Living Kidney Donation Gives Sister New Lease on Life

Living Kidney Donation Gives Sister New Lease on Life

When lab tests from back-to-back annual physicals picked up blood in Tori Abrams' urine, her primary care physician sent her to see a specialist.

"I didn't really have any anxiety about it. I just figured they would see what was going on and that's that," Abrams said. "An ultrasound showed I had something on my kidney. That's when it got kind of scary."

Ultimately, after a series of tests that included CT scans and MRIs, her care team diagnosed her with hemorrhagic cysts.

Relieved she didn't have cancer, Abrams took her prescribed medication and showed up for her bi-annual urine analysis not really giving her long-term prognosis a second thought.

Several years later, her doctor told her matter-of-factly she needed a kidney transplant.

"It shocked me. I wasn't ready for that at all," she said. "I guess they probably thought I understood but I didn't, and I wasn't questioning."

Her sister, however, had seen the writing on the wall.

"I'd watched from the sidelines as she went through this," said Ansley Abrams-Frederick, who is director of alumni programming at The University of Toledo. "I just remember that moment of feeling helpless and knowing she's going through this. It wasn't a horrible surprise to me, but I did know if I could do something to help that I would be willing to step forward."

When the news came that her older sister needed a transplant, Abrams-Frederick volunteered to get evaluated at The University of Toledo Medical Center to see if she was a potential donor.

She distinctly remembers getting the call that she was a match while at a horse show with her daughter.

"It's a mixture of elation and fear," she said. "You feel like, 'Good, this is exactly what I wanted.' But this is going to change the rest of my life, too. There's a fear that is involved. I'm a match, but you have to find out if you're healthy enough."

Further testing found that she was, and on Feb. 28, 2023, the sisters underwent back-to-back procedures in which UTMC surgeons removed Abrams-Frederick's healthy kidney and transplanted it into her sister.

Dr. Obi Ekwenna, Abram's kidney transplant, highlighted the utilization of robotic-assisted techniques at UTMC, which was employed in Abrams' procedure.

"Our robotic-assisted kidney transplantation technique provides a state-of-the-art, minimally invasive option for kidney failure patients here in Northwest Ohio," said Ekwenna, who is vice chair and associate professor of urology and transplantation at UToledo. "We are among the select institutions nationwide offering this advanced care."

To date, Ekwenna said UTMC has completed 11 robotic-assisted kidney transplants, achieving a 100% success rate.

The procedure went smoothly for both sisters and the transplanted kidney began working right away.

Abrams had heard from others that once a renal failure patient started dialysis they would feel better, but it wasn't until after her transplant that she saw an improvement.

"I'm sure my body was doing better on dialysis than with the two clunky kidneys, but I didn't feel any better," she said. "After I got the kidney from my sister, yes, I felt so much better. It wasn't 100% right away, but it was a huge difference."

The decision to become a living kidney donor is not one to be taken lightly. Even though most procedures are now done laparoscopically, it remains a significant surgery.

However, Ekwenna said living kidney donation is a safe procedure that can make a huge difference in the life of the recipient.

"With a rigorous evaluation and approval process, the risks associated with living kidney donation are nearly negligible," he said. "It is genuinely a life-giving act and remains the best choice for anyone suffering from kidney failure."

Abrams-Frederick experienced firsthand the extensive workup that comes before kidney donation.

"I will give all the props to the team over there. They make sure you are healthy from head to toe and that you are capable of giving a kidney mentally, physically, everything." she said. "They want to make sure you are not going to put yourself at risk and that your quality of life will remain intact. I can't say it was pleasurable, but it was a great experience. I think the folks over at UTMC do an amazing job of coaching you through it."

And the need for living organ donors is significant. Of the nearly 104,000 Americans waiting on an organ transplant, more than 89,000 need a kidney.

Kidneys from living donors tend to start working sooner and continue working longer than those from deceased donors; however, more than 70% of kidney transplants done nationally last year were from deceased donors.

As America celebrates National Donate Life Month in April, Abrams-Frederick said living donation, for those in a position to do so, is something worth considering.

"The people at UTMC made me feel very secure in the knowledge that what I was doing was not going to be a threat to my life but was going to be a boon to my sister," she said. "It is a scary process but the team that we have working at our facility makes it so much less scary."

Looking back now, Abrams said perhaps she should have known her kidney function was growing critical - or at least asked more questions - but she had chalked up her malaise to getting older, not being active enough or her arthrogryposis, a rare congenital condition that causes stiff joints and weak muscles.

However, once she got connected with UTMC's transplant team she was confident she was in good hands.

"I cannot say enough about everyone at UTMC. Every person that I met, every person that I talked to was so helpful, so wonderful. They were patient and answered all my questions," Abrams said. "I could not more highly recommend going to UTMC for this."

Individuals thinking of becoming a living kidney donor can contact UTMC's living donor program by calling 419-383-3419.

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