Woman Needing Kidney Donation Has Passionate Advocate Whose Life She Saved

By ERIKA ANDERSON, Staff Writer

Published: December 18, 2003

ATLANTA—It would be the best Christmas present this mother could receive.

But the gift that Cindy Gough needs is more than a simple gift one can pick up at the mall.

Gough needs the gift of life. She needs a kidney.

Three years ago, The Georgia Bulletin ran an article and family photo with a plea for readers to consider becoming a donor for Gough, a mother of three and a parishioner of St. Peter Chanel Church, Roswell, who suffers from an inherited kidney disease. No one in her family is a compatible donor.

Pat Cusack, a parishioner of St. Jude the Apostle Church, Atlanta, was one of the potential donors to come forward. And the turn of events that followed left Cusack grateful for his own life, but determined to finish something for Cindy he could not accomplish on his own.

“When I saw Cindy’s picture in the paper with her kids, it struck a nerve with me,” he said.

He was raised, he said, that if one is able to help someone, they should do all they can.

So Cusack started the four-step process involved in the donor program that begins with an interview, a complete medical history and a blood test. Of the people who came forward, he was the only match.

After formally consenting to be a donor, he underwent two days of detailed testing that made sure he was in good health and able to handle the harvesting process, which involves being in the hospital for five to seven days. The last part of this phase involved a stress test.

“I run 10 to 15 miles a week, so I figured the stress test would be no problem,” he said.

But Cusack was wrong.

What doctors first called a “small problem” turned out to require immediate open-heart surgery for a quadruple bypass. His arteries were 90- to100-percent blocked.

“I was stunned,” Cusack said. “I don’t smoke, I run, and I have maybe one glass of wine a month.”

The IBM project manager was disheartened to learn that because of the surgery, he could no longer donate his kidney to Gough. But that hasn’t stopped him from trying to help her.

Cusack has begun writing letters, speaking to neighborhood groups and parishes hoping to find a donor for the woman, who, it turns out, saved his life.

Gough is on a waiting list for a kidney from a compatible donor with any B or O blood type. She is in renal failure and must undergo dialysis treatments three times a week.

“I get more fatigued now and I have a hard time staying awake for long periods of time,” she said Dec. 15. “I spend a lot of time napping.”

Gough’s oldest child is 13 and she also has a set of 5-year-old twins. She said that her children are used to her schedule and are helpful.

Gough has known about her illness since she was in her mid-20s, but it worsened after the birth of her twins. As a result of her last pregnancy, her body has built up antibodies that will attack foreign bodies introduced into her system. Only a small percentage of the population with her blood type are acceptable matches, which makes finding a donor a challenge.

But Gough is hopeful. She said she has had “wonderful support from various parishes,” who have put her on their prayer lists.

“Prayer really does give you hope,” she said.

When the last article appeared in The Georgia Bulletin, Gough said, 30 to 40 people came forward to be tested. She is hoping again for a similar response.

“It’s just so comforting to know that there are people out there who are willing to help someone in need,” she said.

Her husband has made his e-mail address—

jamesgough@mindspring.com—public to anyone interested in becoming a donor. Potential candidates must be approximately 20 to 60 years old and in good health.

For more information about going through the donor evaluation process, call Gough at (770) 642-6405.