Rebecca Warlow knew how tough it was to live with kidney disease. Her father had kidney disease in the late ‘70s, and her brother was diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease in his 30s and needed dialysis. So, when she became very ill eight years ago, was diagnosed with kidney failure, and found out she needed to start dialysis, she knew the toll that the disease and treatment would take on her health. Dialysis three times a week left her exhausted and made it difficult to work or do the things she enjoyed.
When her doctors recommended she undergo a kidney transplant, she shared the news with her best friend of more than a decade, Jean Bunker. “The minute I heard Rebecca needed a kidney, I said ‘I got you,’” says Jean. “I told Rebecca if I can’t donate directly to you, I’ll become part of a paired kidney exchange [where a kidney that isn’t appropriate for the initial donor is swapped for one that is, allowing multiple people to get a transplant] so you can get the kidney you need from another donor.”
“Even if you don’t share the same blood type with your recipient, you can still be a living donor through kidney swap and exchange programs. Your kidney will go to someone compatible, and your recipient will receive a compatible kidney from another donor,” explains Jennifer Verbesey, MD, director of the Living Donor Kidney Transplant program through MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute.
Jean suggested that they reach out to the Transplant Institute for an evaluation. The Transplant Institute is a regional leader in living donor kidney transplantation. Over the last four years, transplant surgeons at MedStar Georgetown have performed 401 total living donor kidney transplants, more than any other area hospital. The Transplant Institute is also one of the largest paired kidney exchange (PKE) programs in the National Kidney Registry (NKR).
Fortunately, after Rebecca and Jean underwent their evaluations, they learned that Jean could donate directly to her friend. Their surgeries went smoothly, and Jean was out of the hospital the next day.
“I’ve given birth to twins. My kidney donation surgery recovery was nothing compared to that! I mostly just felt fatigued,” Jean says. “The team at MedStar Georgetown did a wonderful job. We chose them because they’re the best and we knew they’d take good care of us. And they did!”
“There are more than 92,000 people in the U.S. on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, and each day, 13 people die waiting,” says Dr. Verbesey. “Donors like Jean save and change thousands of lives for the better each year in the U.S. And by sharing their donation stories, they inspire others to become kidney donors and save a life.”
With her new kidney, Rebecca is now able to live her life to the fullest. “I’m doing great,” she says. “I’m working full time and in the process of becoming an Episcopal deacon. Jean truly changed and saved my life by donating her kidney.”
Jean adds, “I feel truly blessed to have been able to donate. There’s a saying, ‘In giving we receive.’ By becoming a kidney donor, you will receive the greatest gift of your life.”
Give the gift of life. Be a living kidney donor.
Learn more about living donation at MedStarHealth.org/LivingDonorKidney, or call 202-444-3700.