The numbers of living donors are creeping up slightly because surgeons have been trending toward removing the donor kidney laparoscopically, or without major incisions. Watch video
Fraternal twins Pamela Rabbu, left, and Peter LaRocque, 53, of Lee, Mass., talk about their surgery while recovering from surgery at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield Friday. Pamela gave her brother one of her kidneys to save his life.
SPRINGFIELD - When Peter LaRocque discovered he had polycistic kidney disease as a 20-year-old man, the uncertainty it cast on his future was manageable.
"Does anybody really know how their lives will turn out? It didn't really bother me at the time," LaRoque, 53, said from a hospital bed at Baystate Medical Center on Friday, two days after a kidney transplant.
Sitting directly next to him in a matching hospital johnny was his savior; also known as his donor; also known as his twin sister.
"I told him right from the beginning that if I was every able to, I'd give him mine. It wasn't even a question in my mind," said Pamela Rabbu.
LaRocque said his kidney function dwindled in his 30s and 40, keeping toxins in his body and making him gravely ill by the time he turned 50. He said he lost jobs, income, investments and a home to his illness. LaRocque was forced to go on dialysis three days a week, four hours a treatment starting two years ago simply to help his kidneys function minimally. He was forced to face his future.
The twins, both of Lee, began the transplant "work-up." It wasn't a given that their blood types would be compatible even though they are fraternal twins. There were batteries of blood tests, genetic tests, ultrasounds and more.
"It was a little discouraging at times. All I wanted to do was help my brother," Rabbu said.
Then, doctors at Baystate told them they would have to get healthier. Much healthier.
Rabbu, who had struggled with her weight all her life and was a smoker, had to lose 50 pounds and quit the habit. She managed both over the course of a year.
"By helping him, I also helped myself," she said.
The siblings reminisced about the eerie twin parallels that had experienced over the years: twin dizzy spells and other simultaneous maladies. LaRocque even contended that he sensed when his sister went into labor with her second child.
He also lost a whopping 148 pounds before the surgery, joining his sister in a healthier lifestyle.
Baystate transplant surgeon Dr. Alexander Kurbanov said the twins made it through the surgery and immediate recovery remarkably well. He noted that LaRocque was lucky in that living donors can be hard to come by for kidney transplant candidates.
"Donor shortage is an issue. There are 70,000 people waiting for transplants annually and there are 16,000 transplants a year. The average wait is three to four years," Kurbanov said.
About half of kidney transplants are completed with living donors and the other half with cadaver donors. The outcome for recipients of living donors are superior, according to Kurbanov.
"Most are family members, friends, some co-workers. And we get the occasional anonymous donor who just does it to make one available," he said.
Dr. Alexander Kurbanov performed the transplant surgery for fraternal twins Pamela Rabbu and Peter LaRocque, 53, of Lee, Mass., who are now recovering at Baystate Medical Center Friday. Pamela gave her brother one of her kidneys to save his life.
The numbers of living donors have been creeping up slightly because surgeons have been trending toward removing the donor kidney laparoscopically, or without major incisions.
Barring any complications, LaRocque should gain significant kidney function and his quality of life will improve vastly. Kurbanov said Rabbu should have no appreciable loss of kidney function.
The success rate for kidney transplants is in the high 70th percentile after five years. Kurbanov said. He estimated that Rabbu added around a decade to her brother's life.
In their shared hospital room, LaRocque mused about what his sister's donation meant to him.
"What would you do if you had a second chance? Everyone plays with that question. I'll actually be able to answer it," he said.