Brothers' bond strengthens after kidney donation, Chattanooga, Tennessee
After almost 12 years of dialysis -- three times a week, four hours a day -- he got the kidney he needed. The source couldn't be closer to him: His older brother Eric.
"I [gave] thanks for a new beginning," said the 45-year-old, who was diagnosed with high blood pressure in 1997 and two years later went on dialysis. "With a transplant you get a second chance at life."
And when Eric Choice, 47, had to pause when asked what he was thankful for, his brother answered for him.
"He is thankful for being able to give [the kidney] to me," Jeffery Choice said, chuckling.
On Nov. 11, after more than a year of preparation, the last words Jeffery Choice said to his brother before surgery were: "Thank you, man." He cried tears of joy, he said, because he knew the next time he woke up, his life would be different.
Two of 16 children ranging in ages from 41 to 62, the two brothers have always been close. Only two years apart, they did everything together -- went to school together, played football together, went to the Bethlehem Center on 38th Street together.
Jeffery Choice even joined the Navy because his brother Eric was in it. They were roommates for four years while serving and were assigned to the same ship.
"They were raised to share, including a kidney and everything else," said their 84-year-old mother, Erma Choice.
This Thanksgiving the family gathered at her home.
"We've been praying from day one that he will get better," she said. "We just have to be thankful."
When Jeffery Choice decided four years ago he wanted to get a kidney transplant, two of his brothers, including Eric, were tested to see if they were a match.
Since Eric Choice had retired after 21 years in the Navy, it was decided he would be the one to do it, but Jeffery's body wasn't ready for the transplant back then.
"Once he said he was ready, [I was] ready," said Eric Choice. "It was a no-brainer."
Any sibling would have done it, he said, and he would do it again if he had to.
Jeffery Choice was diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease, the organs no longer working well enough to clean the blood and filter toxins that naturally build up, said Dr. John McCarley, a nephrologist with Nephrology Associates who didn't treat Choice.
Eventually, usually when the kidneys are at about 15 percent of normal function, the toxins reach a level that require either dialysis treatment or a kidney transplant, McCarley said. And the typical wait for a kidney transplant is about five years, he said.
While dialysis can keep a person alive, "you can't do too much of nothing" while undergoing the treatment, Jeffery Choice said.
"It basically drains you. It becomes a burden, you can't go on vacation, you can't go out of town," he said.
The first thing he wants to do as soon as he gets the OK from his doctor is take a vacation to New York City with his wife, he said.
KIDNEY DISEASE
The kidneys are two of the most important organs in the body. They perform many vital functions, including:
* Filtering the blood, keeping some compounds and removing others,
* Removing waste and excess fluid, and
* Regulating blood pressure, blood cells and the amount of certain nutrients in the body.
About 26 million Americans, or one in eight adults in the United States, have chronic kidney disease and another 20 million more are at increased risk.
High risk groups include those with diabetes, hypertension and family history of kidney disease.
African Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and Seniors are at increased risk.
BY THE NUMBERS
* 8,142 in Tennessee are on dialysis to stay alive.
* 2,377 are in East Tennessee; 2,599 are in Middle Tennessee; 3,166 are in West Tennessee
There are 2,258 Tennesseeans waiting for life-saving organ transplants, including:
* 1871 kidney
* 205 liver
* 13 pancreas
* 18 kidney/pancreas
* 120 heart
* 37 lung
Source: Tennessee Kidney Foundation website, www.tennesseekidneyfoundation.org
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