Paired Kidney Donation – Pamela

The symptoms began as swelling of the legs and feet and from there extended into full on kidney failure. Pamela found herself in need of a kidney transplant. Although she had a willing donor in her husband, he was not a match. Through the Paired Donor Exchange Program at Methodist Dallas, her husband John was an integral part to her transplant.

Through careful coordination, transplant surgeons at Methodist removed John’s kidney early one morning. It was flown to Baltimore, where it was transplanted into a matching recipient. The kidney of that recipient’s willing donor was flown to Cleveland and transplanted into a matching recipient. The kidney of the Cleveland donor was flown to Dallas and placed in Pamela late that night.

The Paired Donation Exchange Program is a complex computerized program that finds matches for those with a living donor that they themselves cannot accept. It has been very successful, especially in recipients who have a high antibody level.

To learn more about Pamela’s story visit the Methodist Health System website.