It’s all in Doreen Silva, 39, of Paia, Maui, didn't ask for a kidney when hers failed. "I just thought I'd be on dialysis the rest of my life," she said. But her ohana thought differently. Her mother, three brothers and friends began calling to volunteer their kidneys.
the ohana
A patient's brother donates
Record year for transplants
a kidney while family and
friends raise funds to helpBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comHer youngest brother, Saturnino Magalianes, 37, was the first to be tested. He was a perfect match.
"The other two brothers were waiting in line. They said, 'If he doesn't match, we'll,'" Silva said.
Her calabash ohana -- an entire Maui surf community -- thought differently, too. That ohana -- which is connected to the Maui native through the family's love of surfing and swimming -- pulled together to raise funds to make the transplant a reality.
The transplant, performed Oct. 29 at St. Francis Medical Center, was a success, and Silva's health has improved steadily.
COURTESY ST. FRANCIS MEDICAL CENTER
Doreen Silva got a kidney from her brother, Saturnino Magalianes, below.
Silva said she thought she was "just a normal (healthy) person" but began having headaches in August last year. "It was really bad in December. In January I got really, really sick. When they took a blood test, my kidneys had failed."
She said she developed high blood pressure because of pain from the headaches, and her kidney failed because of hypertension from the high blood pressure.
She was on the verge of quitting her job as a Title Guarantee escrow assistant to concentrate on her son's high school graduation when she became ill, she said. Silva and her husband, Jeff, have a daughter, Lani, 20, and son Kawela, 18.
She was admitted to Maui Memorial Hospital, then rushed to Honolulu and placed on dialysis. "I was in real bad condition, anemic from throwing up."
She remained in Honolulu on dialysis for two months, waiting for a space at the St. Francis dialysis center on Maui.
"When we found out both of her kidneys shut down, we just went to see if we could help her," said Magalianes, production manager for Maui Custom Countertops. His secretary, Ivy Paleka, went with him to be tested but wasn't a match.
Meanwhile, the community rallied to help Magalianes and his wife, Heidi, cover travel expenses and pay bills while he missed work for the transplant operation and recovery.
"Everybody knows him because we hang out on the beach a lot," Silva said. His daughter, Mariah, 11, surfs and his wife swims.
"You just build friends. They all help each other out," Silva said. Her brother also is noted for his homemade laulaus, which he sells as a sideline, she said.
Their brother Isaac, who lives on Maui, also is well known, she said. A third brother, Glen, lives on the Big Island, and a fourth, Damien, is in Rhode Island.
Their parents, Janet and Tony Magalianes, live on Maui, She is a Maui girl with a lot of family in the area, Silva said.
The family crisis spurred the community to organize a fund-raising surf contest at Hookipa Beach Park. Donated items for prizes ranged from backpacks and T-shirts to a longboard and insurance for the contest.
Magalianes said they held an event Oct. 5 at the Paia Community Center with food and entertainment and set up five tents for the surf contest Oct. 19 and 20.
The contest was canceled on the 19th because the waves were too high, but the fund-raiser was "an amazing success," he said. Even tourists contributed money.
A huge jug was placed on the driveway with a donation sign and people got out of their cars to drop money into it. Magalianes said they collected about $1,000 in that jug alone.
He said they exceeded their goal, raising enough to help cover his family's expenses and defray his sister's travel costs.
He was released from the hospital Friday after three days. "Very impressive," said Kelly Kindle, transplant coordinator for the case at St. Francis.
Silva was discharged Monday, and Kindle saw her in the outpatient clinic Tuesday. "She's doing well, a little sore, but that's to be expected," Kindle said.
They are staying with family on Oahu until cleared by their doctors to return to Maui.
Dr. Whitney Limm was chief transplant surgeon for Magalianes. Dr. Alan Cheung was Silva's surgeon. Both doctors are with Surgical Associates.
Silva said she feels better every day and that her family has noticed improvements in her skin and appearance. "Thanks to my brother. I'm so dedicated to him. ... He's like a hero to me.
"They (doctors) just smile every time they see the results. This kidney is just so healthy, it's doing wonders for me. I just hope I didn't take the better kidney from him.
"I can't wait to go back to surfing. I'll start on the very small waves, like the white waters. I'll lie down and drag myself in," she said, laughing.
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A record-high number of 52 kidney transplants have been performed this year at St. Francis Medical Center, but it hardly made a dent in the waiting list. Record year for kidney
transplants at St. FrancisAbout 337 Hawaii patients need kidney donations.
Of the kidney transplants this year, 16 were from living donors, said Kelly Kindle, transplant coordinator.
The highest number of kidney transplants previously at St. Francis was 49 in 1999.
For more information about kidney transplants, call the Transplant Institute at St. Francis, 547-6624.
Star-Bulletin staff
