Westbrook Man Takes Part in Historic Kidney Donor Swap

Jeffrey Wood, a Westbrook resident who participated in what is being called the "biggest kidney donor swap" of its kind last week (the CBS Morning Show's segment on the event can be seen here), wrote an e-mail to me last week from Washington, D.C., where he was recuperating from his surgery:

The visionary behind this exchange is Dr. Keith
Melancon, a surgeon who I connected with following a similar exchange that he
and his team performed last December, which was reported on MSNBC. After an
initial phone interview, I traveled to DC for an extensive physical &
psychological screening this past February, followed by months of follow-up
blood testing and patient waiting. Dr. Melancon totally gets the community
thing, going around bureaucratic restrictions to weave together a group of peeps
that not only exchange organs, but also come to meet and know one another. He
also allowed my friend and professional photographer, Connie Reider, to
accompany me throughout this journey, including the operating room where she
snapped hundreds of still shots which I have not yet had the inkling to look at
(pain still much too fresh and present).

Video of Wood's pre-operation interview with Dr. Melancon can be seen here.

(Update: ABC News also has a story on the event.)

- John C.L. Morgan