Jessie May Ventour: Giving the Gift of Life

Jessie May Ventour is a born communicator, delivering messages on a daily basis. She has worked as a broadcaster, a morning show host, a communications advisor, is now a producer, and is studying to become a Minister of the gospel. But one of the most significant non-verbal messages she has ever delivered was almost seven years ago when she donated a kidney to her younger brother, Matthew. “And I would do it again in a heartbeat,” she told WMN.

Ventour is an advocate for organ donation and encourages people to visit the National Organ Transplant Unit at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, to find out about becoming a donor. “It’s all about improving the quality of a person’s life, and in most cases, saving their lives.”

She recalled the day on which she gave her brother a little piece of her physical self and the chance of living a long, healthy life. She was 40 years old then and he was 29.

“December 1 will make it seven years since the surgery and we are both doing okay. There have been no complications, praise the Lord.”

Matthew had been diagnosed with renal artery stenosis, a narrowing of the renal artery that can impede blood flow to the kidney, resulting in renovascular hypertension – a secondary type of high blood pressure. In his case both his kidneys had been affected and at the time of his diagnosis he was required to go on dialysis.

He was on dialysis for almost four years when his sister decided to give him one of her kidneys. “It was the perfect size for him. Initially they thought it was smaller, but when they removed it, it was actually bigger than they thought it was and a perfect for him. It was as if it grew just to fit. Even before they attached it completely he started producing urine. The surgeon told me, ‘I wish you could grow kidneys so everyone who needs one can get one’,” she chuckled.

She remembered it was an extremely difficult time emotionally for them because their father had been seriously ill. “He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1993 and after aggressive treatment he went into remission for a few years.” Eventually, she said, the cancer had returned and had spread to his bones and brain.

“By the time 2010 rolled around he was told that he would have to continue treatment until he died. He decided not to continue.” She said her father died one week after she and Matthew underwent surgery. “It was as if daddy had just been waiting to make sure everything had gone well with the surgery before he left.

I remember the last thing we did for him before we left for the hospital for the procedure. I gave him a cup of milk to drink. Matthew adjusted his position on bed.”

She said Matthew was unable to attend their father’s funeral because he was still at the hospital. “I was at home recuperating when he died. Matthew had to spend more time in the hospital because it was a critical stage. They had to ensure that everything was okay, and his body did not reject the kidney. He was taken to the funeral home to tell daddy goodbye.

“It was a weird time. It was our first Christmas without him. Because we were so busy trying to recover from surgery we couldn’t feel the emotional pain because we were in physical pain and so drugged up. But when the grief hit… I just knew he would have loved to see Matthew with his functioning kidney.”

Ventour said so far everything has been great health wise. “God has been very good to me and I have enjoyed very good health. I sometimes get asthma when I get the flu, but it has nothing to do with the donation. Right now, daily life kicks me in the butt more than anything else,” she laughed heartily.

“Immediately after, I had to be monitored closely. But my kidney continues to perform well and so does Matthew’s. We have to be careful that we drink a lot of water to continue to flush our systems properly. I aim for two litres a day. I don’t neglect doing that. He can’t go below two and a half litres.”

A proper diet and exercise, she said, is also very important for both of them.

“Any problems I have with my weight right now is sheer laziness on my part. I eat well. I’ve been a vegetarian for 25 years. Of course, the obligatory chocolate from time to time.” She said Matthew has to exercise a lot of portion control because of the link between steroids and weight gain.

For her, walking is the easiest form of exercise, and when she feels motivated she does Pilates at home. “But I need to get a little more aggressive because I need to lose some weight. I’ve been told I look very ‘rosy’ these days. Although some people tell me I wear the ‘thick sauce’ well.”

To people who may want to become donors but may have concerns, Ventour advises, “The key is to love yourself as much as you love the person you donated to. Don’t be afraid. You can live life with one kidney if you take care of yourself. And when you feel the post-surgery pain, just think of the opportunity and the gift you gave another person.”

She said just seeing how her brother was transformed made it all worthwhile. “It was like he got brand new baby skin two weeks after surgery once he was able to drink water and flush out his system. It was amazing. Our human bodies are miracles. Living miracles. And this technology God has given us is wonderful. To make that choice to give is the most powerful thing any human being can do for another. “And there is also the choice of signing up to donate your healthy organs when you die.

Matthew has had a few “nuances” to which he has had to adjust, but he refuses to complain. “There have been no complications. I’ve just had to conform to having to pay attention to what I eat and some lifestyle changes, such as taking meds for the rest of my life or the life of the kidney and keeping my clinic appointments.”

His kidney, he said, is in “tip top” shape and he describes it as a “life changing gift”. “It just puts things into perspective, that someone can literally give up ‘a pound of flesh’ so that someone else can live. I will always be grateful to my sister. There are people who are not as fortunate as I am.”