By Sabrina Artusa
More than three months ago, Scott Scannell, who had suffered from polycystic kidney disease for 10 years, received a call that changed his life. Within a few weeks, he will have a new kidney – a second chance in life.
Genetic disease affected the scanner's ability to filter toxins from his bloodstream, and his kidneys continued to deteriorate, making him on the transplant waiting list in 2022. I had to start dialysis immediately.
A new lease in life
His wife, Karen Scannell, remembers her husband being tired of dialysis. I remember that dialysis accounting for about five hours a day on a trip, “I have to go home and lie down.”
Dr. Frank Dallas, Scott's kidney transplant surgeon, said: “So their great hope is a transplant that improves not only the quality of their life, but also how long they live.”
Scannell's plans revolved around dialysis appointments. “It was tough. It was tough not knowing what was going on,” Scannell said of his time on WaitList. “But I had to do that for my family.
While Scannell traveled three times a week to tire of dialysis appointments, Ann Marie Hassett, 56, worked on his life as a chemistry teacher at Newfield High School, volunteering as a firefighter at the Column Fire Station.
Later, while cleaning her email inbox in January, she saw an email from News 12 containing segments she made in a Scannell search in Kidney Search last year on Christmas Eve. She quickly made the decision, and soon Scannell called his wife in tears, informing her that the “altruistic donor” (a stranger) had moved forward.
Hassett said [her] Radar to do so. I remember reading about the Scannel struggle and thinking, “Imperfect, God, this is it.”
Emotional meeting
Three months later, on July 10th, Scannell and Hassett met for the first time at Stony Brook University. Each of the family joined them as they recognized the bonds that would connect them for the rest of their lives.
“I knew what I did,” Hassett said. “But until I saw him, that wasn't really realistic.”
“Anne Marie is just an angel. She gave me a second chance in life,” Scannell said.
Scannell has two daughters and a son. He was willing to donate, but showed early signs of contracting the same illness as his father. Karen Scannell was also unable to donate because he had a different blood type.
Waiting before porting
According to Dr. Adam Kressel, only about 1% of the 27,000 kidney transplants in the United States were involved in altruistic donors. Not many people are willing to donate to people they have never met before. Hassett was unstable at her decision, but her family was worried. “Though people can live a normal life with one kidney,” as Dallas said, Hassett had to undergo four hours of surgery.
Dallas worked with donor Hassett during the surgery, and Cressel had surgery on a scanner in an adjacent room. Both Scannell and Hassett had in-depth examinations by various hospital departments prior to progression.
As a father and husband, Scannell was nervous about the surgery, he said. “The whole transplant team is amazing people. They made the bad experience a good one. ”
Scannell is regularly examined with Cressel and Dara for the rest of his life. “[It is] “They're excited to be a part of the meeting between Scannell and his family and Hassett and her,” said Kressel, who attended July 10 at a meeting between Scannell and his family.
Kressel said the waitlist for Stony Brook University Hospital for kidney transplants includes around 300-400 applicants, and it takes two to five years for applicants to receive the transplant. In large institutions, waits can range up to eight years.
After surgery
After four weeks of recovery, Scannell returned to his job as a contractor. Twelve weeks after the surgery, he is celebrating his 62nd birthday and his 32nd wedding anniversary.
“I can tell you that now [Scannell] It feels like a million dollars and he has more energy than I do,” Cressel said.
In fact, Scannell wants to go back to outdoor activities that he couldn't do during his recovery, such as golfing and fishing. He and his family can now travel more, as they are not limited to dialysis bookings.
In October, he and marathon runner Hassett will be taking part in the Give Life NY 5K walk/run to raise awareness of organ donation.
I have new friends from my life with Anne Marie and her family,” Karen Scannell said. “There's always a bond there.”
For more information, please visit the National Kidney Foundation: www.kidney.org.
