Local man donates kidney to stranger

Jim Seals returned home to Polson last week a hero after doing something that less than 300 people in the U.S. have ever done — he donated a kidney to a complete and total stranger.

Amazingly, by sheer coincidence, she lives in Whitefish.

Seals downplays his contribution, saying he only suffered some minor pain after the surgery process, but to Karen Giesy, he's still a hero.

"Everything has been going great, thanks to Jim. He stepped up as an altruistic donor. He's an incredible guy," Giesy said.

An altruistic donor is one who agrees to go under the knife to help someone else — usually a family member — but Seals is one of those rare donors who agreed to do it for someone he would probably never meet in his life.

But he and Giesy got to meet at an emotional ceremony last Tuesday at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane just a few weeks after Seals gave his kidney to Giesy. It was the experience of a lifetime for both of them, they said.

"I'm sort of on an emotional high. We didn't know each other, so the hospital went all out. We met in a garden there and there were close to 100 people from the hospital, plus TV and print media," Seals said. "It was great."

"It was amazing that he just lived in Polson," Giesy said.

Due to patient privacy laws and medical ethics, hospital staff are meticulous in ensuring that neither the donor nor recipient have any idea who the other person is, Seals explained. Sacred Heart officials knew during the June 13th surgery that Seals was from Polson and Giesy was from Whitefish, so it made sense to get the two of them together. The experience was all the more rewarding for Seals because he went into the surgery knowing that his kidney could be used by anyone waiting to receive one across the U.S.

Which is exactly what prompted him to donate, he said.

"Back in December I decided to become a donor. Two factors swayed me. My brother-in-law received one from his dad; he lasted four and a half years until he died of pneumonia," Seals said. "I was very close to him for a brother in law. That was 30 years ago, and it's still in my mind after all these years."

The second reason was a news program that Seals saw that said there were 3,500 people in New York City alone waiting for a kidney — which made his match with Giesy all the more improbable.

Giesy herself was lucky. She has a rare Type B blood, and has been waiting for two and a half years for a transplant, she said. Her doctors had told her it could take up to five years. After being on dialysis for a little more than two years, traveling to Kalispell three times a week to be hooked up to a machine, her options — and time — were running out.

"Although I was healthy, you can only go so long with dialysis and continue to be in good health," she said. "We got the call from Sacred Heart on June 6. I was ecstatic — more than words can express. I had prepared myself for another three years of dialysis, just figuring that was how it was going to be."

Seals said that to be an altruistic donor (versus a cadaveric donor, who agrees to give up their organs if they die), one must undergo a series of both physical and psychological testing. He did so the first week in June, and within days was under the knife.

"Everything match psychologically and physically. Then it was a matter of just putting me into the (donor) system. I got a week's notice and went to Spokane," Seals said.

The doctors went to great lengths to hide the two from each other for privacy reasons, Seals said. Ironically, they both recuperated in the same hotel following the surgery.

"It was carefully orchestrated that we didn't meet (in the hospital) during the preparations. They had the recipient and family on one side and me on the other," Seals said.

His only clue was when a doctor accidentally referred to Giesy as "her" in a conversation after the surgery, Seals said.

Tests done immediately after and weeks later showed that both were doing fine. Originally, the donor organization didn't want the two to meet, but upon realizing the benefits of publicizing it — increasing donor registration — the staff set up the meeting between the two last week, Seals said.

"The transplant center told us how important it was, just raising awareness that people need kidneys. There were 173 people on the waiting list, and now there's one less," Seals said. "That's 173 people who are waiting for a cadaveric donor because they don't have a family member who is a match."

Seals said he went into the surgery only after careful discussion with his family and friends at Mission Valley Church of Christ. He contacted the donor foundation on March 1, setting off a chain of tests at local hospitals and in Spokane in April and May, he said.

"They paid for my hotel room and everything. I will be under their care for a year, and they will take care of any complications that might result," Seals said. "It didn't cost me a thing monetarily, but I do have to watch my diet a little closer. The only thing it interrupted was my golf."

Seals said seeing how it changed Giesy's outlook on life made it all worthwhile.

"It's one of the most personally gratifying things I've ever done. It really made it so when I got to meet Karen and see how healthy she is," Seals said. "I can't stress how happy I am that I found out she lives up the road."

Giesy said she hoped people will consider doing what Seals did.

"Think about it. Consider it hard. Realize you are going to change the recipient's life, but also their family and friends," she said. "It's absolutely incredible when someone steps forward and is willing to give. It's a life-giving experience."

Folks interested in learning more about kidney donation can contact the National Kidney Foundation at (800) 622-9010.