A bond deeper than blood
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Darrell Eddington's familial connection to his sister Lorraine Gheorghiu has been strengthened in a generously unselfish manner.
"We were connected by blood," said Eddington. "A little more connected, I guess that's the expression."
"Yeah, we've got an awesome connection now," Gheorghiu laughed in response.
The Town of Tillsonburg's Director of Finance and Gheorghiu were particularly active participants in this year's Kidney Foundation of Canada walk in town. She did have to pause four times during the modest two-kilometre course from TDMH along the Veterans Memorial Parkway and back, but their shared completion was symbolic of a far greater journey already travelled.
As kids, their relationship was not always 100% copacetic, admits Gheorghiu, who at 50, is seven years her brother's junior.
"I was very much a spoiled child," she said, recalling disrupting her 'concentrated, hard-working and studious' elder brother. "I'd come ringing through the house loud as you know what and drive him nuts."
Their relationship has improved over the past 25 years says Gheorghiu, "and we've never looked back."
First correctly diagnosed with polycystic kidneys as a teenager, Gheorghiu considers herself 'blessed' with the hereditary mutant gene which caused the disease, in the sense neither of her brothers or children have it.
"It was a blessing it only hit me."
Gheorghiu has suffered from the effects of multiple cysts on her kidneys (which can burst at any time) for three decades, a time period in which Eddington has been supportive both from afar and onsite despite the fact she lived in Alberta and British Columbia.
"I guess he's been my angel for the past 25 years," Gheorghiu said.
Her condition worsened a half-dozen years ago, with an accompanying degradation of kidney function that resulted in 'kidney classes', a three-phase exploration of her disease along with dialysis and transplant options.
Rapid deterioration over the past year was accompanied by Gheorghiu's kidneys swelling to 20 pounds in size each, compared to a half-pound for an average healthy kidney. She experienced additional pain and time in the hospital during the summer of 2012, and by December of that year, kidney function was down to around 7% of normal.
"Her condition became very serious," said Eddington.
He was very open to the idea of being a living kidney donor, "absolutely, if I qualified," and testing began last fall.
"It was quite exhaustive and quite elaborate," says Eddington, who had no concerns, and says no 'red flags' were revealed by the process. "In fact if there were, they would have refused me as a donor."
Gheorghiu had more concerns about the transplant process, and says she tried to talk her big brother out of his decision up to and including the day of their linked operations.
"He was the one who pushed through," she said. "I was the one who wanted to back out lots of times. It's a scary thing, someone giving up a body part for you."
Her brother's response was he could live just fine with one kidney, she could not without one of his.
Because the living donor option was on the table, dialysis was put on hold, pending the outcome of testing. Those receiving a transplant from a deceased donor do so off a waiting list while on active dialysis.
"Finally, we got the green light at the beginning of June and they did the surgery July 3," said Gheorghiu.
Dr. Luke was the primary surgeon on a team including Dr. Quan at London's University Hospital.
"They wheeled us in and there must have been 10 or 12 people standing around," said Eddington.
Surgery began at 9 a.m., with Darrell's taking to roughly 3 p.m. and Lorraine finishing up a couple of hours later. Because of the size of her kidneys, along with their removal, the surgical team had to repair a hernia along with the transplant.
"She basically had three surgeries in one," said Eddington.
His recovery time was expected to be roughly six weeks and it was all of that, with Eddington returning to work part-time for two weeks, and then full-time at the beginning of September.
"In the aftermath, I just conked right out," he said. "My sister felt better in a week," Eddington continued, aware of the irony he - as the donor - was experiencing a longer recovery than Gheorghiu, the recipient. "I was thinking at the time it wasn't quite fair," he laughed.
"He didn't complain, but he had one heck of a road," said Gheorghiu, who experienced a virtually instantaneous improvement, halving her predicted 10 to 14-day initial recovery period. "I felt great after a week."
Recovery period included, Eddington has not had a moment of regret for his decision, calling the process 'worth every ounce of discomfort.
"Never ever, no, never," he said, noting full commitment, once testing revealed compatibility. "It was just something I had to do."
Eddington says his remaining kidney will grow to take over full function in roughly a year. Moving forward, he has to watch his diet and exercise, and avoid getting diabetes.
"It's just ongoing health monitoring."
Gheorghiu's turnaround from lethargy and pain was dramatic and just as importantly, has been ongoing in the ensuing three months, supported by the testing and surgical team, kidney foundation along with family and friends.
"Now, I have so much energy, it's like my body is trying to keep up."
The family has gained an appreciation for the value of both living and deceased organ donation through the process.
"Highly recommend it," Eddington confirmed. "It took me a while to recover but it was a rewarding procedure to see my sister's health return to normal."
Upon recovery, he has signed up as a full organ donor.
"I think it's important - we can make a difference."
Not surprisingly, Gheorghiu is at least equally enthusiastic about the value of organ donation.
"There are just so many people in need."
And not surprisingly, her appreciation of her brother's gift and what it has meant has also continued to 'grow and grow' along with the improvement of her health.
"I can't ever express how much gratitude I have for him and everyone involved," she concluded. "I feel I have been given a second chance in life."
The Gift of Life
Statistics from the Trillium Gift of Life Network indicate that while 85% of Ontarians are in favour of organ donation, only 25% have registered to do so, a process which can take as little as two minutes.
For more information on organ donation in the province, visit the websites: www.giftoflife.on.ca or www.beadonor.ca.