Match!

The DHL/genetic tissue/blood typing test that Scott, Anna and I did in August was to tell us if Anna's body would accept or reject an organ from either of us. We already knew that Scott and I both had O+ blood while Anna was B+. Although our blood types are not a direct match, Anna can receive blood/organs from O+ donors.

The first part of the test revealed that Scott and I would both serve as excellent donors for Anna. This was great news. Our blood work revealed that the blood test resulted in a negative (which is good) match to Anna's - we could both proceed in the donation process. The second part of the blood test was to identify what(if any) antigen match we would find between the blood samples.

We were told to expect a zero match with Anna on the antigen test because neither of us are blood relatives. Even with a zero match, this test would not exclude either of us from serving as an organ donor for Anna. This test is performed to let the medical staff know what anti-rejection meds to put Anna on once the kidney transplant is completed.

To our surprise, the test results revealed that Scott had a one out of six antigen match to Anna. This is pretty impressive considering they are not blood related. Remember, we were expecting a zero match.

The real surprise though came from my test results. Somehow my blood work revealed a four out of six antigen match to Anna. I'll repeat that FOUR OUT OF SIX! From what I've been told, this is highly unusual. Most siblings don't test this high, mothers and daughters don't test this high, sometimes twins test this high. I'm still beside myself over these results.

This is very very positive for Anna's overall health and recovery moving forward. Because we test so closely on an antigen level, she will not have to take as many anti-rejection meds for the duration of her life. She also has a much greater chance of accepting the kidney at the time of donation (even with a perfect match, her body could reject a kidney) and hopefully in the long-run, her body will keep the kidney for a longer period of time before needing a new one (if at all).

When Anna and I were younger, we pretended we were sisters. Our birthdays are only five short days apart and we used this information to tell each other stories that we must have been separated at birth. We also have matching butterfly-esque-shaped birthmarks. We were convinced of our sisterhood and this was the all proof we needed. Now we fast-forward to today and a genetic counselor is telling us that we are as genetically matched as twins would test. I think it surprised everyone -- except for me and Anna.

Scott and I had many conversations about who should proceed with the donation process and we concluded with the truly remarkable antigen test results that I would be the one to be Anna's organ donor. I know he wanted to be the one to do it, but this is just further proof that I'm supposed to do this for my best friend.

I go into the hospital in mid-September for an exciting day of testing. There will be more blood work, urine analysis, EKGs, MRIs, blah, blah, blahs. I don't even know - but it's going to be exhausting. As soon as the results come back (and everything looks good), we will get our surgery date scheduled. At this point, we are looking at October for the transplant. I'm thinking I might not need a Halloween costume, I'll just show off my scars :-)