The Gift Of Life
Woman’s dying wish granted with kidney donation to friend

Karen Lungu | The Daily Record

Shellen Ryan Rhoden lost her courageous battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” on Dec. 16, 2010, at Methodist Hospital in Houston; though, not before she won another hard-fought crusade: to donate her kidneys to longtime family friend and Cañon City resident, Becky Kelly.

Born June 25, 1955, in Texas City, Texas, Shellen and husband, Scott Rhoden, had been married 26 years, and though Shellen only could blink her thoughts for the past few years, Scott became her voice, strong and certain, making sure his wife’s wished were carried out.

For 30 years, Shellen, 55, worked as a physical therapist in the Houston area. In the autumn of 2005, she noticed nagging right-shoulder soreness and weakness. Initially diagnosed as a strain, the pain began radiating through her neck, and Shellen was referred to a neurologist.

“The ALS was diagnosed in February of 2006,” Scott said. “There’s no treatment. There’s a drug that might slow the progression, but it really doesn’t do much.”

In August 2006, Shellen’s breathing had deteriorated to such an extent, her doctor told her to take a weekend and decide whether she wanted to go on a ventilator or let the disease take its course. During the weekend, Shellen was put in ICU after suffering respiratory failure.

“The decision was taken out of our hands,” Scott said. “She was put on a ventilator that following Monday. She really liked that — she could breathe again. We did pretty well for two to three years on the ventilator.”

In August 2010, Shellen developed pneumonia.

“She couldn’t speak at that time,” Scott said. “Her communication was through an alpha-board. It’s just a little plastic board with an alphabet on it, and early on, she could blink her eyes on a letter, and I’d write it down. We’d repeat it over and over until we spelled words, even up until the very end. She couldn’t blink anymore, but she could move her eyes to the left or to the right.”

ALS is a muscle wasting disease, and even her eye muscles were weakening at the very end, Scott said, but by that time, they seemed to be able to communicate with just a look.

As Shellen’s health deteriorated with the pneumonia and progression of the ALS, as well as the side effects of the antibiotics, she chose to discontinue her medications, knowing the pneumonia would worsen. For a very short period, the family chose to have hospice come in and work with Shellen.

It also was during this period Shellen considered donating her kidneys to her friend, Becky Kelly. Initially, her doctors told her it was not possible. She was insistent and Scott’s voice became Shellen’s strength. They discontinued hospice care so that Shellen could re-enter the hospital Dec. 13, 2010.

“That’s when LifeGift came in,” Scott said.

LifeGift

LifeGift is a nonprofit organ procurement organization in Texas and falls under the national organization, Donate Life America.

“We spoke to LifeGift about Shellen’s wishes,” Scott said. “They left for awhile and then came back in and said the doctors were not interested in my wife’s organs.”

Doctors, Scott said, were hesitant because of Shellen’s health and medical condition, as well as her age. Scott said he was becoming frustrated and a little angry until he looked over at his wife in bed, and she gave him a look — the look he well understood after 26 years of marriage.

Scott told several LifeGift representatives that he wanted them to go to the doctors and insist that his wife be considered for organ donation. Scott continued to fill out the paperwork for LifeGift, with the hope that his wife’s wishes eventually would be honored.

In the meantime, LifeGift took labs to determine if she was a match for Kelly, who was considered a one in a million match.

“One of the LifeGift people came to me late that night and said, ‘you know this thing is starting to pick up steam; there might be something there,’” Scott said. “Then, on Tuesday, things really started rolling. More blood and more tests, and then the transplant people started to get engaged.”

One of the final tests to determine if Shellen could donate a kidney to Becky was a virtual match. The test was sent to the University of Colorado Denver, where Kelly was registered.

“That virtual match came back good,” Scott said. “LifeGift told me, ‘she’s going to be a kidney donor.’”

Shellen’s Gift

With Becky flying in from Colorado, Scott said they determined to withdraw life support on Shellen on Dec. 16.

“I told my wife, ‘Honey, I’ll be there every second — start to finish,’” Scott said.

Life Gift prepared Scott and Shellen for the OR around 2 p.m., after Shellen said her goodbyes to her son, daughter, mother and other family members and friends.

“When we were leaving her hospital room, all the nurses and aids and unit director had lined up on the side of the hall to say goodbye to my wife because they loved her so much,” Scott said. “It was a tribute to her. It was almost a procession leading us to the OR.”

Scott and Shellen entered a dimly lit OR, with Shellen’s favorite Barbara Streisand music softly playing. Shellen’s LifeGift nurses explained step-by-step what they were doing as they prepared to remove the ventilator and prepare her for transplant.

“They disconnected the vent,” Scott said. “I was holding her hand, stroking her hair, and one of the last things I told her was that Becky was going to get her kidneys. That was one of the last things she heard on this earth. She’d long since been able to smile, but she was smiling on the inside. We had such a connection, I could tell just by looking in her eyes. Then, she just drifted off.”