Kidney donors have to be in excellent health, and the site Kidney Donor Athletes celebrates some exceptional donors, particularly as they return to their physically active lives after donating a kidney.
The recent entry Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Steve!, is inspiring on multiple levels. It is the story of the donor (and the people he met along the way) who started the chain at Virginia Mason hospital in Seattle, that I blogged about after hearing from the transplant nephologist Dr. Cyrus Cryst:
"My wife said to me “This is the weirdest midlife crisis I have ever heard of.” I told her, “You know, some guys buy Corvettes and have affairs.” That quieted her down. For a minute."
And here's a thought on where chains can go:
"I was elated to learn that the other donation would be to a Native Alaskan woman from Utqiagvik, Alaska, which is the northernmost town in the U.S. Just think of how terrifying it must be to live in an Arctic village with a serious health problem. Her odds of receiving a kidney were very small. There is no way she could have gotten herself to Seattle in time to receive a deceased person’s kidney. She does not live right around the corner. And, having spent much of my working career sailing all over the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, I have a deep emotional connection to Alaska. It just felt right."
******
In separate correspondence, I learned that one of the hardships for Debbie, from Utqiagvik in Alaska, was that for some time after her transplant "it meant I couldn't eat raw whale muktak (outer skin and blubber of the whale ) which i love..."
The recent entry Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Steve!, is inspiring on multiple levels. It is the story of the donor (and the people he met along the way) who started the chain at Virginia Mason hospital in Seattle, that I blogged about after hearing from the transplant nephologist Dr. Cyrus Cryst:
Monday, March 25, 2019
Here's how he describes his wife's reaction to his decision to become a non-directed donor:"My wife said to me “This is the weirdest midlife crisis I have ever heard of.” I told her, “You know, some guys buy Corvettes and have affairs.” That quieted her down. For a minute."
And here's a thought on where chains can go:
"I was elated to learn that the other donation would be to a Native Alaskan woman from Utqiagvik, Alaska, which is the northernmost town in the U.S. Just think of how terrifying it must be to live in an Arctic village with a serious health problem. Her odds of receiving a kidney were very small. There is no way she could have gotten herself to Seattle in time to receive a deceased person’s kidney. She does not live right around the corner. And, having spent much of my working career sailing all over the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, I have a deep emotional connection to Alaska. It just felt right."
******
In separate correspondence, I learned that one of the hardships for Debbie, from Utqiagvik in Alaska, was that for some time after her transplant "it meant I couldn't eat raw whale muktak (outer skin and blubber of the whale ) which i love..."
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