By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

(© Journal Group Link International)

C HICAGO, Illinois (JGLi) –  “Ninerbiyos ako. Ipanalangin mo na lang ako.” (I am very nervous. Please keep me in your prayers.)

On Thursday, (March 25), eve of her kidney transplant operation, Myra de la Vega told this reporter that she is very uneasy. “I just hope everything will go smoothly.”

But she managed to add that she was just interviewed live earlier on CNN. “You can just check it out."

Ms. De la Vega, 49, has become a local celebrity after her regular customer at Jewels, a grocery chain, offered to donate one of his two healthy kidneys to her after she was diagnosed to have renal failure.

The donor, Daniel S. Coyne, a Chicago Public Schools social worker, turned out to be a good match for a kidney transplant to Ms. De la Vega.

She said she needs to be at the Northwestern Hospital at Chicago’s suburban Evanston, Illinois, at 7 a.m. today, Friday (March 26), for the kidney transplant operation. Her kidney donor, Mr. Coyne, will be in at 8 a.m.

But Mr. Coyne will have to be the first to be operated on, as doctors will have to harvest one of his kidneys.

She said after probably a five-hour operation, doctors would transplant his kidney to her.

Barring complication, Myra said, Dan should be out of the hospital Saturday while she will be out Sunday.

A kidney from a live donor normally extends the life of the recipient for another 25 to 30 years. A kidney from a dead donor, who died in an accident, usually extends the life of a recipient for half as long.

If the transplant turns out smoothly, Myra will no longer undergo dialysis every night for eight hours, as her new kidney would take over in keeping her body in balance. Her new kidney will be removing her waste, salt and extra water to prevent them from building up in the body and will be keeping a safe level of certain chemicals in her blood, such as potassium, sodium and bicarbonate, and helps control her blood pressure.

Even now, Myra still could not believe it that a complete stranger would part with his kidney and donate it to her.

What makes it even more remarkable is that she is going to have a new kidney for free.

When told by this reporter that in the Philippines many donors are selling their kidneys, Myra felt doubly blessed.

“It’s too good to be true. It still gives me chills. I feel so lucky. There are thousands in the waiting list – because everyday, I am in pain and deal with it. I felt like winning the lottery.”

She said she hopes the example set by her donor of giving away a healthy kidney for free will also be replicated in her native country.

A native of Calamba, Laguna in the Philippines, Myra had no symptoms of renal failure. “But three years ago, I was feeling so weak. Altho, I was eating like a horse, I was losing weight. I felt nauseous and tired.

“One night, I felt a pain in my shoulder and I punched out from work and my blood pressure Blood Pressure rose to 200. But I was still able to drive.  Three doctors told me, ‘you are lucky you are still alive. You could have had brain stroke and heart attack. After analysis of my urine and other tests, they me told there was something wrong with my kidney.”

Two years ago, she struck a conversation with Coyne at her work. Coyne noted that she was losing weight.

When he learned that she was starting dialysis for kidney failure, he asked whether she would consider him as a donor.

“I told him this is not a game. This is a serious thing. He said, ‘Myra, give me a chance.’” she said, adding, “I’d give you a year to think about it while my sister was coming.”

Myra decided to accept the kidney donation of Coyne when her sister contracted a mild heart condition that prevented her from having a surgery to donate a kidney although her sister was a match. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net) # # #

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