HONOLULU (AP) — A nurse working in a Honolulu pediatrician’s office has helped the mother of one of her young patients get a kidney transplant from a donor in Colorado.
Cherish Matautia, 25, became the first trans-Pacific kidney transplant patient at Honolulu’s Queen Medical Center last month. The procedure was set up through the National Kidney Registry, the country’s largest organ exchange program, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported (http://bit.ly/2hQ3qXQ).
Nurse Elizabeth Lehman had initially offered up her own kidney to Matautia, the mother of two boys, ages 2 and 3. But doctors later discovered antibodies would likely cause Matautia to reject Lehman’s donated kidney.
“That was a bummer,” Lehman said. “It was a little bit frustrating, and then we decided to join the Kidney Registry exchange program,” which allows pairs of recipients and donors to swap kidneys with another matching pair. “If I was willing to donate one to somebody else, then in turn they would find one for her. Otherwise she would have to wait on the deceased (organ donor) list. They can keep you on the list for years.”
Lehman’s kidney was removed and flown to a patient awaiting a transplant in Colorado, while a Colorado donor’s kidney was flown to Queen’s Medical Center for Matautia.
Hospital officials say the surgeries thousands of miles apart were done simultaneously to ensure successful transplantation.
“This event marks the first time that live donor kidneys have been couriered over the Pacific Ocean. The National Kidney Registry has allowed a local recipient to receive a transplant which would have otherwise not been possible,” according to a statement from the hospital.
Lehman, 30, said it was important for her to help Matautia, who had been on dialysis for a year and a half after doctors discovered her kidneys were failing when she gave birth to her second child.
“I saw the struggle she was going through as a mom and I just wanted her to have the same chance as everybody else to spend quality time with her kids and her family,” Lehman said. “The dialysis is what was saving her, basically. I thought that was a poor quality of life for somebody her age. I feel that it’s the greatest gift that I’ve ever been able to give somebody.”
In Hawaii, there are about 400 patients waiting for kidney transplants. The wait is typically three to five years. Queen’s Medical Center said it performs about 10 to 15 living donor kidney transplants a year and another 40 to 50 deceased kidney replacements.
Before Matautia’s procedure, local kidney transplant candidates would have to travel to the mainland to other transplant centers with trade programs.
Matautia said she is still in shock about the recent turn of events.
“I can’t even describe it because it feels like I was part of a movie. These things only happen in movies,” Matautia said. “I’m kind of still in disbelief that all of this happened, but I’m more blessed and thankful that (Lehman) wanted to do this for me.”