If anyone can say they have a close relationship, it would be Rick Boutwell and his son Dayne. And it’s not just because they .jpg)
are father and son and spend a lot of time together fishing and sailing off the Gulf Coast. On March 10, Dayne donated one of his kidneys to his father, ultimately saving his life.
“It was a no-brainer — I was 100 percent going to give my kidney to my dad,” said 36-year-old Dayne. “That’s what he would have done for me if I needed it.”
Rick still has a tough time telling the story without tearing up. He received a kidney from his sister 16 years ago when he was 50, but found out that it was failing and he would need another transplant.
Dayne, who lives in League City and visits his father in Port Bolivar frequently, immediately stepped up. Although Rick struggled with letting his son risk his own health, Dayne wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. He called Tamara Stephens, the living donor coordinator at UTMB.
“The only concern I had was just being a match,” said Dayne. “That’s the only thing that really was going through my head. The first blood test they do, if it comes back that we are incompatible, it’s like all our good intentions mean nothing, so that was scary.”
That was back in September 2014. Test results came back: he was a match. Then came six months of testing for both father and son to make sure they were both healthy and ready to move forward with the transplant.
As the living donor coordinator, Stephens accompanied Dayne to all of his appointments and tests. In the meantime, Rick remained on dialysis. While Dayne was eager to move the process along and help his dad, it was important to be cautious, said Stephens.
“My focus as a living donor coordinator had to be on Dayne. I saw how close he was with his father and thought ‘Yes, it would be great for him to give his kidney,’ but I still needed to make sure that the next week, next year, next 10 years, that Dayne would be OK,” said Stephens. “It’s not a short process and the donor advocate team is about making sure that donors don’t do any detriment to themselves, whether it’s physiological, social, psychological or financial. For example, if you have a job, you have to take into consideration if your employer will give you paid time-off. There’s all kind of things that people don’t think about.”
Still, Dayne remained ready and committed. There were a few bumps along the road, including Rick needing open-heart surgery before being cleared for transplant, but everything came together by the morning of March 10. It was a team effort by UTMB's Texas Transplant Center. Dr. Kristene Gugliuzza, who performed Rick’s transplant 16 years ago, worked closely with Dr. Guillermo Gomez and a team of nurses to make sure the procedure was seamless.
Rick lights up when he talks about Gugliuzza, whom he has known for quite a while. “Dr. G is special,” he said. “Everybody was great. We had great care by all the UTMB staff and nurses. It just makes this whole thing even more extraordinary.”
The transplant was confirmed a success once Rick’s new kidney started producing urine. He jokes that his wife Myra got so excited when the urine bag started filling up that she called his urine “liquid gold.”
The news got back to Dayne that the procedure was a success, and father and son were finally reunited the next day, when Rick was moved to a room next to Dayne’s on the Transplant floor of the John Sealy Hospital.
“It was an emotional moment, definitely,” said Rick. “I’ve been blessed with two stand-up sons. It’s now been about a month
since the transplant and I look good, I feel good and other than being a little sore, I don’t think about it. I’m just happy to be here.”
Both men have regular follow-up appointments with the doctors at UTMB, and Dayne is already back on his sailboat. The family of four is looking forward to a dream vacation once everyone is feeling 100 percent. They plan on going to the Bahamas and visiting the naval base where Rick was stationed in the late ’60s and early ’70s. His sons have never been, but hear a lot of stories from their dad about his time there.
“Going back there is going to be the last little victory dance,” said Dayne.
April is National Donate Life Month.
UTMB’s Texas Transplant Center was founded more than 40 years ago and has been a pioneering force in the field of organ transplantation. It is approved by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. From September 2009 to August 2014, the Center completed 284 transplants, including 17 living donor transplants.
In the United States, there are currently more than 90,000 people listed for kidney transplant alone. However, the number of patients waiting for a kidney far outweighs the number of deceased donors. Because of this shortage, there is an increased reliance on living donations. A person can live and function normally with only one kidney, and recipients who receive a living donor organ typically have better clinical outcomes.
To spare a patient frequent dialysis and a long waiting time, many relatives, friends and others who may want to remain anonymous, serve as living kidney donors. While there are no direct physical or monetary benefits of being a donor, giving the gift of life can be a rewarding experience. Donors have reported positive emotional experiences, including feeling good about trying to improve another person’s life.
UTMB honors transplant donors in a unique way. Displayed on the ground floor of the John Sealy Hospital, outside Pastoral Care, is the "Tree of Life.” Established in August 2014 with support of UTMB’s President’s Cabinet, the leaves on the tree commemorate the names of donors, living and deceased, who selflessly gave the gift of life.
For more information on UTMB’s Texas Transplant Center, which includes the Living Kidney Donor Program, click here. For more information on becoming an organ donor, visit Donate Life Texas.