Darcie’s Story
In 2017 I remember getting the call about Dylan’s kidney function and the daunting conversation about him needing a kidney transplant. It was scary and unknown. Throughout my life I had always been inspired by other stories of living donors and thought it would be something I could do if the opportunity arose. Well that came in August of 2018 when Dylan officially landed on the transplant waiting list.
The first step in becoming a living donor is a phone interview with a few health questions. Think of it like going to a new doctor and having to fill out a survey about your and your family’s medical history. I passed that and they asked me to come to Connecticut to start the next steps of the testing process at Yale. This included a few pricks to draw blood and a urine sample to be sent off to the lab for further analysis. If you move past that stage the third testing requirement is more blood and a 24 hour urine collection. Yep… you read that right! I had to collect everything in 24 hours. They do this to make sure your kidneys are top notch and taking one of them won’t affect you. Living Donor surgery is the only surgery done that has zero benefits to the patient. However, one could argue extending or saving the life of another is a pretty awesome benefit!
The final steps of qualifying to be a living donor include a day long seminar (at least at Yale it did). This included many more blood draws, another urine sample, an EKG test, a full body CT scan, presentations and one on one meetings with the surgeons, dietitians, and social workers. The goal of this day is to prepare you for the procedure, make sure you are 100% healthy and donating a kidney won’t be detrimental.
As a donor you are in charge of the decision to donate. So after this day, if you choose to go forward, the case is submitted to the Yale Transplant team for a final authorization. In our case the authorization came late 2018 and surgery was scheduled for Feb 4th 2019. That day happened to be the day after the Super Bowl that year. So while my family was enjoying chicken wings and nachos I was snacking on green jello and drinking magnesium citrate to prepare. 😅
I don’t think the gravity of the situation hit me until the morning of surgery. So many people around me showed me so much love and admiration for what I was doing. To me, I was just doing what was needed to give my brother a better life and didn’t see it as a big deal. I knew I would be fine based on the extensive testing and conversations surrounding my health with the transplant team. But what helped me beyond that was meeting a living donor named Marie. She had donated 25 years prior to her brother and was gracious enough to answer all my questions and checked in often. Even stopping by the hospital for a post surgery visit! Marie has continued to share Dylan’s story and inspired me to pay it forward. I have since coached 6 others through their donation decisions and that has resulted in 3 successful donations! The other 3 did not pass the extensive testing. Further proof the transplant teams won’t put the donor in jeopardy just to get a kidney.
I had never had surgery before this, so I can’t compare the recovery to anything else, but for me it seemed text book. Within 3 weeks I was wandering the streets of San Francisco on a girls weekend, within 10 weeks I was back at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival with all my best friends dancing the night away, and back to my PRs at the gym about 9 months post surgery. Today the scars are barely visible and I sometimes get caught off guard when people ask me what life is like with one kidney. Oh yeah.. I only have one of those now! But really I cannot think of one thing that I can’t do now that I could have done before. Ok maybe one thing, I wish I had 3 kidneys so I could give another one to my brother. 😉
Thank you for reading my story and visiting our website. If you have any other questions about being a living donor I am happy to answer them!
If you feel inspired to donate, please call the Yale transplant referral line at 1-866-925-3897 and mention you are calling for Dylan McBeth.
