CLEARLAKE >> Kimberly is a country girl, Lake County all the way, while Suzanne is more the city type, hailing from Orange County. But the two have a lot in common, including a love of horses and a joy for life.
Oh, and then there’s the kidney.
Kimberly Hall, 35, of Clearlake and Suzanne Martin, 45, from the city of Orange, are two of 14 people — seven donors and seven recipients — that formed an “exchange” that shared human kidneys for transplant, all within about 48 hours.
An exchange can be formed when healthy people donate one of their kidneys in place of a relative who is unable to donate or is a recipient that is more of a genetic match than others.
Like any chain, an exchange is started with a single link. In this case, Hall was one of the catalysts of her “chain.” She was diagnosed with kidney disease when she was 8. When she was 10, she received a transplanted kidney from her father.
“I didn’t even realize I was sick,” Hall said Saturday during a reunion between her and Martin. “But the transplant was a total success and I lived a normal, perfect, happy life for the next 20 years.”
Then, in 2010, the gift of life from her father began to give out and she was again diagnosed with kidney failure, specifically a condition called transplant glomerulopathy. More simply, her kidney was suffering from old age. Another kidney transplant was needed.
“It was a total shock to me,” Hall said. “I started having seizures and a stroke. I began dialysis three days a week and in July 2011 I was put on a waiting list for a kidney transplant.”
A number of Hall’s friends and family tested to be a kidney donor to her but none were a match. Hall remained on dialysis — and the waiting list — for five years. The wait ended in August 2015 when Hall was notified that she would be part of a 14-person chain centered at the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco where the multiple surgeries would be performed.
But Hall still needed a kidney to throw into the pot and her savior in that regard was her Aunt Marci, who donated one of her two kidneys on behalf of her niece.
“The surgery went unbelievably well,” Hall said.
Unknown to Hall, events that led Martin to become a link in the chain began many months earlier when in April 2014, her husband’s cousin was diagnosed with kidney failure.
He sought treatment at UCSF and its world-renowned kidney transplant program. Soon after, he signed-up for the kidney exchange program. A kidney donor was needed and despite friends and family volunteering to be tested, none was a genetic match. Even Martin’s husband was rejected as a possible donor after three months of testing.
“So I was tested next,” Martin said Saturday. “In April 2015, I started the process and in June 2015, I was cleared to be a donor,” she added, on behalf of her husband’s cousin.
Now, all that was needed was for Martin to not waiver on giving up one of her healthy kidneys. That proved not to be a problem.
“I had no reservations at all,” Martin said. “I knew that I was healthy and I thought that they (UCSF) probably had this process worked out.”
Within two weeks after Martin’s approval, all of the links in the chain were assembled in San Francisco. The 14-person transplant process took place over two days, with Martin’s kidney donation surgery occurring on Aug. 27, 2015.
“The surgery was uneventful,” Martin said. “Afterwards, I was fine, up and moving about. I didn’t feel any different, I felt exactly the same (as before the surgery).”
However, Martin and Hall never met during their hospital stays in San Francisco and Martin went back to Southern California and Hall returned to Clearlake.
After a few months, Martin became curious as to who her kidney donation helped and it wasn’t long before she ran across Hall on Facebook. The two started a conversation that blossomed into a friendship — even more, a bonding of two kindred spirits.
Now, this is where Hall’s friend, Randi Bussear, 34, of Clearlake, entered the picture. She has known Hall “since the sixth grade.”
After high school, several moves caused the two friends to drift apart for five or six years but they reconnected through Facebook.
“I didn’t realize she was in desperate need of a kidney,” Bussear said Saturday. “She needed help and it seemed like no one was responding to her cry for help.”
After getting her friend back, Bussear was determined not to lose her to kidney disease and she organized a fundraising page on Facebook called, Kidney for Kimberly. It raised about $1,200.
Now with that task accomplished, Bussear decided to throw a celebration of life party for Hall and she wanted it to be a surprise reunion with Martin. She contacted Martin through Facebook and the donor said she would be delighted to come up for a surprise get together.
Bussear and Martin began planning the party about six weeks ago and settled on March 12 at the Main Street Bar & Grill in Clearlake. Unknown to Hall, Martin was waiting inside the grill wearing a restaurant apron and holding a menu.
Hall’s reaction upon being greeted her benefactor? Hugs, sobs and tears. Despite the apron and menu, Hall immediately recognized Martin and the reunion was well underway.
“This is still very surreal to me,” Martin said. “I just know I feel a lot of love.”
As for her giving up a kidney for a total stranger, Martin added, “I feel I gained more than I gave.”
Hall was so happy about the successful transplant that she has given her new organ a name: “I’ve named my kidney Nova because it’s a new beginning for me.”
