Transplant called off for Huron teen

HURON — Days before a planned transplant operation to give a kidney to a Huron teen, surgeons at University Hospital in Cleveland called it off, saying the donor is no longer a good match.Surgery was planned on Monday so that Tammy Gaines, 48, Sandusky, could donate her kidney to Jacob Meadows, 14, Huron, who is on dialysis. The devastatingly bad news has relaunched the search for a donor, both for Jacob and his twin brother Cameron Meadows, 14, said Jillian Smith, the boys' sister. Donors are more urgently needed than ever.The Register reported in January that the two boys both badly needed donors to step forward, and then carried a follow-up report in October that Gaines, who works at the Ohio Veterans Home with Smith, had agreed to donate her kidney. People are born with two kidneys and ordinarily can donate one and do fine with the other.Tests had shown that the two were a good match, but a few days ago, follow up lab tests showed that was no longer the case, Smith said."The surgeons and medical team told mom that Jacob's body created more antibodies then it had previously had when they first matched him with Tammy. They were dumbfounded and retested the samples several times to be sure there were no errors," Smith said.It's believed a drug Jacob was taking to deal with his antibodies may have masked them instead, Smith said.The family had a hard time accepting the news and wanted more tests, she said."They are adamant," Smith said, referring to the doctors. "It would have been an instant fail."Jacob's family had planned a surprise party Friday at the Ohio Veterans Home to honor Gaines. When Gaines got the phone call from University Hospital about the surgery being canceled, she was extremely upset, Smith said.Jacob Meadows has been on dialysis for about a year, and Cameron may soon need dialysis, too, Smith said.Anyone with type A or O blood can be tested to see if he or she can provide a match, and the family hopes that more people will be tested to see if they can help Jacob or Cameron."Donations save lives," said Beth Meadows, the mother of the boys. "You have two kidneys. You only need one."Anyone in the U.S. can be tested, Smith said."A lot of people don't know that people from out-of-state can test," Smith said.If a match is found for someone far away from Cleveland, expenses will be paid for the person to come to Cleveland and have the surgery done, Smith said.Anyone willing to be considered may call Peggy Schuster, living donor coordinator for the University Hospitals Transplant Institute, at 216-844-5674. The matching test is a simple blood test.Many workplaces support organ donors and will work with the donor to provide leave, Smith said.For example, when Gaines volunteered her kidney and was trying to figure out how to take time off for the operation, her boss at the Ohio Veterans Home told her she would get six weeks of organ donor leave."I've been here 10 years and never knew about it," Smith said.Kidney donor Tammy Gaines of Sandusky, left, sits next to the teen she had planned to help, Jacob Meadows, and Jacob's mother, Beth Meadows. The operation has been scheduled for Monday, but has now been called off by doctors.