St Vincent Transplant Staff Alerts Susan and Mike that they are ready in Surgery
Mike Takes His Last Dialysis Tretment
Don't worry Mom, I'm ready and your "Jack'O Lantern" will watch over me
Mike Brewer's Kidney Transplant
Successful
Susan Brewer becomes the third kidney donor from the Brewer Family
For the healthy person, the opportunity to donate one of their kidneys, thereby
enabling another person to live better and longer, is one of the greatest experiences a
person can undertake. This past week, Susan Brewer became the third live donor in the
Brewer family. She followed her father Bud Brewer who donated a kidney to his son Mike
Brewer in 1991 and her sister Kathryn who donated a kidney to Mike four years later in
1995. The failure of Mike' kidneys was caused by an auto immune disease that attacked and
rejected Kathryn's and Bud's kidney as it had done to his own earlier. For seven years,
Kathryn's kidney had kept Mike healthy and free of toxins. In the summer of 2002, Mike
began to feel like something was wrong. He made an appointment with his Nephrologist,
Doctor Robert Graby, in early August and the doctor told him that his second transplant
was failing. Based on further evaluation and test evidence, he estimated that in 1 1/2 to
2 years Mike would either need to have dialysis or a kidney transplant.
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St Vincent Transplant Staff Alerts Susan and Mike that they are ready in Surgery |
Mike Takes His Last Dialysis Tretment |
Don't worry Mom, I'm ready and your "Jack'O Lantern" will watch over me |
Upon learning of this, the three remaining siblings, Susan, Patty, and Gary,
all volunteered their kidneys. After additional testing and discussion, it was decided
that Susan would be the next donor. Even though the timing of the transplant came much
sooner than initially expected, Susan was willing to move forward no matter what. She and
Mike both went through additional testing for compatibility and a surgery date was set for
November 27, 2002, the day before Thanksgiving. Returning to her room following a
three-hour operation, Susan waited for news advising whether or not her kidney was
transplanted successfully into Mike's body and if it was producing urine. She was a little
groggy when word came that the transplant was successful and her kidney was pouring out
the toxins from Mike's body that had been accumulating since the early summer. Even though
she wasn't quite fully awake, she couldn't help but clap her hands to celebrate.
After a kidney transplant, the most frequently used phrase on the seventh floor of St.
Vincent Hospital in Los Angeles is "How are you peeing?" This refers to a rather
personal condition the patient experiences that is the result of having a catheter and
artificial bladder attached. When the answer is "almost overflowing"