Susannah McKenzie-Sutter has lost one of her kidneys but says she feels more whole than ever.
The 29-year-old Saint John woman became an organ donor last month for her cousin in Ontario, who needed a kidney transplant.
McKenzie Smith, 40, of Kitchener was in end-stage kidney failure from a genetic form of chronic kidney disease.
Her kidney function had dropped to about four per cent, and doctors predicted she would be in full kidney failure within months.
“It doesn’t really feel like a loss to me,” McKenzie-Sutter said of her donated kidney. “It feels more like a gain because I was able to really help my cousin’s life.”
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Susannah McKenzie-Sutter, 29, of Saint John, says she has no regrets about donating one of her kidneys to her 40-year-old cousin from Kitchener, McKenzie Smith, who was in end-stage kidney failure and needed a transplant.
Smith said the transplant, performed Aug. 13 at the London Health Science Centre, has been life-changing.
Her new kidney started working right away, she said, according to the creatinine levels in her blood work. Creatinine is a waste product used to measure how well the kidneys are doing their job of filtering waste from the blood.
“For reference, a normal person’s creatinine is usually between 80 and 100” micromoles per litre,
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