Families separated by more than 500 miles now share a bond that will last a lifetime: their kidneys.
A "paired transplant" means Richard Carlisle, 69, got the kidney he so desperately needed from a Ohio man. In turn, Carlisle's wife, Becky, has donated a healthy kidney to the father of her husband's donor.
"We all had surgery Wednesday morning," Becky Carlisle, 62, told the AJC from her home. "We feel so relieved that it's over. This whole thing is a miracle."
Richard Carlisle, of Roopville, has spent the past three years on dialysis, desperately needing a kidney transplant. Family members and friends offered to help, but none were a match and healthy enough to donate.
"You have to be in perfect health to give a kidney," Richard Carlisle said.
For eight hours a night, Richard was hooked up to dialysis equipment. During the day, he had to do a "mid-day exchange," meaning he again relied on medical devices to survive, his wife said.
Becky Carlisle said she started reading and learning about kidney donation, and it made her even more nervous. Then she learned of a paired donor program.
"It opens his chances of receiving a kidney," Becky Carlisle said.
It also meant Becky, who had never had surgery before, would have to give up one of her healthy kidneys. That wasn't a problem, she said, if it would give the couple its life back.
The paired transplant was arranged through the Toledo-based organization Alliance for Paired Donation, which utilizes a computerized system to match recipients with donors. In April, the couple got the call from a transplant coordinator at Piedmont Hospital.
The Carlisles were matched with adult father and son, Larry and Charlie Back, or "our new best friends," Becky Carlisle said. Larry Back, 70, also need a kidney and Becky Carlisle was a match. Charlie Buck, 41, donated a kidney to Richard Carlisle.
The surgeries were on the same day, but at separate hospitals. Charlie Back traveled to Atlanta, where he and Richard Carlisle had surgery at Piedmont. Becky Carlisle traveled to Ohio, where she and Larry Back had surgery at Miami Valley Hospital.
Less than a week later, all four -- including the donors and the recipients -- are doing remarkably well.
"What you're looking at here is a miracle," Charlie Back told the Dayton Daily News on Friday, looking tanned and relaxed as he held the hand of his donor.
“He’s my buddy,” Becky Carlisle said at the hospital, smiling and chatting as if the two were lifelong friends. They two met Tuesday night when Carlisle flew in for the surgery.
Paired transplants offer hope to the thousands of people in need of new organs, Dr. Carlos Zayas, medical director of kidney and pancreas transplants at Piedmont, told the AJC. But still, many people are unwilling to become donors, he said.
"There's a misconception that if you give a kidney, you're going to need to take medicine every day," Zayas said.
That may not be the case, Zayas said. But possible donors must undergo extensive medical and psychological testing, he said.
"We don't want to save the life of someone at the expense of yours," said Zayas, who himself was the recipient of a bone marrow transplant.
Four paired transplants have been performed at Piedmont during the past year, and Zayas is hopeful that number can increase, perhaps by matching donors and recipients here in Georgia so that all of the surgeries could be performed at the same medical facility.
Despite the miles between the Carlisles and the Backs, the two families hope to meet up again soon, Becky Carlisle said. In the meantime, Carlisle said she and her husband are looking forward to enjoying life again. They plan to spend more time at a lake home, swimming, skiing and fishing, she said. Richard was unable to get into lake water while undergoing dialysis.
They owe it all to the paired organ transplant, the Carlisles say. The couple encourages other to consider donating.
"You don't realize how sick people are," Becky Carlisle said. "I didn't realize people got so sick. I felt so selfish."
Now, she only feels grateful.
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