Sister Gives Brother Kidney

By Steve Pardo

The Detroit News

When Missy Coon learned her brother, Andrew Ricotta, needed a kidney transplant, she didn't hesitate in offering up one of her own.

The siblings and their spouses flew out of Detroit Metro Airport last week. And today, doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston will transplant one of Coon's kidney's into her brother in the lifesaving operation.

The brother and sister are able to have their spouses there for the operation in Massachusetts as support thanks to Northwest Airlines.

In an unusual move, the airline gave the foursome what came out to be a 75-percent discount on the tickets for a flight to Boston, saving the couples about $3,000.

Unlike discounts for bereavement or even discounts so people can fly out to adopt children from other countries, there are no policies in place for discount fares for organ donors. The airline had to make a special exception.

Ricotta, 28, suffers from a hereditary disorder called polycystic kidney disease.Over time, cysts grew in his kidneys, causing them to shut down. For several years, he was able to lead a normal life, graduating from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and working as an electrical engineer for Trio Tool in Livonia.

But about two years ago, his health began to deteriorate. Tests at Beaumont Hospital - Royal Oak showed he had bone marrow problems in addition to kidney failure. After treatments at Beaumont and the University of Michigan Health Systems, he was sent to specialists at Massachusetts General. Doctors removed his spleen, which helped, but time began running out for his failing kidneys.

Missy Coon, 25, was among several family members tested. She is free of the hereditary disease and turned out to be a perfect match. Because doctors at Massachusetts General were familiar with Ricotta, it was decided the transplant should be done at that hospital.

"There was no question about it, none at all," Coon said. "I'm glad to help him."

Her decision was absolute. And her husband knew better than to even try to argue -- not that he would.

"She pretty well decided I wasn't part of the decision," Steve Coon said. "I'm proud of her, and I put a lot of faith in the medical staff."

Kidney transplants are the most common type of organ transplant, with more than 12,000 people receiving a transplant annually.

If all goes well, Missy Coon should be ready to come home by Saturday. She'll have only a three-inch scar on her lower abdomen thanks to a relatively new procedure called laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy.

The procedure involves small incisions where cameras are inserted into the body. During most of the operation, the surgeon operates by looking at a television monitor, said Dr. John Powelson, the clinical director of renal transplant surgery at Massachusetts General's sister hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Ricotta could be home in about two weeks. He and his wife are looking forward to a normal life.

"I'm just looking to stay out of hospitals for a while," Ricotta said.

Copyright © 2000 The Detroit News.

This article posted June 25, 2000.