DonateLife Week: The Australian Paired Kidney Exchange Saves Lives

When Paula McKercher needed a kidney transplant Her husband, Martin, did not hesitate to offer his.

The need for a transplant occurred after Mrs. McKercher's renal function had stopped living with reflux nephropathy since childhood.

"The doctors were watching me, from time to time I was going to the specialists and I had tests to do."

Kidney function worsened and worsened, to the point where I needed a kidney transplant. "

Mrs. McKercher said that before the transplant, she did not have the impression of living, that she simply existed.

" I did not feel well most of time. The side effects of kidney failure were not good, "she said.

" I was very tired, nauseated most of the time, I struggled with the food, I did not want to eat. "

Mr. McKercher had his kidney tested to see if he was in touch."

"When the specialist mentioned that Paula needed a transplant, I was like, test me. No thought, it was just what was to happen, "he says.

Their 20-year-old son, Jake, said he was expecting nothing less from from his parents

"I just knew that this is the kind of person he is, and if the roles were reversed, that's exactly what mom would do too. And, I would do the same thing, "he said.

" That's how we are. We are a pretty close family. "

Mr. McKercher's kidney was a match, except that he had a different blood group.

" So that introduces a little more risk, more drugs, more procedures before The transplant It was then suggested that both participate in the Australian Paired Kidney Exchange

Davin Hibberd, executive director of DonateLife, said that because there were so many more donors to match exactly , the result for the receivers was often better. "Our data constantly reflect 11,000 people on dialysis across Australia."

"I think the value of twinning kidney exchange is amazing, and it's almost half of the organs which are given from year to year now.

"It's an incredible value for the community."

The exchange works by identifying matches for eligible kidney transplant patients who have a donor who is ready but unable to give due to incompatible blood or tissue type

A computer program is used to search the entire available database of registered recipient and donor pairs to search for combinations where the donor in an incompatible pair could be matched to a recipient in another pair.

I first had difficulty with the idea of ​​giving a kidney to someone else.

"I had a little difficulty initially, because my state of mind was one to one," he said

. it's not just giving Paula what she needs, but it's also giving someone what she needs. " So, this is not only helping one person, you end up helping another eight. "

Mr. McKercher said that they signed the documents for the Paired Kidney Exchange in December.

" There was a race for this in February "Despite the fact that she knew that she was going to receive a new kidney, Mrs. McKercher said it was a difficult time before having surgery. "

"No reservations in advance, because you did not know," she says.

"Especially when we knew that the match had happened, and that we were going to know it on a certain date. But after that date, you do not know what will be the date of the transplant.

"I found it really, really hard, I really asked for help, and it helped me a lot."

"It's amazing what goes through your head, especially when you do not feel very well, and you think it's never going to end, is that what my life is going to be?

"I think probably for all of us, even Jake really struggled. He has both parents under the knife, and it was very hard. "

Jake agreed that it was a difficult time.

" So many years ago, all we could do was say "Is this a difficult time." will & # 39; or "Can we do something?", he said.

"Dad and I had talked a lot about it, it was one of our great struggles, that we could do nothing to help."

M. and Ms. McKercher spent about four and a half weeks in Melbourne earlier this year for the proceedings.

"There were 18 people involved [in the exchange] all done the same day in different states across the country," said Mr. McKercher.

"When we went to Melbourne for our pre-admission, my surgeon said that there was no reason to do that.

" He said: "You are in good health. You do not need a medical procedure. I can not tell you why you do that – you know why you do that. I have no good reason to do it. "

million. McKercher knew that had to happen.

"It's probably the only time in the last 20 years that I've been able to do anything to help physically. He could actually do something. "

Mrs. McKercher said that the exchange was an incredible thing, and that she had the impression of having a new life.

" If you do not have Do not have this perfect match, and if you can get a better match from someone else and your partner can give to someone else [a kidney] it'll be a better match, that's incredible, "she said.

"I can not even put it into words. It's such a precious gift.

"I still consider that I have Martin's kidney, or that it's been given to me, abandoning his kidney to someone else. [19659013"Formetohaveabettermatchfromsomeoneelseisincrediblethattheyweregeneroustodothistohelptheirpartnerortheirfriendormate"

She said that she felt good after waking up the surgery.

" I know the first time I looked at myself in the mirror after the transplant, I was like wow, I actually have the color in my face. It was incredible, I felt like I looked totally different, "she said.

"It was instantaneous. I was lucky that the kidney came back right away, which does not always happen. The results were really good from the start.

"I feel so much better, even in such a short time.This generous person has given me an incredible kidney with which my body obviously agrees.

" I can not even Describe how much better I feel, it's amazing. "

Mr. McKercher said returning to Launceston was a turning point for the family.

" When she came home, she seemed to be going from there. 39, before by leaps and bounds. Just to see the difference in what Paula was going through now is such a huge difference. "

LifetimeGiving Week runs from July 29 to August 5. To join the Australian Donor Registry, visit donatelife.gov.au. [19659009] While you were with us, did you know Can you register now to receive last-minute news directly in your inbox? Sign up here.