Updated: Monday, 19 Oct 2009, 11:59 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 19 Oct 2009, 10:46 PM EDT
* Sherri Ly Sherri Ly
* By SHERRI LY/myfoxdc
BALTIMORE, Md. – Two women brought together by an unexpected match, underwent kidney transplant surgery Monday morning at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
The anticipation has been building for months, leading up to the surgery. Etienne Cromer, a 23-year-old woman from Bowie, Maryland was diagnosed with a genetic kidney disorder at 16. She was weakened by the disease and constant dialysis.
Her donor, Kendra Dill, of Severn, Maryland is not related by blood but doctors say was as near perfect match, as close as a parent to a child. Kendra and Etienne’s mother have worked together and shared a friendship for more than 15 years. On Monday morning, Kendra is giving Etienne a second chance.
Kendra arrived at Johns Hopkins around 5:30 a.m. to get prepped for surgery. As the doctor explained the procedure, Kendra clutched a photo of her husband and two children. She is overcome by the gravity of it all.
“I’m nervous. I’m putting my faith in God and the doctors here,” Kendra told FOX 5 just before going into the operating room with the photo at her side.
Down the hall, Etienne, was nervous, too.
“It was almost funny because I almost didn’t want to get out of bed. I was like okay, I just want to go back to sleep and have someone carry me to the car,” Etienne recalled after waking up this morning. She arrived at the hospital about an hour after Kendra.
For the past seven years of her life, Etienne has been in and out of hospitals battling a genetic kidney disorder. She is just 23 years old.
Over the years, the disease weakened her body. She went to the prom on crutches and had two hip replacements, but after having a baby last year, her kidneys began to fail. Doctors said she needed a transplant.
The dialysis, three times a week, three to four hours each time, became like a part-time job.
“You feel wasted. You feel exhausted. It’s almost like you’ve run a marathon. You don’t have any energy,” said Etienne told FOX 5 when we first met her, four days before the surgery.
Now that the day has arrived, Etienne and Kendra’s families gathered in the hospital waiting room as the two women were wheeled into the operating room. It was an emotional day for Carol Cromer. The donor is a friend and co-worker, and the recipient is her daughter.
Etienne says she doesn’t think it will feel any different having Kendra’s kidney. Then her mother joked, “If all of a sudden you want to go to NASCAR racing I know it will be because you have Kendra’s kidney.” Apparently Kendra is quite A NASCAR fan.
Kendra had been prepared to donate before. Five years ago, her brother needed a kidney transplant. She and her sister were matches but he was diagnosed with lung cancer a short time later. Now she has the opportunity to help Etienne.
Kendra went into surgery first. Doctors went in through tiny incisions, working with a microscopic camera to separate the kidney from blood vessels and a vein. Then they placed the kidney into a bag and removed it through an opening only a few inches wide. Dr. Robert Montgomery Chief of Transplantation for Johns Hopkins said “the kidney was gorgeous, a beautiful kidney.”
The kidney was then flushed and put on ice, awaiting transplantation to Etienne. Dr. Montgomery says using a live donor has a huge advantage. Kidneys from live donors he says last twice as long as those from deceased donors, and tend to work immediately with less chance of rejection. It also allows you to bypass the wait on the transplant list for a deceased donor, which averages about five years.
“If you use a live donor kidney transplant, you don’t have to wait in line you can receive the kidney immediately,” the surgeon said.
Kendra downplayed her altruism. “Someone called me a hero and I really don’t consider it heroism,” Kendra said.
While Dr. Montgomery says a donor operation is considered “safe”, the stakes are high. “It’s very unique because a person is undergoing surgery not for themselves but for someone else,” Dr. Montgomery said.
Doctors say the number of organ donors has remained constant, making the need for more live donors critical.
“I’m hoping that in people seeing me do it that if they’re ever given the opportunity approached with the same situation that maybe they might think of my story and Etienne’s story,” Kendra said.
The two women were friends before. Now they’re like family.
“We’ll probably be spending holidays together and it’ll probably be like having a sister,” Etienne imagined.
Doctors say the prognosis is good for both women and they should live a normal and health life. Etienne hasn’t traveled in at least five years because of her health. Now she’s planning her next vacation, a trip to Aruba next year.