{"id":10526,"date":"2012-01-16T11:57:03","date_gmt":"2012-01-16T16:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=10526"},"modified":"2012-01-31T16:41:14","modified_gmt":"2012-01-31T21:41:14","slug":"a-kidney-for-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/a-kidney-for-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"A kidney for Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy The Mennonite, Jan. 2, 2012
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

This Christmas season, Laurie Miller<\/a> decided to give the gift of life\u2014to a total stranger. He underwent surgery on Dec. 8, 2011, in order to donate his kidney to someone he\u2019s never met.<\/p>\n

<\/em>\u201cI\u2019ve been blessed all my life with really good health,\u201d said Miller, on Dec. 29, 2011. \u201cI just felt like some people just don\u2019t have that.\u201d Miller is director of student programs at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va.<\/em><\/p>\n

Miller has wanted to do this since 1999 when Ken Schuler, also from Rockingham County, Va., donated a lobe of his liver to a stranger in Virginia Beach. At the time, Schuler\u2019s daughter attended Broadway High School where Miller was working as a guidance counselor.<\/p>\n

In December 2010 Miller started undergoing the required tests for a kidney donation at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Va. The process took about six months, beginning with the least invasive tests and building up to MRIs and other such analyses. UVA assigned Miller his own advocate to ensure rights and objectivity, and the recipient\u2019s insurance covered all medical costs; Miller only had to pay for transportation.<\/p>\n

Because he had been told to expect to be off work for about four weeks after the surgery, Miller decided not to squeeze it in at the end of the summer. Rather, he waited for December when he knew he would have enough time to recover. But barely more than two weeks later, he could \u201chardly tell I had the surgery\u201d except for a bit of soreness and scarring.<\/p>\n

Miller had a good recovery, which he attributes to his good physical condition prior to surgery. He was up and walking after two days, and going for hour-long walks every day just two-and-a-half weeks later.<\/p>\n

Miller does not know who received his kidney, as UVA keeps donors and recipients anonymous for one year after the procedure. This not only protects the donor in case the recipient\u2019s body rejects the new kidney, but also reduces emotional stress on the recipient, who already has plenty to deal with. After one year recipients are given the option to contact their donors.<\/p>\n

For the time being, \u201cyou sort of just hope that it worked,\u201d said Miller, and \u201chope that they can enjoy their life a little more as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Miller, UVA has about 500 people on their waiting list for kidney transplants, but they only receive about 40 living donations each year. Only two of those exchanges have remained anonymous in the last two years.<\/p>\n

Knowing this exceeding demand, Miller encourages others to donate organs as he has.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people are so inclined, there is a big need for it,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople seem to think it\u2019s a really big deal, but it\u2019s not a difficult process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller spent only two days in the hospital and less than three weeks recovering. But as with any significant surgery, he points out, there is some risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very tangible donation, even if you don\u2019t know the recipient,\u201d Miller said, that will \u201cmaybe even save their life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy The Mennonite, Jan. 2, 2012 This Christmas season, Laurie Miller decided to give the gift of life\u2014to a total stranger. He underwent surgery on Dec. 8, 2011, in order ... read more about A kidney for Christmas<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":10544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,5642],"tags":[8173,14086,14622],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-10526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-faculty-and-staff","tag-faculty-and-staff","tag-laurie-miller","tag-student-life"],"yoast_head":"\nA kidney for Christmas - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/a-kidney-for-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A kidney for Christmas - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Courtesy The Mennonite, Jan. 2, 2012 This Christmas season, Laurie Miller decided to give the gift of life\u2014to a total stranger. 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