As this blog has gained traction, other kidney recipients and donors have made contact and offered support and encouragement, and shared their stories.  Today I (Jill) want to share the beautiful story of Felicity and Kathy with all of you.  You can also see their journey on their Facebook page, Urine our Hearts.

Read how Felicity describes her unfolding miracle:

miracles-happen

Friends For Life

Kathy Ward (née McGillivray) and I both studied Physiotherapy at UCT in Cape Town, but we didn’t come across each other at the time, as Kathy was a bit younger than me. We became friends in 1993, when we did a postgraduate course together in Port Elizabeth, we were in the same study group, and worked in the same neighbourhood.

Kathy and her family subsequently moved, first to Cape Town, then Canada, finally settling in Australia where she has flourished professionally. When she visited Port Elizabeth she would always give me a call, and we would catch up over coffee. 

In February 2015 Kathy returned to Port Elizabeth for extensive dental treatment after a fall off her bike during triathlon training. We met as usual, and I told her about my renal failure, by then I was on peritoneal dialysis. My life had changed considerably, I was not able to work, and what I was able to do on a daily basis was considerably reduced. I was on dialysis daily overnight, and had to follow a strict diet. My life, and that of my family was governed by my illness.

My miracle began later that afternoon, when I had a phone call from Kathy, telling me that she believed that God wanted her to donate a kidney to me.

To say I was stunned would be an understatement, and although the possibility of a potential donation thrilled me, I also realised that Kathy was thousands of miles away from her husband Harvey, and her family, and that such an enormous decision couldn’t be taken lightly, and was something that needed to be discussed with the whole family. Amazingly, Harvey, and Kathy’s family were right behind her, in her decision, saying that if this was something that God was calling her to do, they she absolutely must go ahead. There were however many hurdles still to get through, would Kathy be a blood match, and if she was would she be a tissue match? There was a long, long road ahead, and although I didn’t know if Kathy would be a match for me, I was so touched she was even considering blessing me with a new kidney.

I was soon to learn about Kathy’s incredible faith, boundless energy, and optimism, without which I doubt we would have all been able to stay so hopeful, optimistic and expectant throughout the long and gruelling processes that took place over the next few months.

Within 24 hours of calling me and offering me her kidney Kathy had met with the transplant co-ordinator and had received her blood type results. Her blood type was O, a universal donor, which meant she was a possible donor for me, blood type A. This was good news, but now we had very limited time to get a myriad of tests done before Kathy was due to fly back to Australia. Authorization for tissue typing was rushed through by my medical aid, and the blood tests were done the morning Kathy left For Australia. Once again, it was a favourable match. I had already had my tissue typing done, as I was going onto the national transplant list. I was told that the list was very long, and the wait would be at least 5 years. During that time, my health would be likely to deteriorate. Getting a donation from a friend of family member was likely to be my only hope.

Transplant coordinators in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Australia liaised and Kathy underwent rigorous testing, including counselling over the next 10 months, she passed everything with flying colours, and was told in the end that I would be very fortunate to receive her kidney. Finally we could dare to hope that this might all work out.

Kathy was determined to keep in peak condition throughout the process, to ensure that she was able to donate a very healthy kidney to me, so she continued to participate in triathlons, eat healthily and drink lots of water.

The next hurdle was obtaining authorization from the Department of Health here in South Africa. As Kathy was not a family member we had to prove to the department that she was not being coerced, or remunerated in any way for donating her kidney. We were warned that it could take a few months, this was a scary time, as we had already been given a transplant day, and had to book Kathy’s flights to South Africa and hope that the department came through with the necessary documents in time for the operation to take place. A process which usually takes anything up to 6 months was over in a few short weeks, and we were all over the moon when on the 17th of November 2015 we were given the go ahead. Suddenly things were feeling very, very real!

I left for Cape Town on the 13 January for a series of plasma exchanges to reduce the probability of rejection, and was blessed to have Kathy rubbing my feet during some unpleasant side effects once she arrived in Cape Town.

My daughter Taryn set up a Facebook page to document our journey, and we were bowled over by the love and support we received from friends, and all over the world. We hoped that sharing our story would encourage others to consider either live donation, or signing up as deceased donors.

Our families were a wonderful support, and my daughter had organized team T-shirts which they all wore on the day of the surgery, as well as a huge kidney pillow each. 

A final cross match was done a few days before the surgery, and we held our breath for the result. The cross match was negative (a good thing), meaning that there was no negative reaction between Kathy and my tissues, and the transplant was given the final, absolute go ahead.

On the 26th of January 2016 at Christian Barnard Hospital in Cape Town, was the culmination of months of praying, hoping, and gruelling tests, at a little after 7am Kathy went into theatre, and I followed her at 1pm. Kathy and I had separate surgical teams, and had wonderful care from everyone, our surgeons, nephrologists and nursing staff. I came out of theatre a little before 7pm that night, and was able to wave to my family through the glass divider in the ICU ward.

By the next day my family could already see a difference in my skin tone, and my face was less puffy. My new kidney was functioning perfectly, and my new life began. The first five days I was kept in ICU, with very strict infection control protocol in place, as my immune system was compromised from the anti-rejection drugs. Kathy was discharged after 4 days, and I followed her after a further 5 days in a general ward.

            Recovery for both of us has been steady, of course there were some bumps in the road, but we are both doing well. Kathy completed her first post op triathlon, 11 weeks after surgery, and is back at work. Just 4 months on, I am gaining strength every day, enjoying walks and waking up every day feeling wonderful, and with lots of energy.

I don’t think I, or my family, realised how sick I actually was before the transplant, it is only from feeling so good now, that I can truly appreciate how ill I was. My Doctors are impressed with my blood results, and I have Creatinine levels of someone with two perfectly functioning kidneys. Kathy quite literally, has given me my life back, and for that I will be forever grateful.

Kathy and I have decided to share our story to promote awareness about organ donation, either as a living donor, (Kathy’s T shirt slogan was “I shared my spare”), or as a deceased donor. I can testify to the amazing change organ donation can make, when you donate an organ you are not just saving one person, you are saving their family too, you are gifting them a future, full of possibilities!