Curtis Newbold literally got a second chance at life when his friend, doctor and Omega Psi Phi fraternity brother Dr. Delon Brennen, donated a kidney. Dr. Brennen, who is currently the chief medical officer at the Ministry of Health in The Bahamas, stepped up to the plate when Curtis was diagnosed with renal kidney failure in 2008 and was in need of a transplant.
The decision to give a kidney was an easy one for Dr. Brennen, who believes if roles were changed Curtis would have done the same. After all, they were more than just fraternity brothers and Dr Brennen knew he had exactly what Curtis needed.
Prior to being diagnosed with kidney failure in 2008, Curtis had been hospitalized and was on dialysis. Sometime later, Curtis traveled to the Cleveland Clinic where doctors concluded he would need a donor or spend the rest of his life on dialysis. Three days out of every week, for four hours Curtis underwent dialysis treatment. He was determined not to let the condition beat him.
“My mindset was I was not going to allow this to defeat me. The support I had from family and friends was what helped greatly along the way. At the end of the day they would not allow me to be around moping and pitiful,” Curtis told Tribune Health.
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While in Cleveland, Curtis’ name was submitted in the databank for persons in need of an organ transplant.
If Dr. Brennen hadn't step forward, Curtis could have easily been on a waiting list for almost five years, according to Dr Charles Modlin, kidney transplant specialist at the Cleveland Clinic where Curtis’ surgery took place.
Dr. Brennen was tested thoroughly at the Cleveland Clinic to ensure that the removal of his kidney would not result in the deterioration of his health.
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“They don’t only test you to see if you are compatible but they need to make sure that if they take out one of your kidneys you are not going to crop out and die,” he said. The test results came back normal and both Dr. Brennen and his friend Curtis were ready to get through the process.
“There wasn’t really a whole lot of preparation for me given the fact that he was sick for as long as he was. We had the type of friendship where we would do anything for each other," remarked Dr. Brennen.
"You have to sacrifice things in life for your family, for your friends and this was no different. This was one of those instances where, if I have it and I can give it to someone else to make their lives better I would. That does not necessarily mean my life is going to be worse if I give it to someone else. That was one of those times where I knew for sure that if it were me in that position he would have put himself in that position. It was a very easy decision to make truthfully, and that is not to belittle other people’s decision because I know a lot of people have decisions that they need to make in order to consider donating,” he said.
“The pure consideration of what [donating an organ] is going to do for that person is a big motivator because to see that person’s life change from what it had become to essentially getting back to normal. What you do have to prepare yourself for as well, is that there is no guarantee that anyone’s organ is going to take and there will not be any complications or issues. So what you have to be prepared for is that you may give up your organ and it may get...
... rejected. That organ is not of any use to the person and that would be a hard pill to swallow because that person did not get any better and you still went through all the headache of the process,” he said.
However, none of that stopped Dr Brennen from trying because at the end of it all Curtis got the kidney he was in need of and is now his doing well.
“I am perfect today. Every three months I do a follow up in Florida and every six months in Cleveland. Life is great right now. It is a blessing knowing that I am pretty much doing the same things I have been doing before all of this happened. In all of this I want to say God is awesome and I want to thank my brother for giving me life,” he said.
The original article is published here.
Visit the BlackDoctor.org Kidney Disease center for more articles.
