Chicago hope
“I am learning that in life many people do not have the opportunity to reach all of their goals and dreams because of health issues. I have been given the gift of having healthy organs and I would like to help someone attain their full potential and maybe some of their dreams,” he wrote.
“I felt very nervous. You don’t know quite what to expect and you don’t know where it’s going to go,” said Mr. Fenwick in an interview.
The two men quickly began communicating by phone as Mr. Lundborg’s condition worsened. His kidneys, which if healthy would have weighed five pounds each, were now 25 pounds a piece and covered with cysts.
“We talked a lot and asked each other the hard questions,” Mr. Fenwick said earlier this year.
Mr. Fenwick began undergoing tests in Canada to ensure their blood types matched and also psychological analysis on two occasions over two-and-ahalf months.
“ Their biggest concern is that you’re not doing this under duress from the recipient,” Mr. Fenwick said.
One week before the surgery, Mr. Fenwick, who runs his own financial services business from home, flew to Chicago for more tests and to meet both the transplant team and Mr. Lundborg for the first time.
They shook hands. Mr. Fenwick said earlier this year of the greeting: “ We were both so exhausted and emotionally drained.”
But he said things began to move fast.
“ You could see a lot of the feelings right there on the surface ... It was a little overwhelming, but Bill and I talked quite a bit between each other, and we just focused on what we knew we wanted to do,” Mr. Fenwick said.
Dr. Joseph Leventhal, the transplant surgeon at Northwestern, “answered every question. He even raised questions that I wouldn’t have thought of, just because he wanted us to be reassured,” said Mr. Fenwick. “My peace about the whole situation increased exponentially.”
He says the greatest affirmation about living organ donation came when he walked into Mr. Lundborg’s room the next day and realized their success.
“It is amazing. It’s so hard to put into words. For me, there’s a spiritual aspect to this,” he said. “I think we both realize that this is something unique for us to share for the rest of our lives.”
Mr. Fenwick, who travelled to Chicago alone, was out of the hospital a day after the surgery and rested for a few days at the Illinois home of Mr. Lundborg’s in-laws.
It will take three to six months for Mr. Fenwick’s remaining kidney to grow large enough to compensate for the missing one, but since the surgery he’s only had to take painkillers and has resumed working.
“ Initially, I was thinking, how could I give a kidney? Now I think, how could I not have?” said Mr. Fenwick.
In response to criticism that Web sites such as matchingdonors.com, which has enabled 13 transplant surgeries since launching in February, 2004, play on people’s heartstrings or circumvent traditional wait lists, Mr Fenwick is ardent.
“Obviously the ethical questions do come up, and I understand that. That’s great, let’s get the conversation going. But let’s not make it into a Royal Commission. It needs to move forward,” he said.
There has been no monetary exchange for the organ between Mr. Fenwick and Mr. Lundborg.
Travel expenses to and from Chicago were arranged for Mr. Fenwick by matchingdonors. and procured with Air Miles points donated by a retired American pilot.
Dr. Jerry Lowney, the co-founder of matchingdonors.com and an internal medicine physician, added, “We’re bringing new people into the system, we’re not going around it or subverting it.”
The Web site, which collects fees for listings from people who can afford to pay, creates an avenue for healthy people who want to donate to those in need of organs, Dr. Lowney said. “It’s just remarkable how many potential donors there are out there. We haven’t paid enough attention to the amazing, altruistic people who are willing to help.”
Mr. Fenwick hopes that by hearing his story, more people will come forward to be living organ donors.
“We need to teach people that you can do this and live a completely normal, healthy life with no restrictions,” said Mr. Fenwick. “I’m just a regular guy. I don’t have a cape on. And I know there’s a lot of other people that can do this.”