My name is Michelle Johnson. I have been a dialysis tech for 3 years and I have seen how kidney disease affects people on dialysis and their families. I have been blessed with so much in my life: four great kids and recently a granddaughter. I called my local transplant hospital and started the process of becoming a live donor. My son’s friend, a 15-year-old boy, had a heart transplant and they had a Facebook page where I found a man named Larry – he needed a kidney. He was using the same transplant coordinator as me and lived in Milford, Penn. as well. We matched and our transplant date was June 20, 2013. We are neighbors and never knew each other and now we are family. I want more people to be aware of organ donation. Anyone’s match could be out there anywhere and it can save someone’s life and change your own in a miraculous way.
I donated a kidney to my 21 year old son in 2001 at University of Colorado Hospital in Denver. My recovery took a bit longer than his, but then he had a healthy kidney for the first time in a long time while my body had to get used to the change, clear the anesthetic out, and I was 54 at the time, so it was really a couple of months before I got back to my normal energy level. Since then, however, everything has been fine. People often ask what it’s like living with one kidney, and I honestly have to say I don’t notice any difference. I can do everything I did before donating. The idea that it was a very brave thing to do also seems odd to me. Parents will often say something like “I’d give my right arm to make my child well,” but really all I had to do was give him a kidney which I don’t even miss. It was thrilling to see him healthy and full of energy after the transplant.
Rio seriously considers stealing a sandwich from a kidney donor.
Hi! I’m Jen. I donated a kidney to my husband Bryan in July 2012 in Denver, Colorado.
It took about six weeks for the anesthesia to wear off after the surgery, but on the seventh week, I felt my energy level was back to normal and we did one of our favorite activities: camping with our silly Lab mix, Rio. We went hiking in the Rocky Mountains, threw sticks into a gorgeous alpine lake for Rio to fetch, and drank beer from the cooler at the campfire. We’ve been camping countless times in our 20 years together, but it was even sweeter to do it having come through the fire, so to speak.
We’re almost to the 1-year anniversary of the transplant/donation surgeries – woohoo! My lifestyle hasn’t changed at all. I went snowshoeing and skiing last winter, traveled to England and Scotland in spring to celebrate Bryan’s transplant (we watched a lot of the London Olympics while we were healing – suddenly, we had to go there!), danced like a crazy person at concerts and am getting ready to go play with our six loco nephews and nieces at a lake in Wisconsin. Life is good!
