was right on the border of dialysis or transplant.
“We made a slight medical adjustment with medication that bumped my kidney function about two percent and allowed me to limp along until they could get a transplant lined up,” Kuipers said.
By June, he had two donors in the final stages of the donation process and it looked as if they were close to being approved.
“I thought we were going to get a transplant from one of my friends or my cousin, then I got a phone call from Paula (Frankhauser, a Christ Hospital transplant coordinator)) on June 26 and they said they thought they had a kidney for me from Seattle,” Kuipers said. “I suspect that donor was trying to give to a loved on, but they weren’t a match, so they put it in a shared donor pool.”
The shared donor pool is a program that has really transformed kidney transplantation.
“If you just are able to draw on your family circle, or your immediate inner circle, it’s often hard to find a donor,” Kuiper said. “If I wanted to give a kidney to my wife for example, but I wasn’t a match, it allows me to put it in pool, so my kidney might match somebody in Texas, their donor might match somebody in Wisconsin, and so on. For people who want to help, but can’t donate directly to a loved one, it gives them an opportunity to put a kidney in the pool.”
To read how a Maine man got a kidney for his wife through the shared donor pool because he went to the Kentucky Oaks last year, click here.
Donors recipients and Christ Hospital staff share experiences at the kickoff of National Donate Life Month at the hospital’s Joint and Spine Center Friday.
Kuiper recently heard of an 18-way swap, and Frankhauser said that there have been donor exchanges even greater than that.
“The problem is that often, the education is not there,” Frankhauser said.
“We’ve had patients get kidneys from their barber and you really don’t know who will give you that gift unless you ask. Just knowing that you don’t have to be a family member, you don’t even have to know the person, you just have to be willing to give, makes a big difference.”
Christ Hospital was “owed” a kidney through the donor program, so Kuiper went in for his testing the same day he got the call.
“They took it out of the individual in Seattle, flew it overnight and put it in me the next day,” Kuiper said.
That was nine months ago and he says, “so far, so good.”
“It’s been an incredible process for me, emotionally, physically and health-wise,” Kuiper said. “Certainly we’ve been super-blessed to have great support around us, family, friends and colleagues, but also amazing support with the staff here at Christ Hospital. “It’s early on in my journey and I will take anti-rejection medications for life, but as long as you are compliant and you get great care, there’s no reason you can’t do well.”
Frankhauser said there are many people who suffer every day and remain on dialysis for years.
“I can’t sit still for five minutes, so I can’t imagine four or five hours on a machine three times a week,” she said
According to Life Center, there are more than 114,000 people in the U.S. awaiting a life-saving transplant, including nearly 3,000 people in Ohio and more than 500 in Cincinnati.
Frankhauser said 14,000 people in the United States die each year, waiting for a transplant.
For those interested in finding out more about becoming a donor, Christ Hospital has a link on its main site to the kidney donation page, or you can click here. It includes an application form that will help determine if someone is a candidate for donation.
For more information on National Donate Life Month, click here.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
