MOUNT FOREST – Scott Neal is admittedly a little nervous about Thursday.
The 53-year-old Mount Forest resident will become a living kidney donor, giving to family friend of five years Peggy Beggs from Arthur, in an operation at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton.
So why give a kidney?
“Why not is the bigger question,” Neal said in a phone interview. “I’m healthy enough to help somebody, so this is probably my greatest assist I’ll ever get. For me it just seemed like a no brainer.”
Neal said he had originally intended to donate a kidney to his best friend’s wife but she never reached donor status.
“I watched how she deteriorated and she lost the battle,” Neal said. “To see the family’s devastation and to be absolutely helpless, that inspired me to make sure that this got done this time. If we can prevent people from getting to the dialysis stage, they have a much better chance.”
Beggs, now a Georgetown resident, said in written response she has a few factors which impact her kidneys including untreated preeclampsia during pregnancy and two medications she was on that caused kidney damage.
“It’s hard to comprehend how someone would so willingly and freely do this,” Beggs wrote. “I’m fortunate to have a friend who stepped forward with such determined conviction to give me his kidney.”
Beggs said she’s now looking forward to enjoying retirement with her husband, having the energy to do spring cleaning for the first time in six years, groom her horse and eventually ride her, and be able to attend her child’s graduation from post-secondary this summer.
Neal said he found out he was a match for Beggs through a donor day at St. Joseph’s Hospital which involved a stress test, ultrasound, CT scan with contrast, nuclear medicine and 18 vials of blood the entire day.
“You meet with your surgeon, you meet with a social worker, you meet with a nurse, the nephrologist, the entire team is engaged and that’s all done in one day now,” he said, adding Beggs has been undergoing tests for a longer period of time.
Recovery will require Neal to take about two months off from his job as an appliance delivery person. He had planned to sell his RV at a trailer park to cover his costs. However, Beggs’ condition declined more quickly than expected and the surgery needed to be moved up.
“You can’t sell when it’s buried under snow,” Neal said.
There is a Trillium program that does reimbursements for living donors but he said it’s the equivalent of EI and is a large cut to his wages. He has launched a GoFundMe to assist with his finances for the time being. It has raised a little over $1,000.
Neal said beyond the healing time where he can’t lift more than 10 pounds, he doesn’t see it as a loss for him at all.
“My lifestyle will not change really, I just have to watch my salt intake,” Neal said. “Don’t get dehydrated, stay hydrated as much as possible.”
He hoped others will consider the option of being a living donor as he said they’re better than getting one from a dead person.
At the donor day he met with multiple ambassadors both donors and receivers and believed he may become one himself in the future.
“It’s amazing what conversations can get started, so maybe this is a spark,” Neal said. “It would just take one person to help so many others.”
