Published: April 03, 2007 10:20 am      

Couple doing well after kidney transplant operation

It’s not too surprising that former Goshen resident Jim Mauter is a happy man these days.

After receiving a new kidney in September, he’s returned to work and his life in better shape than he’d been in recent memory.

Jim learned in June 2005 that glomerulonephritis had been replacing his healthy kidney cells with scar tissue for years before the symptoms sent him to his physician for a diagnosis. He was advised at that point he had very few options for recovery.

He could be placed on a live-donor list or a cadaver list or hope someone who matched his blood type would be willing to submit to the extensive testing, surgery and recovery required to become a kidney donor.

“It’s not a simple process,” Jim said.

While Jim struggled with his physical health that summer, his girlfriend Alicia Wood tended to him and the mountains of hospital, insurance and technical forms required to pass through each phase of his treatment.

“You couldn’t believe how much we had to learn,” Alicia said.

Immediately, Alicia wanted to be tested to see if she was a match for Jim, but he wouldn’t allow it. Jim placed himself on the cadaver list and braced himself for the possibility of being on dialysis for three years before an organ was available.

“Eventually I convinced him to let me be tested, and the doctors said there couldn’t have been a better match,” Alicia said.

The next few weeks were a flurry of tests and trips to Chicago and Indianapolis before good friends hosted a benefit for Jim and Alicia at Peddler’s Village to help them recover some of the costs of the upcoming surgeries and to pad their recovery at home.

It was at that time, Jim saw his opportunity to show his own gesture of faith and love to Alicia. He proposed in front of all who were in attendance that night.

“I was completely surprised,” Alicia said.

“We’d talked about our future before that night, before we knew how sick I was, so it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing,” Jim said. “We knew where we were going together.”

Jim said that after all the media attention, some people drew their own conclusions about he and Alicia’s relationship.

“It wasn’t an exchange,” he chuckled.

On Sept. 8, 2006, with the help of 14 surgeons, one of Alicia’s kidneys was removed and placed less than an hour later in Jim’s body.

“I was up and out of bed later that night,” Jim said.

Overnight, Jim’s new kidney removed more than 12 gallons of fluids and toxins that his failing ones couldn’t, even with the assistance of dialysis.

“I felt great,” Jim said.

Alicia, however, wasn’t as fortunate.

“It took me five or six weeks to recuperate — it was bad,” Alicia said.

Doctors underestimated the strength of her abdominal wall, and Alicia, a bodybuilder, endured many weeks of pain while her body repaired itself.

“I felt bad that I was doing so good and she was so bad for a while,” Jim said.

Once recuperated, the couple celebrated with a Jamaican wedding on Dec. 4, 2006.

“We needed the break,” Jim said.

Today, Alicia is feeling better, Jim is back to work, and laughs when he says he’ll be there for a while.

The couple’s medical bills for the transplant alone topped $425,000, not to mention the $55,000 for Jim’s three months of dialysis. Even with insurance, the 30 percent co-pays are going to be costly.

“What’s it worth, though? He’s healthy, everything is good, and I’d do it all over again,” Alicia said.