UAB kidney donor chain becomes longest in the nation

[Clark]

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2014/12/uab_kidney_donor_chain_becomes.html

UAB kidney donor chain becomes longest in the nation
By Amy Yurkanin

Ellen Herron pulled up a chair to the man in the wheelchair and introduced herself.

"I'm number three," she said.

"I'm number thirty-four," said Tommy Thompson, who was still recovering from kidney transplant surgery on Friday, Dec. 19.

Thompson is not just a number, he is the latest link in a chain that recently made history. The 34th patient treated through UAB's kidney transplant chain attended an event Monday celebrating the program's latest milestone. The chain has become the largest of its kind in the nation, eclipsing the previous record of 30 transplants.

Here's how it works: A person who wants to donate a kidney to a loved one is instead matched with a compatible recipient he doesn't know. The patient who needs a kidney is then matched with a compatible donor from the chain.

Dr. Jayme Locke, the surgical director of the Incompatible Kidney Transplant Program at UAB and the coordinator of the donor chain, said it usually takes five to ten years to get an organ from the organ transplant waiting list. Participants in the kidney donor chain typically get an organ within a year.

Kidneys from living donors are often healthier than those from cadavers, Locke said. The biggest challenge is finding a living donor who is a good match. The kidney donor chain solves that problem by getting donors to pledge to donate a kidney, and then matching donated kidneys to the most compatible patient.

In Herron's case, the intended donor was her daughter's friend. Then the two women found out they couldn't be matched.

"When she called me and said we weren't compatible, I said, 'It's okay, God's got a bigger plan,'" Herron said.

Much bigger, as it turned out. Herron was the third recipient and her donor was the fourth to donate. The chain may soon grow to include three dozen patients. Transplants are scheduled for January and February.

Bridge donors are key to the chain's success, Locke said. Those are the donors who are waiting to be matched, often months after their loved one has already received a kidney. It would be easy enough for one of those donors to back out of the chain, but so far, all have followed through on their commitment to donate, Locke said.

"What we have found here in the Southeast is a profound sense of community," Dr. Locke said.

That community has grown to include even those who aren't directly involved in the transplant chain. Tracy Patmalnee and her family heard about the Thompson family through their church and decided to help.

They offered the Thompson family their spare house, which had already been decorated for the holidays with Christmas trees and holiday gifts.

Thompson's wife had been worried about missing the surgery because she had to take care of the children back home in Florida. When she heard the family would have a place to stay, she was ecstatic.

"For the first time in this whole process, it was the first time I saw her shoulders relax," Thompson said.

Thompson said he is hoping to be discharged by the weekend. The donated kidney has given him a second chance to be a father, a husband and a preacher.

"I have the chance to do it as a healthy person," he said. "That's awesome."