When Kate Chong won a national cycling event last week, she rode with a piece of her husband Brian inside of her.
Not just in her heart and mind, but actually inside of her body.
The Coquitlam resident won the 20-km race July 3 at the Canadian Transplant Games held at UBC. Two days later, she came second in a 5,000-m running race.
It was an exhilarating feeling considering a year ago, her energy level was next to nil. But thanks to a generous gift from Brian, she has plenty to spare now.
But the journey to the start line was a lot longer than 20 km.
It was January 2011 when Chong finally decided to see a doctor about the headaches she’d been dealing with for months. Migraines had been the diagnosis but she knew that wasn’t right. She realized it was much more serious because the headaches were accompanied by influenza and her sight started to deteriorate.
It got so bad that Chong headed to Eagle Ridge Hospital’s emergency department, where doctors discovered her blood pressure was “sky high” for a 25-year-old. After some testing, she was asked if she'd had any issues with her kidneys — she hadn't — and told her she might need dialysis.
“It was a bit of a shocker,” Chong, 33, told The Tri-City News.
Eagle Ridge transferred her to Surrey Memorial Hospital, where staff got her BP under control. With medication and lifestyle change, she was able to avoid dialysis and live a pretty typical life for five and a half years, including marrying Brian in 2016.
Their bliss, however, was hijacked about 18 months ago when her kidney function began to suffer. A transplant was the preferred option, the doctors said.
Brian immediately demonstrated that he took the “in sickness and in health” part of the marriage vows seriously by volunteering to be a donor. He had a correlating blood type — that was Step 1. Other family and friends from across the country put up their hands, too. But his blood work was the first in the lab and after seven weeks of cross-matching, the couple found out last June they were not just a love match. He didn’t hesitate to donate and a September surgery date was set.
“Why wouldn’t I want my wife to be healthy,” he told her.
“That, too, was an emotional happy and scary thing,” says Chong of receiving an organ transplant from her hubby. “It’s hard to explain in words. It’s so humbling to know he’s willing to sacrifice [a kidney].
“For me, there’s some comfort in knowing who your donor is. I’m able to thank him every day and do the things we’re able to do together every day.
“Being able to go through surgery and recovery together at home, it’s a time most couples don’t get together. I have a little piece of him with me all the time.”
After the recuperation, she was back biking, hiking and running. No longer was she feeling tired after only short periods of exercise, which was exhilarating.
“It’s such a hard thing to explain. I feel like I’m back in my 20s again energy-wise,” says Chong.
Since they were close by, she had a goal to be ready to participate in the Canadian Transplant Games even though it was only 10 months after the transplant. Competing was exhilarating, too. Cheering supporters lined the 1.5-km lap bike route and she got a big boost from hearing other transplant recipients tell their stories.
“It was more inspiring watching all these other people and what they’ve gone through, many even more so than I have. It was super inspiring,” says Chong. “To have that ability to come together with other like-minded people who have gone through the transplant experience, it’s more about getting to meet so many people that have gone through it than it is about the medals.”
Being a transplant recipient has had a profound effect on Chong in more ways than one. Sure, the long process came with plenty of trials and tribulations. But it also came with many doses of joy.
“Having the support of family and friends has truly made it an amazing experience,” says Chong, who isn’t sure if she’ll make it to the 2019 World Transplant Games in Newcastle, U.K. but does plan to be at the next national one in 2020.
Being a transplant recipient was a life changer. Turns out it was a career changer, too. Chong recently left her position as manager of community relations at the PNE to become the manager of patient services for the Kidney Foundation of Canada’s B.C./Yukon division in Burnaby.
“I didn’t ask to have kidney disease but I honestly wouldn’t change it for anything.”
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