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SIERRA VISTA — When Jay Record woke up this morning, he already had the gift he wanted — a new kidney.
Now the Sierra Vista dad hopes to be starting 2006 with a new lease of life after receiving the kidney from his sister Juliann.
The siblings are now recovering from the Dec. 15 operation, which took place at the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix.
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“I felt great knowing that I would be getting a healthy kidney, especially coming from a family member. That made it really special,” said Jay, 34, who first learned his kidneys were not functioning properly in October 2000. “Now I’m feeling pretty good, if a little sore, and I’m just trying to build up my energy levels.”
Following that first diagnosis, Jay was later told he would have to have a transplant one day.
That time arrived last fall and there was only one person Jay believed would be a perfect match — his 26-year-old sister.
“I had a list of nine to 15 people who were willing to donate their kidney,” he said. “But everyone had that feeling that my younger sister would be that match. We started testing her first and we never went any further.”
Speaking from her parents’ home in Austin, Texas, college student Juliann, who hopes to enter medical school, said she always knew she would be the donor.
“A couple of years ago I had a feeling,” she said. “The doctors said it would be about a year before he needed the transplant, so I thought about it and just knew it would be me.
“When it finally came up, I felt it was what I was supposed to do. Donating my kidney was never really an issue.”
The operation took six hours, from the time the surgeons started with Juliann to when they finished with Jay.
Both brother and sister say they were not nervous about going through such a major operation, but rather they were anxious to just get it over with.
“When I woke up I was just so glad I had done it,” Juliann said. “Physically, I’m feeling sore and tired, but I feel great for having done this. I hadn’t thought about it before, but I suppose this is a great Christmas present.”
Jay, a government contractor at Fort Huachuca, worked virtually up until the operation and is planning to return to his job at the beginning of January.
It is this kind of determination that has kept him going during the last five years.
“When I was first told my kidneys were not working as they should I was not that concerned,” he said. “I’m not one of those people that gets over emotional or excited. I just took it in my stride and told the doctor ‘Let’s move on and get this fixed.’ ”
He had the same kind of attitude when told he would need the transplant.
“What are you going to do?” said Jay, whose kidneys were functioning at just 25 percent when he had the surgery. “It was going to happen and there was no point making myself crazy over it.”
Jay and Juliann were planning to have a quiet Christmas with family — Juliann with their parents and Jay with his wife Allyson, 36, and twins Austin and Lauran, seven.
“Allyson kept asking me what I wanted for Christmas, but I told her I’m happy,” said Jay. “I’ve already got what I really wanted.”
REPORTER Amanda Baillie can be reached at 515-4683.
TheSilverRose wrote on Jun 27, 2009 10:22 PM:
Thank You! "