The miner
Living Well
October 31, 2012 |
1B
Silver family donates two kidneys ‘We felt a spiritual satisfaction’
Many need kidney transplants
By Don Gronning Of The Miner
NEWPORT – It’s unusual to find one person willing to give up a kidney for another. But Newport is home to two people – Tom and Robin Silver – who each donated kidneys. Despite a painful recovery period, neither regret the move and both wish more people would donate kidneys. “It came down to do I care about people or not,” Tom said. “The only way to make the world better is to do things in our own world that makes things better.” “It was the right thing to do,” Robin says. “It was an incredibly positive experience for the whole family.” Robin donated a kidney to Blaine Bauer, a former Newport High School math teacher who had been undergoing dialysis. Bauer’s brother was initially going to donate a kidney, but it wasn’t functioning right, so he wasn’t able to donate. When Robin found out, she called Bauer and told him she would donate her kidney. After nine months of extensive tests, including psychological testing, she was approved to be a donor. She had the operation June 2, 2007. The operation went well, but live kidney transplants are far harder on the donor than the recipient. “Recovery is wicked,” Robin said. “The first three weeks were really tough.” After six weeks, she was ready
SPOKANE – There are 96,000 people in Washington state in need of a kidney, says Lynn Seehorn, transplant director at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. “The need is more now than in the past,” she says. That’s partially because there are fewer deceased donors because there are fewer head injuries from auto wrecks because of improvements in auto safety. Even if people don’t want to donate organs while they are alive, Seehorn urges people to give permission for their organs to be used once they’re dead. “They can help,” she says. Tissue, eyes, skin, bone, hearts, lungs and livers are among the things that can be transplanted. to return to her job at Super 1 Foods in Sandpoint. “I definitely wasn’t 100 percent,” she said. Still, she has no regrets about giving a kidney to Bauer. “If anyone deserved a second chance, it was him,” she said. In addition to teaching school for many years, he was active in his church, and he and his wife took in foster children, she said. Bauer died in September of complications from throat cancer. She went to his funeral and family members expressed appreciation for her sacrifice. Tom watched his wife go through the process. “It was hard at first for me to watch her in pain,” he said. But the pain eased and he saw how much difference donating a kidney meant to both the recipient and donor. When Robin’s cousin needed a kidney, he signed up. The cousin ended up getting
another kidney. Tom still wanted to donate, however, so he signed up to be an ‘altruistic donor.’ An altruistic donor doesn’t know the recipient. It is rare, says Lynn Seehorn, transplant director at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, where the transplant took place. “We’ve been doing transplants since 1981 and we’ve only had nine altruistic donors,” she said. There have been more than 1,200 kidney transplants at Providence Sacred Heart – about See Donors,8B Miner photo|Don Gronning
Robin Silver donated a kidney to Newport teacher Blaine Bauer. The Bauers gave her the painting called Heavenly Hands by Greg Olsen. She is pictured with the painting and a certificate of appreciation. She was the 936th person to take part in a kidney transplant at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
Grand Opening of Spokane Orthopedics at Newport Hospital & Health Services Spokane Orthopedics is proud to announce that we will be seeing patients at Newport Hospital & Health Services. We will be available to treat all joint conditions, sports injuries, diabetic foot care, fractures and any other related orthopedic problems. Please call to schedule your appointment today (509) 489-2851.
Spokane Orthopedics has been serving Spokane and surrounding areas since 1935. Miner photo|Don Gronning
Tom Silver is one of the few people who have donated a kidney to a complete stranger. He said he would do it again. “To me it’s a miracle of modern day science,” he said.
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