By: Jessica Cihacek
jcihacek@kcautv.com
113,000 people are in need of an organ. Over 600 of those live right here, in the state of Iowa.
Now, the transplant waiting list is a scary concept, and it comes with a catch 22:
You need to be sick enough or dying to be placed on it, but healthy enough to survive the surgery. By law, most donors have to be considered brain-dead before their organs are taken. While the process is a true life-saver, it also provides a sense of healing for the donating family.
Mary Ann O'Dell, a Donation Specialist at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, says, "Sometimes these deaths are tragic, they're sudden and how do you explain the death of a child or a young person who has so much life left ahead of them, but the idea knowing that maybe they were able to give life to somebody else."
Sometimes it takes several attempts to find the perfect match. In that case, an organ that failed for one recipient, has roughly 4-8 hours to be transported and tried on the next recipient, before it dies.
In almost all cases after a successful surgery, the recipient will need to follow-up with a lifetime of therapy and anti-rejection medication.
28 people in the state of Iowa died last year waiting for an organ, but, of course, more donors can help make that number even lower.
If it wasn't for a number of registered donors, one Sioux City man may have lost his life.
Gordon Johnson of Sioux City was diagnosed with Rheumatic fever at the age of 15. It's a strep infection, that, over time, can damage the lungs and heart valves.
Gordon says, "It was pretty hard because the middle of my sophomore year through my junior year, I wasn't able to go to school and the state put in an intercom system, so I could keep up with class."
It wasn't long after, that a beautiful woman would walk into his life, and, really get his heart pumping.
His wife, Erlene Johnson, says, "I knew he had a heart condition, but I guess when you're young and in love, you don't think about how serious this could be."
In fact, it turned out to be very serious. Gordon had his first open heart surgery at the age of 29. And at the age of 59, he was put on a waiting list for a new heart all together.
After three different hearts that failed, the Johnsons began losing hope, and Gordon began losing his battle.
Erlene recalls, "At one point, they were talking about setting him up for Hospice and taking him off the transplant list and that was about the darkest time for me. He accepted it. He knew where he was going, but I wasn't ready to let him go."
Not without one more shot. Two weeks later, they got the call. Another heart was ready for Gordon.
10 years later, that same heart is his for the keeping.
Gordon advises, "For the person waiting, don't give up, just be patient. Keep praying."
Gordon is still on anti-rejection medication and attends therapy regularly, but he and his wife will tell you, he's still the same Gordon. Just that much more grateful for life.
If you'd like to become a donor, you must register online at: http://www.iowadonorregistry.org/
