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43 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, January 24, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 17, 2004 Former North coach donates kidney to her ailing mother By BOB RODMAN for The Associated Press EUGENE — Marnie Mason’s decision to give a kidney to her ailing mother was, she says, a no-brainer. It also was an example of unqualified and unhesitating love by the former North Medford cross country and track coach. "She sure doesn’t have to get me any Mother’s Day gifts for the rest of her life," said Joan Wood, a longtime Klamath Falls resident who turned 70 after the recent surgery at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. The procedures went fine and both women are on the mend. "Her kidneys were deteriorating," said Mason, Wood’s 37-year-old daughter, who is in her first year as an assistant track coach at the University of Oregon after two years with the Black Tornado. "It was going to be either dialysis or a transplant. I offered her one of my kidneys. I never thought twice about it. If I could help my mom out, there was no doubt about what I was going to do." "I don’t look at it as me being some kind of hero or anything," Mason said. "I was with my father when he passed away. It brings it close to home, and you want to do whatever you can." Advertisement "It is so wonderful, this is so great, such a thrill," Wood said. "We have always been close. I imagine this will bring us even closer." The road to the transplant began some 15 years ago. The cause of Wood’s failing kidneys remains somewhat of a mystery "but last fall I really started going downhill," said the mother of three sons and two daughters. Her case of chronic nephritis — an inflammation of the kidneys — led doctors to tell her six months ago that she’d reached a crossroads. "A blood test showed the deterioration. But right away Marnie said she would give me a kidney," Wood said. The April 9 transplant was prefaced by a series of tests to assure organ compatibility and increase the chances of success. Doctors first took one of Mason’s kidneys in a two- to three-hour laparoscopic surgical procedure — and then performed another two- to three-hour procedure to place the kidney into her mother. The cost of the process, including evaluations, surgeries and postoperative monitoring, will run about $85,000 to $90,000 for the first year, according to Linda Cannard, OHSU’s kidney transplant coordinator, who has assisted Mason and her mother. "We do about 150 of these transplants a year," Cannard said, "and there are about 200 patients on the donor waiting list in Oregon. Nationwide, there about 59,000 people waiting." Wood’s initial reaction to the transplant offer was more about her daughter than herself. "Sure, my husband and I wanted to travel and do things, and dialysis would put a damper on some of that. But my main concern was for Marnie," she said. "How would all of this affect her? From what we’ve heard, it is not all that big of a deal, but I have been a little fearful for her." Cannard said there a lot of factors involved in donation decisions. "Family dynamics, fear of surgery and so on," she said. "But being able to see a loved one get back his or her health is a big motivator." The impact on Mason, who coaches the distance runners on the UO women’s track team in the spring and the women’s cross country team in the fall, is expected to be minimal, but the procedure and recovery will come amid the Ducks’ track season. Mason was a star high school runner at Klamath Union in the mid-1980s, winning a state 3,000 title in 1985 and a state cross country championship in 1983. Since her collegiate days at Brigham Young and Southern Oregon, Mason coached track and cross country at Klamath Union prior to North Medford. Cannard said the average time for full recovery is six weeks "but most donors are back at work in a couple of weeks." Martin Smith, director of the combined UO men’s and women’s track and field programs, said Mason’s gesture is a powerfully human one. "I don’t know if there are words that can effectively communicate a powerful message of love and commitment," Smith said. "This is an example of human beings at their best. It shows what we are capable of doing, and in Marnie’s case, the saving of her mother." Perhaps appropriately for a running coach, Mason takes the whole thing in stride. "Anytime you can be a factor in bettering someone’s life — whether by coaching, teaching or even this — I guess that’s what it’s all about," she said. All indications are that Mason will return to her normal life, her remaining kidney eventually increasing in size by one-third to help compensate for the loss of the other one. "Except no more full-contact sports," she said. Both mother and daughter have historically been healthy. Wood, who had her gall bladder removed last summer, was back in the gymnasium working out seven days after that operation. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? 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