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Call it fate, or call it coincidence. Unlikely as it was, an order for IV dressings, an inspiring sermon and a service video led not only

to a bond between two unsuspecting sales reps, it also saved a life.

For years, Atlanta Dental sales & mar-keting product manager Mike McGuire watched his wife, Anisa, battle polycystic kidney disease – a life-threatening, he-reditary disease that has also afflicted her mother and two siblings. “The cysts grow larger and larger and eventually take over the kidneys,” McGuire explains. The opti-mal solution is a kidney transplant, which is difficult to make happen under any cir-cumstances. Anisa’s Indian heritage, how-ever, made it even more challenging to find a donor with a matching blood type. She faced a three-to-five year wait, he says.

“Anisa began dialysis about a 1 ½ years ago,” says McGuire, noting that dialysis re-quires the patient to have a temporary port placed in his or her chest – a procedure that can lead to a difficult-to-control infection. “I watched this happen to Anisa’s brother, and I was determined it would not happen to Anisa as well,” he says. So, he placed an or-der for the IV dressings and some numbing cream through Crosstex. By chance, Cross-tex sales rep Marel De Jesus noticed the or-der and learned of Anisa’s plight. “And so began an incredible chain of events,” he says.

“Marel is young and has two young children to consider,” says McGuire. “It’s difficult for [people] to make such a major decision and we were concerned for her.” In addition, she had never met Anisa, he

By Laura ThillFollowing the SignsAn exceedingly generous gift brings three people closer together.

Marel (right) donated her kidney to Anisa (left), who battled polycystic kidney disease.

Anisa McGuire and Marel De Jesus meet for the first time.

12 Dental Explorer | Four th Quar ter 2013

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13 Dental Explorer | Four th Quar ter 2013

points out. In fact, he had only met Marel a couple of times. Still, De Jesus couldn’t stop thinking about Anisa’s situation, and how she could help. Then a couple of things happened. First, De Jesus heard a sermon at church about following – and acting upon – signs. Together with the sermon was a video about how others have responded to signs and, by doing so, have helped people in need.

“The video could have been about anything – even do-nating food to a food pantry,” McGuire points out. “But the video she watched happened to be about a man who donated his kidney to a stranger.” De Jesus was convinced: Helping Anisa was the right thing for her to do. “The signs couldn’t have been more evi-dent,” he says. “Marel couldn’t ig-nore the action they were prompt-ing her to take.”

A difficult journeyAs proud as he was of his wife’s strength and perseverance as she battled her illness, it pained him to watch her struggle. “Anisa was on dialysis three days a week,” Mc-Guire recalls. Throughout it all, she continued to work full time as an executive assistant to the chief clinical officer at the corporate of-fice of a long-term care company, in spite of the scary and debilitat-ing side effects from her illness. One of her greatest challenges was the rate at which her kidneys grew. The oversized kidneys were pushing on Anisa’s other organs, making her even more uncomfortable. And, to add insult to injury, well-mean-ing people were advising her to exercise and lose weight. “When your spouse is going through this, you feel helpless as you watch [him or her] suffer,” he adds.

Dialysis helped, but even that wasn’t challenge-free. In addition to risks of infection, the proximity of the chest port to the aortic artery is a potential danger. So, three months be-fore dialysis can begin, the doctors create a fistula – where they tie together a vein and an artery – on the patient’s arm. “This

provides a safer way to dialyze,” says McGuire. In Anisa’s case, the first fistula was unsuccessful, and the doctors had to follow up with a second procedure.

“It was a difficult time, but Marel entered into the picture about three months after Anisa began dialysis,” says McGuire. It was overwhelming to think that someone would even con-sider doing this for his wife, he notes. “I barely knew Marel at the time,” he says. “She left me a voice message. When I didn’t return her call, she called me back and floored me when she said she was donating her kidney.” And, while some people may

have good intentions but understandably are not able to fol-low through, De Jesus had already contacted Emory University Hospital about being tested to see if she was a matching blood type with Anisa. “Marel called with the greatest gift we would ever receive. The experience [would] bring us close together.”

A twist of fateEverything appeared to be on schedule for a June 2012 kidney transplant. But, when De Jesus’ son became ill, the procedure had to be placed on hold. Six months later, in

Marel and Anisa, just before the transplant.

“ She left me a voice message. When I didn’t return her call, she called me back and floored me when she said she was donating her kidney.”

– Mike McGuire

December 2012, De Jesus donat-ed one of her kidneys to Anisa. “When we returned in December for the transplant, we had a new doctor – Dr. Kirk,” says McGuire. This physician happened to be involved in research regarding the body’s ability to accept a new kidney. “Twenty patients prior to Anisa had successfully completed the research program,” McGuire says. “Anisa was to be the first pa-tient on the second set of 20 pa-tients approved for his study!”

“She is using a new anti-rejec-tion medicine,” McGuire explains. “These new medications appear to have fewer side effects and may not require the patient to take them throughout [his or her] life.” That’s great news, considering that traditional anti-rejection medications are associated with such side effects as bloating, cancer or kid-ney failure. “Dr. Kirk’s goal is for his patients to be weaned from these new medications,” he says, adding that it’s all a big balancing act. “Anisa still requires monthly anti-rejection therapy, along with oral medication, but it’s less [than she would require] had she not been involved in the trial. If the transplant hadn’t been delayed, we wouldn’t have [been as-signed to] Dr. Kirk, and Anisa never would have received these new drugs.”

Within a month of her transplant surgery, Anisa needed emergency surgery to remove her old kidneys, which by now had become enlarged to a dangerous size, resulting in an in-cisional hernia. (While it is typical for the failed kidneys to

be removed after the transplant surgery – rather than during the transplant – to help avoid the introduction of bacteria, Anisa’s kidneys were too enlarged to permit her to wait any longer.) “By the time they were removed, her kidneys were 36 times their normal size,” says McGuire. “Anisa came out of surgery 35 pounds lighter.”

Slow, but steadyFollowing the transplant, De Jesus has recovered well. As one might expect, Anisa’s recovery is taking longer, but this time there’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Since the sur-gery, the McGuire and De Jesus families have met and look forward to celebrating together soon. “We are better for this experience,” says McGuire. “It’s been an amazing journey.” And when he considers the way it turned out, he asks himself, “Was this fate, or was it coincidence?” [FI]

Editor’s note: For information regarding Emory Healthcare’s kidney donor program, visit http://www.emoryhealthcare.org/transplant-center/index.html?gclid=CKSvgrvvwrYCFRRwnAodAFUAGw.

Anisa and Mike, celebrating with son Shaz and daughter Karishma.

Since the surgery, the McGuire and De Jesus families have met and look forward to celebrating together soon.

“We are better for this experience,” says McGuire. “It’s been an amazing journey.”

This article has been reprinted with permission from First Impressions Magazine, June 2013.

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