Health: Friend knew that she would be a donor match

Three years ago, two First Nations women in British Columbia were complete strangers. Today, one woman is planning to give the other the ultimate gift–the gift of life.

When 19-year-old Alissa Derrick of the Wetsuweten First Nation in Smithers, B.C. met Adrienne Charlie in 2009 she had no idea that the 33-year-old would play such an instrumental role in saving her life.

The two met at an Aboriginal study space during their first year at Langara College, and became instant friends. So when Derrick began to suffer health issues and was diagnosed in the winter of 2010 with an aggressive form of kidney disease, she was lucky for the support of Charlie, her newfound friend.

But unlike others faced with a health crisis, Derrick didn’t have the emotional support of her immediate family, other than that of her grandmother. Her biological father, who was Vietnamese, passed away in 2007, and her mother, who is First Nations from Haida Gwaii, has a mental disability as a result of being hit by a car when Derrick was a child.

Derrick, who has been on her own since she was 15, also said many of her old friends turned their backs on her through the ordeal.

“I pretty much lost all of my high school friends after I told them I was having a transplant,” she said.

But family is what you make it and Derrick’s group of college mates stepped up to fill the void.

“My family has become people who aren’t my [biological] family,” Derrick said. “I’m more comfortable with these people I’ve known for less than two years,” she added.
Charlie is part of that new family.

“She told me her story and I said, ‘I’ll be your mom,” Charlie explained. “I take care of everybody,” said the mother of two.

Derrick’s newfound circle of friends has been her primary support group through her health difficulties; a few even stepping up to offer their kidneys to Derrick.

But the young woman admitted that when she was initially told that she would need a transplant, she considered ignoring the life-saving surgery.

“I wasn’t going to have [a transplant] at first, to be honest,” she said.

“I was so tired of the hospital appointments, the blood work, the whole experience and getting cut open and the lifestyle changes I was going to have to make with it,” she said. “It was a really rough period.” Derrick explained the health crisis was compounded by a break up with her fiancée and various financial issues.

But support and encouragement from friends helped Derrick realize she had no choice but to follow through and find a suitable donor.

Charlie said that when she realized Derrick’s need for a transplant, she instinctively knew she would become her donor, despite facing scepticism from physicians.

“The doctors thought I wasn’t going to be a match,” said the Squamish First Nation woman. “They told me ‘You two are not related [and] she’s Vietnamese.”

But Charlie wasn’t backing down.

“I told them right from the beginning that they might as well schedule us [for surgery] in June because that’s going to give us enough [recovery] time to go back to school in September,” she said.

And Charlie was right.

After filling out a lengthy medical and lifestyle questionnaire and going through invasive examinations and blood tests, Charlie was informed in May that she was a donor match for her new adoptive daughter; a daughter she lovingly calls her “mini me.”

“When they told me I was a match I called Alissa and told her and we cried on the phone,” said Charlie.

I just knew I could help her,” she added, while joking that she has two kidneys anyway.

Humour aside, however, the seriousness of the issue is not lost on the women.

“Right from the beginning I’ve been scared,” admitted Charlie.

“We’ve been good at being ‘light’ about this situation, but we both know that we’re both scared. We just don’t talk about it,” said Derrick.

“We mask it with humour,” interjected Charlie.

But beneath their therapeutic jokes and smiles, it’s clear the women are good for each other’s morale during this difficult time and it’s that kind of positivity that will get them through their arduous post-surgical recovery period.

Doctors say post-surgical recovery will take between six to eight weeks, but Derrick thinks that estimate is generous.

“I think Adie and I will recover faster,” she said, confidently.

While she knows that she will overcome this obstacle, Derrick also knows her ordeal is far from over. The young woman will have to take anti-rejection pills daily for the rest of her life and she will always be at a greater risk of cancer and kidney failure.

However, with an estimated 99 per cent transplant success rate, other concerns are insignificant to Derrick right now and she maintains that right now she is just thrilled and thankful to have a second chance at life.
“I get to experience what other people get to experience,” Derrick says of her future. “I get to experience having kids and getting married and graduating school,” she added.

“It’s hard to describe how grateful I am,” she said of Charlie’s kidney donation. “There’s no gift I could ever give her [in return]. What do you give a person who gives you your life?” she asks quietly.

But Charlie, who lost a very close friend to kidney failure, says the final outcome of this situation will be her biggest reward.

“I’m doing it because she get’s life,” she said.

“She just works so hard [and] she didn’t give up. Some people wallow in self-pity, but she doesn’t. She didn’t stop and she just deserves to do more,” Charlie said.
“We just know it’s going to work,” Charlie added with a smile.

“Yeah, we’re going to be ok,” nodded Derrick.

The kidney transplant surgery is scheduled for June 27 at St Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. Along with donating her kidney, Charlie has hosted various fundraising events to help support Derrick in her recovery.