A perfect match: in love and transplant

Lynda and Edward have stayed at the Gabriel House throughout the past three years, since 2017 when Edward received his kidney. 

Lynda has a very calm and reassuring demeanor, something that she has learned throughout the years as she had to take care of her son who suffered from severe seizures since he was 6 years old. Lynda at the time was 36, so she said taking care of Edward isn’t too different, and being a caregiver comes naturally to her. 

So when Edward started having kidney complications after they both moved and retired to sunny Leesburg, Florida, she became a rock for Edward as he put it. 

“It was so bizarre I have never been sick in my whole life, I was really hard-headed as well- I didn’t believe it when they told me I had kidney disease at Leesburg, so we went down to Mayo clinic in 2012 to get a second opinion.” Edward chuckled. 

His father had a history of diabetes and though Edward didn’t have diabetes, his polycystic kidney disease was genetic and he had to begin dialysis. He was on dialysis for four and a half years and was told by doctors he wasn’t going to make it. 

Lynda said, “Doctors told us there were 18,000 people before us waiting to get a kidney and it could be about 4-6 years before he got the kidney and by that time he would’ve been 70 and likely ineligible for a transplant.”

But- there was a way Lynda and Edward could expedite the process. 

Their social worker at Mayo Clinic told them they could ask friends or family members to see if they were a match. Knowing the guilt they both would feel from taking from someone they knew or even turning to Facebook to ask for donors, Lynda said she took it upon herself to get tested. 

“I mean I was 69 at the time, but I was healthy and I figured why not give it a shot. And was it turned out I was a perfect match,” Lynda said. 

Edward said the doctors told both of them how rare it was and they themselves couldn’t believe how perfect of a match it was. Edward and Lynda both chuckled as he said “you think you would have to go to the ends of the earth to find a perfect match. But my perfect match was right next to me all along. We’ve been through everything.” 

One of the hardest things about getting a kidney transplant Edward says is not the transplant itself, he knew he was in good hands both at the Mayo Clinic and at the Gabriel House. He said it was tricky to see how the rest of his body would react to his transplant. 

After his transplant, he has had complications with his heart, much of that from the numerous drugs he is on from his transplant.  They returned to the Gabriel House two and a half months ago to await an aortic valve repair to his heart.

The surgery he was undergoing was a fairly new and risky one for someone his age, and he suffered a stroke two weeks after surgery.  Because of the stroke Edward has troubles with his sight with walking as well as speaking.

Despite this, they both remain extremely positive. 

When Edward was younger he used to have a motorcycle and do a lot of high-risk activities. Now looking back, he is amazed at what he did as well as the activities he included his two sons in. 

He chuckled and said after a transplant you get a whole new lease on life. He now has a completely changed outlook on his life, “you realize how fragile your body really is and how important health is,” Edward concludes.