Finding donor organs is harder than it used to be.. due to rising obesity rates

[Clark]

http://siouxcityjournal.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/finding-donor-organs-is-harder-than-it-used-to-be/article_a3f17b37-56e4-5343-baf8-165d1e23a766.html

Finding donor organs is harder than it used to be
DOLLY A. BUTZ

Doug Lehman lost a kidney in a hunting accident when he was 15.

Then years later, Type 2 diabetes set in and destroyed his other kidney.

Multiple forms of dialysis weren't working for Lehman, 61. Water retention caused him to balloon to 335 pounds. His doctor told him he had just 10 days to live.

On a Friday night in February 2012, two young people were killed in a car crash in Omaha. Lehman received a kidney transplant from one of the victims the next day at the University of Nebraska Medical Center after being on the waiting list for three and a half months.

"I had a vision in the hospital to do something to help people," Lehman recalled. "There are 200 in Sioux City on dialysis. I've seen people die in the chair."

Lehman founded Doug's Donors, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and improving life through education and awareness of organ donation.

Doug's Donors offers support to patients who need a transplant, helps them get on transplant lists, takes them to medical appointments in Sioux Falls and Omaha, and provides information to those interested in becoming a living donor.

More than 123,000 people in the United States are waiting for organ transplants, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. In Iowa, 586 people need organs.

"The numbers continue to far exceed the number of donors than there are a year," said Mary Ann O'Dell, a donation services specialist for the Iowa Donor Network. "Last year there was approximately 28,000 transplants nationally. That was from 10,000 organ donors."

Kidneys are in the greatest demand with 492 people in the state needing a transplant. Twenty six people need a liver; and six need a kidney and a pancreas like Dan Mackey.

Mackey, 44, of Sioux City, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 14. As his blood sugars fluctuated throughout high school, he experienced mood swings and suffered constant fatigue.

In 1995, he developed neuropathy, a complication of diabetes that damages the nerves, in his legs and feet. Since this condition makes it difficult for him to stand for long periods of time, he had to give up his retail sales job.

Diabetes also damaged Mackey's kidneys. He started dialysis, a process of removing waste and excess water from his blood, in February at Mercy Medical Center's Renal Dialysis Unit. Now, he undergoes treatment four hours a day, three days a week at Siouxland Dialysis.

"A lot of people get really tired and some get sick," he said of the side effects of dialysis. "There's been a few mornings I've been sick to the point where I couldn't go in to dialysis."

ORGAN SHORTAGE

Mackey registered for a kidney and pancreas at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in August with assistance from Doug's Donors.

Lehman wagers Mackey will have the organs by spring.

An estimated 21 people die each day while waiting for a transplant, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

O'Dell said the average wait time for a kidney transplant is three to five years.

"The reality is that organ donation is a rare occurrence," she said. "Only about one to three percent of the people that die are eligible to be an organ donor."

Finding suitable donors is becoming more difficult, according to O'Dell, due to rising obesity and diabetes rates. Declining motor vehicle crash rates, she said, also limit the donor pool.

"When I was a younger person and younger nurse, a lot of our head injuries would become brain-dead and that was where our organ donation population came from," she said.

Mercy Medical Center averages 7-11 organ donors a year, but doesn't offer transplantation.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is capable of performing a variety of organ transplants, while four medical centers in Iowa do kidney transplants.

Siouxlanders in need of an organ, O'Dell said, also travel to medical centers in Sioux Falls, Omaha and Rochester, Minn.

 "People can go to any transplant center in the area that they would like to and some people are registered at more than one with the hopes of getting a transplant sooner," she said.

NEW LEASE ON LIFE

On average, Lehman said two area residents receive a kidney transplant each year. This year, he said seven people got new kidneys.

"One gentleman was on dialysis five years. He hadn't talked to his transplant center in two years," he said. "We made a call and seven days later he got a kidney. That was one of the miracle stories there."

There's no cost associated with registering to be an organ, tissue and eye donor. O'Dell said it's as simple as marking "yes" on your driver's license or spending five minutes on the Iowa Donor Network's website.

"One person can save eight lives just through organ donation; and they can enhance the lives of up to 300 more people through tissue and cornea donation," she said. "The gifts truly are endless."

The first year with his new kidney wasn't easy for Lehman, who was on dozens of medications and corticosteroid injections to prevent his body from rejecting the organ.

He developed CMV gastroenteritis/colitis an inflammation of the stomach or intestine and was hospitalized for more than three months. Today, Lehman said he feels like he's in his 20s again.

"The energy level is just incredible," said Lehman, who's back playing handball. "I was walking with my grandson the other day. He's 22 and in the Army; and he couldn't keep up with me."