Who in your life is kidney worthy?
3:05 PM Fri, Jan 09, 2009 | Permalink
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Can you demand your kidney back once you've given it away? Who would you give your spare kidney? You might have plenty of Facebook friends, but how many would qualify for your spare kidney? Is anyone in your life, as Seinfeld's Elaine Benes might say, "kidney worthy?" Some of us at projo.com were prompted to mull these questions after we learned of the strange case of the Long Island surgeon and his allegedly unfaithful wife. Dr. Richard Batista, who's embroiled in a nearly four-year divorce proceeding, wants his estranged wife to return the kidney he gave her, because, he says, she went out with his transplanted kidney and cheated on him, according to an Associated Press story. My colleagues Pam and Maria say you just can't ask somebody to return a kidney once you've given it away. I'd agree with them in most cases, but I think Batista has a compelling case. If his estranged wife wants a new boyfriend, or even a new husband, she can court him using somebody else's kidney. Maria wonders why we're even reading about Dr. Batista and his former kidney. Why did he go public with his demand? After all, he's likely to get back out on the dating scene at some point, and now his prospective dates will know he's the kind of guy who'll give you a gift then try to take it back. But I think it could help him. We guys are sometimes accused of being shallow, unable to commit. What better way to prove your ability to commit, your romantic nature than by saying you'd donated your kidney to your ex? Of course, nobody here thinks Batista has much of a chance of getting back the kidney. Even the doctor realizes that and says he'd be willing to take $1.5 million instead. My co-worker Pam takes perhaps the most practical view of all. If Dr. Batista doesn't have an extra kidney to give his next potential paramour, she just might conclude, "What good is he?" 
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I think the Doc is wacked. He shouldn't expect either the kidney or money for the kidney (i believe it's illegal to sell your organs).
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I think that the Dr. should get the kidney back. Think about what the kidney has been though. He, Mr. Kidney( we can give him the title seeing he came out of the man's body) has been in and out of one body and had to acclimate to another. He's had to be inside her body while she cheated on him, all the time wondering if he, Mr. Kidney, was also being unfaithful to his original master. Can you imagine what Mr. Kidney must have been feeling while she went around with another man? That's like taking a man's dog with you while you cheat on him. Give him his kidney back, along with his dignity and his dog if you took that too!
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Hey Jack,
This pathetic story wouldn't be so hilarious, if you or someone you love needs a transplant. Literally tens of thousands of people in the US are sitting on dialysis machines three times a week for three hours. Why? Because not all Americans will sign a donor card when they apply to renew their driver's license. Consequently, if they are, God forbid, tragically killed transplant cordinators at the hospital are forced to ask the grieving family, at the worst possible moment, if they'd be willing to allow the hospital to remove any undamaged organs for the benefit of those whose lives depend them. In many cases the answer is no because the deceased did not sign a donor card or didn't make his wishes known, and the family is reluctant because they may view the idea of "harvesting" organs as a desecration of the deceased's body.
In October 1997 a 26 year old woman who was tragically killed in a car accident in Texas. The lives of eight people were forever changed by this generous act. I was one of those people. I received a kidney, a perfect match 6 out of 6. The odds of this happening to a non-relative recipient living in Rhode Island are astronomical. Without her generousity I could have been on the list for another 3-5 years. Instead I was able to rebuild a small, failing RI non-profit into a large, vibrant organization, and then move to Europe where I helped to build a Czech-owned small business. I'm now teaching at an international school in Europe. All of this happened because a young woman made a very generous decision.
If everyone made the simple but generous decision to sign a donor card, many of the people who are waiting for a life-saving transplant would be doing what God gave them the ability to do. Pretty hilarious isn't it?
Rick
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My husband gave his father a kidney almost 7 yrs ago. He even missed the birth of our oldest because he was out of state recovering from donating the kidney a few days prior, and our son came a month early. Unfortunately, the kidney failed about 3 yrs ago and my father in law is back on dialysis. No one else in the family has stepped forward to donate another one, and so he sits on the donor list again.
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