‘He’s getting his life back, thanks to Amy’

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

CANFIELD

“Did you pee yet?”

That’s the first thing Amy Geskey said to Patrick Bokesch shortly after he received one of her kidneys.

“I vividly remember lying in my bed in the recovery room and watching the anesthesiologists wheel Patrick in after his surgery. I was so excited to see him and yelled across the room,” she said.

“Patrick gave me a thumbs up, and I knew that everything was going to be OK,” she said.

The surgery was June 30, 2009, at the Ohio State Medical Center in Columbus. Geskey is in her final year of medical school at The Ohio State University.

The saying “if at first you don’t succeed, try again” is an apt description of Geskey’s journey to give Bokesch a kidney.

Geskey’s first decision to donate a kidney to Bokesch was made when they were hanging out during the 2007 Christmas holiday and she learned of his need. She told him Christmas Eve she would give him a kidney, and the operation was planned for June 2008.

Geskey, now 27, was a neighbor of Bokesch’s while they were growing up, and his and Geskey’s parents, Audrey and Mike, still live on the same street in Canfield.

The testing process for Geskey was very encouraging at the beginning. But, on the final day of physical testing, doctors decided her kidney was not suitable for transplant.

To say Bokesch, 23 at the time, was disappointed is an understatement. “That was a bad day. It sucked,” he said.

Bokesch, now 25, had a dialysis port implanted, and though he did not require the procedure immediately, he was on dialysis from August 2008 to June 2009.

But Geskey didn’t forget.

About six months later, she was working with a pediatric surgeon at Columbus Children’s Hospital when the topic of her kidney donation came up.

“The surgeon’s husband is a transplant surgeon at Ohio State, and after speaking to her, I decided to get a second opinion from her husband. He was extremely confident that the surgery could be done laparoscopically, and I underwent another complete workup at OSU,” Geskey said.

Geskey called and said “how does June sound” for a transplant, said Nancy Bokesch, Patrick’s mother.

Geskey was back in her apartment two or three days after the surgery, but the post-operation period was difficult. She had reactions to pain medication but was “greatly improved” within 48 hours.

“Now more than eight months out from the procedure, I would absolutely recommend organ donation to others. I live my life as fully as before the surgery and have an even more-positive outlook on life,” she said.

Patrick Bokesch recuperated at home for most of last summer. He is a substitute teacher at Austintown Middle School and Fitch High School and went skiing with his father and aunt. He passed the Law School Admission Test and is applying for admission to law schools. He hopes to begin law school in September 2010, Nancy Bokesch said.

“He’s getting his life back, thanks to Amy,” she said.

Patrick is having some problems with anti-rejection drugs, as is his half brother, Joseph Turkle, 41, who is two years out from his kidney transplant.

Turkle and Bokesch were diagnosed with glomerulonephritis, also known as glomerular nephritis, within a few months of each other in 2004.

As with Bokesch, an old friend of Turkle’s, Rick Spitznagel, 41, learned of his need and offered a kidney, which was a match.

“We just pray every day for both of our sons. We’re very blessed, but there are times when we wonder why,” Nancy Bokesch said.

“We try to micromanage this ... try to not look too far ahead and keep a positive attitude and help Joe and Patrick stay positive,” she said.

A sense of humor helps.

Geskey sent Patrick a picture of her/his kidney at Christmas with a Santa Claus hat on it. They named it Sydney the Kidney.

“It’s always implanted in my brain that two wonderful people have made my children’s lives so much better,” said Nancy Bokesch, who urged people to consider being live donors.

Geskey, who will graduate from medical school in June and then start a residency in anesthesiology, said that when organ donation comes up in conversation, she puts her “two cents in about the incredible rewards of being a live kidney donor.”

“The best part of the process is that Patrick and I are both living healthy, normal lives and following our dreams like all young adults deserve the chance to do,” she said.

“I will encourage my children to be organ donors, and I would absolutely support them if they were ever in the position to become live kidney donors. I will encourage my children to make their own decisions regarding donation, but they will know mine and Patrick’s story and hopefully be proud of their mom someday,” Geskey said.

ORGAN DONATION

Anyone in Ohio can become a registered organ and tissue donor when renewing or applying for a driver’s license or state ID at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles; or they can register online at www.donateLifeOhio.org.

Ohio waiting list:

All organs, 3,078; kidney, 2,315; liver, 430; pancreas, 63; kidney/pancreas, 83; heart, 127; lung, 125; heart/lung, 3; intestine, 8.

Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana counties waiting list:

All organs, 196; kidney, 148; liver, 22; pancreas, 9; kidney/pancreas, 7; heart, 5; lung, 2; heart/lung, 1; intestine, 2.

Source: LifeBanc