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Author Topic: Palm Beach Country Club worker Joe Amaral donates kidney to wife Judy  (Read 3769 times)

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Palm Beach Country Club worker Joe Amaral donates kidney to wife Judy


By CAROLYN SUSMAN
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY NEWS
Updated: 7:42 p.m. Sunday, April 24, 2011
Posted: 7:26 p.m. Sunday, April 24, 2011

We’ve all rolled our eyes at those mushy expressions of love we’ve found in song lyrics.

“If I give my heart to you ...”

But there’s hardly a song lyric adequate to evoke Joe Amaral’s expression of love for his wife, Judy. Joe gave Judy more than his heart. He gave her his kidney.

Married 30 years, the couple has known that, some day, Judy would require dialysis or a transplant. She was diagnosed at 21 with polycystic kidney disease, an inherited condition, but the disease didn’t really present itself until she was 50. It gets worse, slowly. She only found out because her blood pressure began to rise, a sure sign.

Judy’s symptoms increased after that. She was so tired she could hardly enjoy her favorite activities, such as gardening, and it was just about a year ago that she got the news: Dialysis could be in her future. Her kidneys had dropped to about 15 percent functioning. At 7 percent to 10 percent, you need a new kidney or dialysis.

And dialysis was the one future she didn’t want. She had seen her mother suffer through the disease and die when Judy was a teenager. She now is watching one of her brothers endure dialysis and wait for a kidney to become available on a transplant list. He and his wife are different blood types, so she can’t do what Joe did: donate a kidney.

Her other brother doesn’t have the disease. There’s a 50/50 chance of developing it if only one parent has the disease, as her mother did.

“I was so tired and got headaches. I would think, ‘Am I ever going to feel better?’ ” Judy says, remembering her worst days. And it’s not something she would be happy to pass on to her son.

Knowing that she had the disease, Judy and Joe thought hard about having children but were blessed with a son, Chris, who is now 24. He wanted to donate to his mother, but neither Judy nor Joe wanted him to lose any part of his organs, just in case he develops the condition. They would like him to be tested but, so far, he has opted not to be.

‘No’ not an option

Meanwhile, Joe had to fight very hard at his chance to help Judy. He was denied, twice, because of a fatty liver condition that didn’t make him a good candidate for surgery. That didn’t stop him.

“If there were avenues to explore [to help her] and I didn’t ...” his voice trails off as they sit side by side on a sofa, just inches apart. Occasionally, his eyes tear up with emotion.

With two turndowns from two different Massachusetts hospitals, Joe didn’t take “no” for an answer. He was born in Massachusetts and still has family there. He had heard that Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston was a well-respected transplant center and he wanted Judy to undergo a transplant there, using his kidney.

He came back to Florida with his records and his willpower. He took the information to his doctor in Lantana, Derek Vigil, who put him on the South Beach diet and an exercise program. With the goal of helping to save Judy, he lost 30 pounds and turned around the numbers, such as liver abnormalities, that had gotten him rejected as a donor.

Meanwhile, Judy got herself on as many transplant waiting lists as she could.

Whether from a living or dead donor, Judy had to explore all options.

Years ago, cadaver transplants — using organs donated from corpses — were common. Today, living donation is more frequently an option. Even organ donations between spouses, while a bit unusual, can be accomplished. The organ most commonly transplanted through living donation, according to the National Kidney Foundation, is the kidney.

Sharing their story

The possibility of a living donation, spouse to spouse, is a big reason Joe — an employee of the Palm Beach Country Club — and Judy wanted to tell their story.

“We want people to know that a husband and wife can match,” Joe says.

Looking at them on this spring day, it is hard to believe they had the procedure in Boston on Jan. 20. Judy is regaining her energy, although continuing to take drugs to prevent rejection. Joe is feeling fine and knows that not only is having one kidney OK, but that his remaining kidney can grow in size to compensate for the one he gave Judy.

“We’re closer than we’ve ever been,” Joe says. “We’re happier and more grateful. God has watched over us.”

http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/pb-country-club-worker-joe-amaral-donates-kidney-1429972.html
Daughter Jenna is 31 years old and was on dialysis.
7/17 She received a kidney from a living donor.
Please email us: kidney4jenna@gmail.com
Facebook for Jenna: https://www.facebook.com/WantedKidneyDonor
~ We are forever grateful to her 1st donor Patrice, who gave her 7 years of health and freedom

 

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