Lynda Gainor, a local woman known for her generosity, is now in need of that from others as she needs to find a living kidney donor.
The past 12 years has been a tough journey for Gainor, who was diagnosed with having a 98 per cent blockage of the artery and unstable angina in 2013. After moving to Vancouver Island in 2017, what was supposed to be a carefree getaway to Mexico with her boyfriend was anything but, as she experienced classic signs of heart disease like she had previously felt with a heart attack she had in 2013. It was discovered that one of her main arteries was stented.
She was scheduled for what was supposed to be a standard angiogram procedure on Sept. 11, 2018. After her artery burst and she went into cardiac arrest her family and friends were told she had a four per cent survival rate as they spent sleepless nights in the waiting room. Gainor beat the odds but did not get away unscathed as these frequent hospital visits and the emotional trauma left her in a continuing battle with PTSD.
She also needed a heart transplant to survive and fortunately five years ago last month, with much gratitude to the donor and their family, she underwent a successful heart transplant at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver.
Post surgery and five years later, her new heart is healthy one, but sadly her kidneys are not, as they were adversely affected by heart disease. She is now in need of a kidney transplant and must find a living donor.
"She's been through enough," said close friend Lori Strom.
Strom, who said Gainor is like a sister, calls it almost inconceivable that five years after her successful heart transplant, she is told she now needs a kidney. Strom hopes that good karma comes back to Gainor, as she has become a heart transplant advocate to help other patients.
"She would visit these patients and help them through their difficult health challenges including what questions to ask their doctors, which is what started her down the road of Heart Transplant Advocacy," said Strom. "She has written courses for St. Paul’s Hospital for heart transplant patients and assisted in writing a full manual for Victoria Jubilee Hospital as well as worked on committees to educate patients, hospitals, and doctors about the importance of the patient to have a significant voice in their own care. She's even advocated for more mental health services for transplant patients.
"Now that she needs a kidney, she is already working on advocacy for kidney transplant patients."
Something many B.C. residents don't know is that if you are in need of a kidney transplant it is up to the one in need to make every effort to find on their own; the other alternative is to be placed on the Federal Transplant List with an average wait time of two to eight years; time many don't have. Friends and family members have stepped up in their search for a living kidney donor for Gainor.
You can live a healthy life with just one kidney. Living kidney donors need to have a matching blood type with their recipient. The kidney donation procedure is less invasive than it once was and done laparoscopically which means minimal down time afterwards is three to seven days on average. Those stepping up to be a living kidney donor will have their travel hotel cost covered as well as for any missed days of work and recovery time. Donors and recipients do not have to be the same gender, and a living donor transplant has better medical outcomes for kidney patients.
Strom said time is of the essence as Gainor, now on dialysis, suffers and is sick most days.
"It is devastating for her because she has a PTSD episode every time she has to go to the hospital, which right now is several times a week in Nanaimo," said Strom. "She can't get dialysis in Duncan because the program is full, which forces her to travel: a challenge given her health."
If you want to see if you are a match call 604-806-9027, stating that your are registering for Lynda Gainor while leaving your name, number, and email. Also email the donor nurse at St. Paul’s Hospital at [email protected]. There is also donor kidney transplant median wait times available on our at www.transplant.bc.ca/
"Living donation statistically has better outcomes than a kidney from a deceased donor," said BC Transplant's Elaine Yong. "A patient can also be placed on the deceased donor wait list. The wait list is provincial, except for patients who are the hardest to match, those patients, called highly sensitized, can be placed on a national wait list. For many patients, it is ideal if they can find a living donor before they need to go on dialysis, though every patient journey is very different and this isn’t always possible."
"One of Lynda's biggest wishes is not only to find a matching donor but for everyone to become a donor," said Strom. "There are thousands of people out there desperate for a kidney, whether the donor is alive or deceased. Organ donation saves lives."
