Kathy Gibson

Kathy received a kidney from her husband in October 1998. Due to rejection, she needed and received a second kidney from a deceased donor. Kathy volunteers for LifeLink of Florida, the regional organ procurement organization.

Kathy's Story

As the first person in my family to face kidney problems, kidney failure was quite a shock to me. Test after test was performed with no result, and eventually the cause of my kidney disease was simply listed as undiagnosed. As the months passed I got sicker and eventually faced the fact that a transplant would be necessary.

Both of my sons, as well as my husband, stepped up to the plate and got tested as potential living donors. My husband was a match and the surgery took place in October 1998, before I was in need of dialysis. After surgery I felt great and my husband was recovering with no complications—that is, until the day we were to be released from the hospital. I started rejecting the transplant and, despite the excellent care I received, the end result was to remove my husband's kidney. As you can imagine, this was devastating for me.

Luckily, my own kidneys kicked back in for several months but by April I was on dialysis. I was re-evaluated for transplant and told that the wait for a deceased donor kidney would be two to three years. On August 17th, I received the call that a kidney was available for me. Instead of being elated I was scared, as my last experience with transplant has been a hard one. I had only minutes to make the decision to go forward. With encouragement from my doctor and husband I rushed to the hospital. Everything went smoothly, and I recovered without a hitch!

I am grateful for the courage that God gave me to go forward with the second transplant, and to the family who provided me with a second chance at life. As I approach the fourth anniversary of my transplant, and my 11th anniversary with my husband, I am fortunate to have two heroes in my life—my husband who saved me once, and my donor and his or her family who saved me again.

I am now a volunteer for LifeLink of Florida, the organ procurement organization in Tampa, sharing my story and raising public awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation.