An inside look at the challenges in the organ donation process

By Audrey Russo

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    ANSONIA, Connecticut (WFSB) — Ahead of National Donate Life Month, Eyewitness News is giving you an inside look into the challenges in the organ donation process.

You’ve heard about the long waits and painful treatments those in need of a donation face as they fight to stay alive.

But there’s challenges for donors too.

“Well, I’ve been on dialysis for six years,” said Kevin Eaton. “I go Monday, Wednesday, Friday.”

The final stages of kidney failure have taken a toll on Eaton.

“I can’t stand up for long periods of time,” Eaton said. “Sometimes I don’t have my balance to walk.”

Not just physically.

“I can’t go on vacation that often,” said Eaton. “I can go away on the weekends, you know, But you have to be back, ‘cause I go Monday, you know, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I also can’t work.”

The Ansonia man is one of hundreds of Connecticut patients in need of a kidney.

But to say he’s simply waiting would be to disregard the sweatshirt that makes the difficult ask for the gift of life.

“The sweatshirt I wear almost every day,” Eaton said. “A lot of people aren’t familiar with it, and they’re not familiar with donation.”

You’d think the challenges only exist for the person trying to receive a kidney.

But as it turns out, there are also some roadblocks for the people to choose to donate one.

From her Wethersfield living room, Tricia Boudreau was inspired after seeing a Channel 3 story last year about a woman in need of a kidney.

“We are sitting on the porch swing that my mom had bought years ago,” Boudreau said. “After she passed away in 2021, I brought it home as a remembrance of her. I thought, I want to help this woman.”

So began the medical exams, vials of blood, pulmonary function tests to make sure Boudreau was fit to donate.

But within months, she learned the intended recipient’s health declined, no longer well enough to receive kidney, that woman was de-listed.

“To learn that this was not going to happen made me really sad for her,” Boudreau said.

“Things can happen to your health things can happen to your support system,” said Dr. Glyn Morgan.

Morgan is Hartford HealthCare’s Chief of Transplant Surgery.

He said because recipients can be de-listed, the hospital system promotes nationwide swap and voucher programs.

That’s where a donor’s organ is matched against a nationwide list.

“You might be a better match for somebody in Oklahoma and there might be somebody in South Carolina who’s a better match for you,” said Morgan.

The hospital will use that same nationwide list to find a kidney for the original intended recipient.

“It may not be a donor anywhere near Hartford, maybe in California, maybe in Washington,” Morgan said.

Helping two patients at once, something Boudreau is hoping to be a part of next month.

“I plan to have a surgery, just waiting for the confirmation of some dates,” said Boudreau. “I can save a life and it’s a powerful gift to have. And why should I waste it?”

Though Boudreau may not know the exact person who will get her kidney, Eaton can attest to how much of a gift it will truly be.

“It would return to a proper life, a functioning life without struggles,” said Eaton.

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