Lori Watt, CUPE BC
Speaking from the poolside of her West Hollywood sublet, Lori Watt evidenced all of the energy and enthusiasm which has made her singular – and busy – life possible.
“Well, as you can tell, I’ve generally always got something going,” she laughed.
In addition to her full-time job as Confidential Secretary at the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) BC Division and COPE 378 Job Steward, Lori is a New Westminster School Trustee, an accomplished actor on stage and on screen, and a single mom to her son, Derek. Her West Hollywood poolside phone break came between classes at the noted acting coach Ivana Chubbuck’s Studio on Melrose.
But Lori is remarkable for another reason. Last year, she became one of about 500 Canadians to become a live kidney donor.
Lori first was first introduced to fellow thespian Nathaniel Deveaux in 2008 by a friend who was a student of his at Schoolcreative, a Vancouver acting school. Shortly afterwards Lori and her friend asked Nathaniel to direct a play series entitled the Museum Project. The Museum Project debuted at the Havana Theatre on Commercial Drive in May of 2009. The next month, in June, Nathaniel went into full renal failure.
Without his kidneys, Nathaniel became dependant on dialysis to clean his blood and remove toxins from his system. Dialysis required Nathaniel to be hooked up to a machine in a hospital for three to four hours a day, three times per week; a lifesaving, but intrusive and cumbersome process. The dialysis impacted Nathaniel’s ability to teach and his overall quality of life. “I remember at one point he said to me, Lori, I’m gonna need a donor. I asked what blood type he was,” Lori recalled.
Their blood types matched. After some more reflection and quite a bit of research, Lori decided living donation was something she was meant to do. “We met and started working on this project together, and then he got sick,” she said. “I felt as though it the right thing to do.”
Lori admits some members of her family were concerned. “My mom was pretty worried. And I wanted to know, what would happen if my son ever needed a kidney? But my doctor pointed out that by the time he was old enough to be at risk, I probably wouldn’t be the best donor.” Buoyed by her research and her doctor’s support she continued on her path.
The donation was coordinated through St. Paul’s hospital in Vancouver. Lori and Nathaniel went through extensive testing to further ensure their compatibility. Lori pushed for an early surgery to give her ample time to recover before the CUPE convention and on December 15th, 2009 she and Nathaniel underwent transplant surgery.
The donation went as well as it possibly could have: “It took right away,” said Lori. While Nathaniel will still have to take anti-rejection drugs, he quickly regained his health. He credits Lori with changing his life.
Lori lives life much as she did before the surgery. “Oh, I’m careful to be healthy and watch what I eat,” she said. She was been tested post-donation to find her kidney function and all other results are normal and good. As for side effects: “If I do get tired, I notice that I have to rest now. But I’m still a very active person,” she laughed. “Beside everything else, I still play tennis and work out.”
Her advice to anyone considering live donation? “Go for it. It’s an amazing honour to make such a difference in someone’s life.”
Lori lamented the difficulties faced by people with kidney disease. “I can’t imagine how people without job security or decent sick benefits manage,” she said, pointing out how much a collective agreement and union benefits can help in these and similar circumstances.
Lori and Nathaniel stay in touch. Recently his brothers were visiting from the U.S. and wanted to meet her. “They hugged me and told me I’m part of the family now.”
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3,000 Canadians were in need of a kidney transplant in 2007, according to the most recent statistics available to the Kidney Foundation of BC. But only 1,200 transplant surgeries were performed. Living donors supplied 483 of those kidneys and only 19% were from non-spouses or biologically unrelated donors.
In July of 2006 the Kidney Foundation of BC piloted a program to reimburse living donors for many of their expenses, such as travel, accommodation, meals, and a portion of their lost income. The program has been a resounding success and continues to this day.
Since then Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Alberta have adopted programs based on the BC pilot.
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