The phone call between Stuart Lord, dean of the Tucker Foundation, and Reverend Stanley Lord on a summer night last June was anything but typical for the twin brothers. Stuart had just learned that he qualified as a kidney donor for Stanley and, in an act of brotherly love, called to offer a kidney to his ailing twin.
"When I called to tell him that the test was 100 percent positive, he started crying and I was saying, 'Why are you crying?' And he said, 'Because this is the greatest news I've ever heard in my entire life,'" Stuart said.
Today, Stuart has one less kidney, and his brother, who experienced kidney failure six years ago, is finally starting to live a normal life again.
After his kidneys failed, Stanley was no longer able to urinate and was forced to spend four hours a day hooked up to a dialysis machine. Dialysis treatment replaces the kidneys' function as the body's filtration system. Side effects of dialysis treatment include muscle cramps, nausea and lethargy.
"I remember my brother before he was on dialysis, and grew up with him and saw he had a full life," Stuart said. "And then when he went on dialysis, his full, active life got reduced by at least 75 percent."
After six years, Stanley took a test to see if he qualified for a kidney transplant. He passed because the doctors recognized that his quality of life would drastically improve upon receiving a new kidney, according to Stuart. They also stated that his chances of living after the transplant were high.
Stuart said there was never a question in his mind of what he had to do when Stanley told him that he qualified for a transplant. Soon after hearing the news, he took a test that identified him as a kidney donor for his brother.
"I remember him calling me so excited that he was able to be a candidate," Stuart said. "When you become a candidate you either go on a waiting list -- and the waiting list is 8 years -- or you find someone to be a donor. So my next question was, 'What do I have to do?'"
The Nov. 13 kidney transplant, a procedure that lasted four-and-a-half hours, went well, with no complications, Stuart said. While Stuart was undergoing surgery, his wife, Adderly, was completing the couple's adoption of a baby from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. Stuart Lord declined to comment on the adoption.
According to Stuart, doctors said he would be able to leave the hospital three to five days after the operation, with a subsequent recovery period of three to four weeks. He remained in the hospital for 30 days, however, due to a post-operation complication called a bowel obstruction, a blockage of the intestines that causes vomiting and constipation.
Stuart's prolonged hospital stay was difficult, he said, but made easier by daily visits from family and friends. He remained off of e-mail and used the time, he said, to reflect on life.
"I think I learned a lot about what matters to me and I revisited with my core values," Stuart said. "If it wasn't for my friends, family and faith, there's no way I would have made it."
Despite the medical complication, Stuart said he does not regret undergoing the operation and has benefited from being able to watch his brother recover. Four months after the transplant, Stuart is in good health.
"We always talk about making a difference," Stuart said. "I think I have lived to see that I have made a difference."
