Cousins are a match for life
People often turn to family members to lend a helping hand in a time of need. For Lynn Carnahan of Atlanta his need was a new kidney. The 57-year-old had been suffering from kidney problems since 2007.
On Aug. 6, 2010, Lynn became the recipient of a transplanted kidney, donated by his first cousin, 32-year-old Caleb Carnahan.
In March of this year Lynn was put on peritoneal dialysis. In this type of dialysis, fluid is introduced into the patient's peritoneum in the abdomen to absorb impurities and then flushed out every night while the patient sleeps.
Lynn suffers from Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a disease that attacks the kidney’s filtering system (glomeeruli) causing serious scarring.
Lynn’s mother, Betty Carnahan, died of kidney failure at age 69. She had been receiving hemodialysis prior to her death.
“I am the only one of five kids so far with a kidney problem,” says Lynn.
His doctors sent blood work to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. for analysis. “The report came back that I had more than likely inherited the disease from my mother,” ponders Lynn. “They hadn’t even been told that she had kidney disease.”
In March, Lynn’s wife Mary wrote on Facebook that he was being put on the kidney transplant list.
In Weston, a community near Kansas City, Caleb read the post that Lynn needed a kidney.
“As soon as I read it, I knew what I should do,” said Caleb. “I was up half the night contemplating the decision.”
“I have been away from the area for quite awhile, and Lynn and I weren’t particularly close growing up because of our age difference,” says Caleb. “But, I knew him well enough to know he is a really good guy and he didn’t deserve to be sick from this disease. I thought, ‘How can I set back and not help a family member?’”
Caleb is the son of Lana McQuitty of Macon and Gene Carnahan of Richmond. He is married to the former Nikki Thomas of Macon. The couple have a daughter Elyson, nine, and a son Dublin, age six.
“Nikki was a little nervous about the surgery at first, but closer to the date she began to feel that everything was going to be alright,” he said.
Nikki hadn’t spent much time with Lynn and Mary in the past. The two couples got a chance to meet and become better acquainted at a family reunion this summer.
Testing for compatibility between the two men took around five months.
“I’m healthy,” says Caleb. “I try to work out and stay in shape, but I had to undergo several tests to see if I was a good match for Lynn,” said Caleb.
Doctors said that the match between the two was amazing. “They told us that we couldn’t have matched any better if we had been brothers,” said Lynn.
“When I found out we were such a good match I knew in my heart it was bound to be,” says Caleb.
Since the surgery both men are recovering well.
“I can tell a difference since the transplant,” says Lynn
.
He currently takes around 25 pills a day, but will be weaned off some of them as time goes on. “I’ll have to take some of them the rest of my life,” says Lynn.
He currently takes around 25 pills a day, but will be weaned off some of them as time goes on. “I’ll have to take some of them the rest of my life,” says Lynn.
Lynn hopes to go back to work in mid October. He is the owner of Carnahan Construction.
Caleb is planning on returning to his job as a salesman of heavy duty truck parts on Monday.
“My incision has been pretty sore,” says Caleb.
Removal of his kidney has left a 14 to 15-inch incision. “They had to cut my bottom two ribs and spread them apart to get the kidney out,” say Caleb.
“The whole thing has been an eye-opening experience,” says Caleb. “I found out that ours was only the fourth transplant from a live donor done at University Hospital in Columbia this year.”
Lynn, Mary, Caleb and Nikki and a few others will be participating in the Kidney Walk on the University of Missouri, Kansas City campus on Saturday, Oct. 9.
They hope to help raise awareness about organ donation as well as funds for the National Kidney Foundation. Lynn says that the team has already collected close to $400 for their cause.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to their team may visit the website at www.donate.kidney.org. Click on “support walker” then select Missouri and the team name, “Cousins”. Or you may call Lynn and Mary at 660-239-4378 or Caleb and Nikki at 573-795-0176.
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