🍁 💚 Thank you for walking with me!

Carly and Jay are part of our family, and in 2023 Carly donated a kidney to Jay, her husband.

I’m grateful they’re willing to share a little about their kidney donation & transplant story. 
I hope their experience helps others better understand living kidney donation and the positive difference it can make 💚 

~

Q: What motivated you to donate a kidney to Jay?

Carly: My daughter, Taleah. Of course, I wanted to save my husband, but she was really my strength and the catalyst behind my decision to donate. I wanted her to live life with her dad, and I was terrified of the trauma she could experience if she lost that relationship. Becoming a donor was about saving Jay, but it was also about protecting the future I wanted for our daughter and our family.

"Bringing new life into the world post-transplant. When you're in thick of it, life feels gloomy. Once you reach the other side, life gifts you with miracles. Proof that a transplant is more than an organ. Our son wouldn't be here had I not donated."

Q: How has kidney donation had a positive impact on your family?

Carly: We're now coming up to three years post kidney transplant and we are living an entirely different life! We completed our family in March 2025, when I gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby boy. I was so fortunate to have a normal and healthy pregnancy without any complications despite being high-risk. 

And, Jay is healthier than I've ever seen him. He's full of energy, doesn't get headaches anymore, his blood pressure is stable, and he's mentally and emotionally living life to his fullest -- we all are, and we couldn't be more thankful to the entire transplant team at St. Joseph's hospital including our surgeon, Dr. Rahul Bansal for giving my husband his life back and our family a chance at being together again. I may have donated my kidney, but without their education, experience and skillset, we would be in a very different, and scary situation.

"Picture taken one day before our surgery."

Q: What are some things that Jay is able to do now that were harder for him while he was on dialysis?

Carly: He can do pretty well anything now! The only thing we both have to be careful with is not having ibuprofen, and no contact sports where we could risk injuring our healthy kidney. He wasn't living life fully on dialysis. Yes, it's better than nothing as it keeps you alive, but he couldn't swim with the type of dialysis he was on, he was super low energy, and had a strict nightly routine with his treatment plan. Imagine a life with a toddler never being able to take your daughter to the beach? That would be so sad. Now they go swimming together every week, and it's the simplest yet most rewarding experience being able to parent fully and without restrictions.

I have no regrets and would recommend to anyone that they consider donating! 🩷

"This picture was taken a few hours after our surgery."

Q: What was surgery and recovery like for you?

Carly: When I first woke up, the pain felt as intense as labour pains. Once the anesthesiologist got me on the right pain medication, though, I felt a huge amount of relief. I also asked for nausea medication so I could sleep, which really helped me get through those first few days.

I would say the pain was intense until day five, and then it significantly subsided. By day eight, I was mostly dealing with air and gas pains in my abdomen and shoulder. By two weeks, I was significantly better.

The pain was gone fairly quickly, but it took longer to feel completely like myself again. My energy was low for nine weeks, before it all came back. I just had my annual check-up with Dr. Miller, and he said I'm perfect healthy! :)

"Holding hands through recovery once we were both cleared to leave the hospital. I was cleared first, Jay came home a few days after me."

Q: Was there anything about kidney donation that surprised you?

Carly: How transformative it would be for me as a person. Life has more meaning now. It sounds cliché, but knowing that I saved my husband's life—and my children's father's life—gives me an immense sense of pride.

I've already accomplished something in this lifetime that is far greater than I ever imagined I was capable of doing. I went into the experience thinking about what I could give to someone else, but I didn't realize how profoundly it would change me, too.

"Both of us are healthy and thriving. Our creatinine numbers are great and we are both healthy, happy, and safe. A true blessing considering we almost lost Jay in 2023. 🩷💕"

Q: How has donating a kidney made you feel?

Carly: It's made me feel like a hero. I know that sounds cheesy, but it's difficult to explain what it feels like to see the impact of your decision transform someone's life right in front of your eyes.

On the day of surgery, I watched my husband go from being incredibly sick to smiling again. The paleness was gone, there was colour in his face again, and you could actually see the difference.

I also remember seeing the medical team in awe of what I had done, while I was standing there in awe of them for making all of it possible.

It's hard to put the experience into words, but donating made me feel like I had reached my full potential as a human being.

Q: What would you want someone considering kidney donation to know?

Carly: I would want them to know that being scared is completely normal. It's a big decision, and there should never be any pressure to donate.

But if you're healthy, you've gone through the testing process and you're eligible to donate, you have the opportunity to make an extraordinary difference in another person's life—and, in my experience, in your own life too.

You'll never be quite the same afterward. There is an incredible feeling that comes from knowing you've done something so beautiful and profound for another person. It's almost like you walk through life afterward knowing you have a secret superpower.