Local woman excited to be living kidney donor

COEUR d'ALENE — Tosh Opsal is going to save someone's life, and she's willing to give her right kidney to do it. Literally.

The Coeur d'Alene resident is scheduled to fulfill her mission on March 17 of being a living organ donor. It's been a dream of hers for several years.

"I’m definitely honored. I’ve always wanted to do something bigger than myself that’s selfless, something that nobody can pay back, that they don’t need to," Opsal said, seated in her living room among her family the evening of Jan. 22. "Everybody should have the right to have a normal life and not live off a machine."

A few years ago, Opsal was living in upstate New York and saw on Craigslist that someone was seeking a kidney donation. She contacted the person who posted the ad and volunteered to be the donor.

Opsal went to the hospital, where doctors conducted tests and lab work. They found that she wasn't a direct match for the person needing the kidney, but informed her she could still donate on that person's behalf.

"She wouldn’t receive my kidney; we would go into a 'donor swap,'" Opsal explained. "That’s pretty much where I would be compatible with someone else who needs a kidney and they have a donor as well that's not compatible, so it could be a swap all the way from two up to 20-something people."

Opsal went through the necessary steps to prepare, but eventually the patient decided to go through a different medical provider, so her kidney was no longer needed.

But the desire to give that much of herself for someone else never went away.

"I told (the hospital) that I’d already gone through all the testing and everything, so regardless, it’s still something I want to do in life," she said.

Opsal got involved with the National Living Donor Assistance Center to continue her journey until she could go through with the donation.

In December, she received a call that a positive match was found and a potential recipient was waiting for her kidney in another donor swap.

"That's literally the only way that some of them will ever get a kidney," she said. "When I went for my pre-op, they were telling me that without me, most likely these people would never be able to receive a kidney. I have a rare blood type so it's harder to find a match with certain people. Literally, by me doing this, I’m saving four people’s lives, not just one."

Opsal reported that she has undergone several medical checks through this process and has always had a clean bill of health.

"Not many people are able to do this, especially this day and age, all the crap that we’re fed," she said. "So many people have so many health problems. I’m very fortunate to not have one, besides back problems, but that’s just physical. Not many people are where I’m at; I’m healthy and I know later on in life I’m not going to have any issues."

She has also spoken with a therapist to make sure this is something she won't regret. Even though she is a little nervous, "it's more exciting than anything."

"Obviously when it happens, yeah, it’s going to suck; there’ll be a little bit of pain, but it will all be worth it," she said.

Opsal will travel to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where she will undergo the procedure and spend 10 days recovering. She'll be taking it easy for about eight weeks when she returns, taking time off from her car detailing business until she is healed.

"I don’t think it has to be a scary thing," said Tosh's wife, Sarah. "Everybody at the hospital, everybody at the agency she went through for funding, they walk you through everything, every step of the way.

"This is above and beyond us. Family comes first, but how can you compare giving life outside of your family?"

Through the National Living Donor Assistance Center's Living Donor Assistance program, Tosh will be receiving a small amount of funding to offset travel and lodging costs. However, she's not being paid for the donation and will suffer loss of income while she recovers. Being a living donor can be spendy, she said, and a lot of people have to pull out because they can't afford travel, medical and lodging fees.

To compound things, their family, which is renting, was told they have just a few weeks to find another place to live.

"They don't pay you for time off," Tosh said. "For the first two months, I won't really be able to work."

Through it all, Tosh's family is extremely supportive of her decision.

"I knew probably the first week that we met that she had been doing ongoing testing and everything, and how can you tell somebody 'no'?" Sarah said. "I’m there to support her 100 percent. I’m her wife and I stand by her. Of course, she’s saving a life and I’m not going to be ‘that guy.'"

Their son, Dakotah, 16, and daughter, Romie, 10, both expressed their joy at being a part of the process.

"It makes me proud to know that Tosh is the wife of my mother and I am related to her," Dakotah said. "I can say that, 'My mom just went and donated a kidney.' Even saying that gives me a 'wow' factor. It’s strange and it’s almost empowering.”

According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 120,000 people are waiting for lifesaving organ transplants. Of these, nearly 100,800 await kidney transplants. The median wait for a kidney is nearly four years. In 2014, more than 17,000 kidney transplants took place in the U.S. More than 11,500 of those kidneys came from deceased organ donors while 5,537 came from living donors. Every day, 13 people die while waiting for a kidney transplant and every 14 minutes someone is added to the waiting list.

"After we die, our bodies are just really nothing to us, what goes on is no attachment to our body," Tosh said. "If you can save a life, then do it. Just because you don’t know the person, I mean, it could be your family that needs a donation."

To learn more about being a living donor and transplant information, visit www.livingdonorassistance.org or www.kidney.org.