August 28, 2005

'A wife's love is tremendous'

·  Her kidney donation saves husband's life

By Rusty Marks
Staff writer

SHE says anyone would have done the same thing, but Nelson Sorah isn’t so sure.

Because what Kelly Sorah gave her ailing husband in all likelihood saved his life.

In July, Nelson Sorah had a kidney transplant. The deputy state treasurer and former Charleston Gazette city editor’s kidneys had all but shut down, the result of a medical labyrinth doctors still haven’t unwound. He didn’t even feel sick.

“I didn’t know I had any kidney problems until a year and a half ago,” recalled Nelson, 59. “I didn’t feel bad. I never felt bad.”

But as Nelson’s kidneys deteriorated, doctors told him he’d either have to face a lifetime of dialysis or get a new kidney. Nelson knew that could take a while.

“The average wait for a kidney is five years,” he said. “At any given time there are about 80,000 people on the waiting list.”

Kidney transplants are tricky. Donor kidneys should be as closely matched as possible to the recipient’s body, and should be of a compatible blood type and share other medical characteristics for hope of success.

For this reason, doctors usually look to close relatives as kidney donors. Even if the transplant is successful, transplant patients are put on a series of powerful drugs to keep their bodies from attacking the new kidney as a foreign body. The medicines, which suppress the immune system, also make kidney transplant patients susceptible to disease and infection.

Fortunately, Nelson found a kidney donor close to home. In June, Kelly Sorah had a series of medical tests done and found her kidneys should be compatible with Nelson’s. Immediately, she agreed to give up one of her healthy kidneys to help her husband.

“I had no hesitation,” Kelly Sorah recalled. “Number one, I love Nelson. And number two, I prayed about it, and I absolutely knew it was going to be fine.”

Donor and recipient had surgery on July 20. First, doctors removed Kelly’s healthy kidney, then stitched it into Nelson’s body. The old kidney was left in place. While it may take a transplanted kidney hours or days to start working — if the body doesn’t completely reject the organ — Kelly’s kidney began functioning while Nelson was still on the operating table.

By morning, the new kidney was functioning perfectly. Nelson and Kelly were home within days, and Nelson was back to work three weeks later.

The actual recovery was almost anticlimactic. “We just did what they told us to do,” said Kelly, a special education teacher for the Kanawha County school system. “We just took it easy and didn’t do much.

“Our son [8-year-old Andy] did ask if he could have his dad’s old kidney.”

So far, Nelson’s body has accepted Kelly’s kidney well, and doctors expect few complications. But Nelson has trouble talking about his wife’s sacrifice without getting emotional.

“Kelly’s faith is very deep and real,” he said. “A wife’s love is tremendous.”

Kelly believes God brought them together so she could offer a lifesaving kidney. “I knew we were supposed to be together, and this proves it,” she said.

“There are a lot of messages here about faith, and a wife’s love for her husband,” Nelson said. “But everybody who’s walking around has a capacity to save a life.”

To contact staff writer Rusty Marks, use e-mail or call 348-1215.