Ohio Woman to Get Fourth Kidney from Altruistic Stranger

Because of the grapevine that Facebook built — and because of the altruism of a stranger — a 54-year-old Ohio woman is about to receive a new kidney, her fourth. Pam Moon, who has been battling kidney disease for nearly four decades, learned earlier this month that “the wonderful Sue Black” has offered one of her kidneys.

Moon, who lives in Anderson Township, about 250 miles southwest of Cleveland, received her first new kidney when she was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease as a high school senior. She rejected it and two others since.

When Moon learned she was in need a fourth kidney, her daughter, Hannah, put the word out on the Facebook grapevine.

This week, news that Black had stepped up was jubilantly announced on the Donate Life for Pam Facebook page. “We received wonderful news yesterday that the wonderful Sue Black was approved by Christ Hospital to be a donor in the exchange program,” the post read.

Included in the post is a video that shows how the kidney donor chain works.

Basically, it starts with a good-hearted donor like Black, who agrees to donate a kidney so it can be used by one of the more than 100,000 people the National Kidney Association says are waiting for a kidney on any given day in the United States.

The stranger’s kidney comes into play when a recipient had a donor, but the kidney didn’t match. The would-be donor enters the kidney exchange program, which improves the odds that the person needing a transplant will get a new kidney.

That’s how Moon and Black were connected.

“None were great matches,” Moon told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “But a couple of them decided to go into the exchange program.”

The registry works quicker than organ transplant donor lists, according to Beth Groene, an assistant clinical manager for transplants at Christ Hospital, a participant in the National Kidney Registry.

“Obviously if you have a living donor, particularly one who is willing to donate directly to you or through the NKR, your time to transplant is much quicker than waiting for a deceased donor to come available while waiting on the (United Network for Organ Sharing) list,” Groene told The Enquirer.

It’s not clear when Moon will get the transplant. She was hospitalized in December with pneumonia and has a couple of insurance hurdles to cross, but all that should be worked out by month’s end.

How to Become a Donor

The Christ Hospital Health Network has information for anyone who wants to become a kidney donor, as the Donate Life for Pam Facebook page. You must:

• Have a compatible blood type with the recipient (an exact match isn’t necessary for living kidney donation);
• Be in good overall physical and mental health;
• Be free of high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, kidney disease and heart disease;
• Have excellent kidney function;
• Be between the ages of 18 and 70.

It’s easy to sign up for the paired donor program on the National Kidney Registry. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also has information on becoming a donor.

Registering to be a donor is also simple if you have an iPhone. Just tap the health icon on the home screen (it’s the white box with a red heart) and go through the screens until you find the organ donor page.

The Facebook page set up to find Moon a kidney also offers helpful information, including a Q&A with Moon’s sister-in-law Kathy, who donated a kidney in 2001. Below, read her motivation:

“To me, to be able to give someone the gift of life, especially someone I loved, it was the ultimate thing to do. I had almost died at the age of 39, when I had anaphylactic shock. Luckily, a friend I called realized I was in dire distress, and called an ambulance, so my life was saved. I always had this feeling that I had lived for a special purpose, besides raising my family. It hit me like a light bulb, that this was it! Also, I wanted Pam to be able to raise Hannah, and be able to do it, without having to be on dialysis, and tied to the machine 3 times a week. I wanted her to be able to be involved in her school, after school activities, etc. They had waited so long to have a child, and weren’t even sure it would happen. I wanted her to have a normal life raising her. I wanted them to be able to take a vacation, and go anywhere they wanted without being tied down. I know she might get one from someone who had died, but that be a very long wait, and dialysis was taking a toll on her.”

In a series of posts following this one, the donor describes her experience. Read more about that on Facebook.

Photo by daniel zimmel via Flickr Commons