Positivity: A Family Celebrates the Life of a Kidney
From Ventura, County, California:
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Denice Lombard is 53. Her kidney will turn 79 in October. That’s because, when Lombard was 13, her then-38-year-old dad saved her life by donating one of his kidneys.
“I’ve now had his kidney longer than he had it,” Denice said.
On Thursday, Lombard and her dad, Ted Lombard of Ventura, celebrate the 40th anniversary of the transplant that saved her life.
“That’s wonderful,” said Dr. Gabriel Danovitch, director of the kidney transplantation program at UCLA Medical Center. “At 40 years, that’s probably one of the longest-functioning (transplanted) kidneys in the country.”
Denice lives in Washington, D.C., now, so Ted will travel to the East Coast to be with his daughter and his other kidney for the anniversary.
Ted, who shares Denice’s blood type, donated his kidney to Denice in 1967 to save her from her twin’s fate. Denice’s twin, Diane, died in 1961 at age 7 from a congenital kidney disease that Denice also inherited.
“I don’t care how many people are around you,” said the twins’ mother, Anne Lombard, 73. “It’s still a lonely journey when you lose somebody you love.”
Ted and Anne still are brought to tears over the ordeal that led up to the organ donation that has so far given Denice 40 more quality years of life.
“By all means, I’d do it again,” Ted said, trying to steady his voice over tears. …..
Go here for the rest of the story.
