Thanks for visiting our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place.
As you may know, my mom (Marie Ferraguto) had knee replacement surgery in December 2016. After the surgery, Marie acquired an infection that resulted in both of her kidneys failing. In February 2017, she began 3x weekly dialysis treatments and was soon declared a candidate for kidney transplant.
Matt was evaluated and approved as a kidney donor in January 2018. Despite Matt and Marie having different blood types, it turns out that Duke University is one a few hospitals in the country that will do a mismatched transplant, so Matt will be able to donate his kidney directly to Marie.
Our transplant surgery will be on Monday, June 11, 2018. The surgery will take 4-5 hours for each of us. Matt is expected to be in the hospital 1-2 nights, and Marie will be in the hospital 4-5 nights.
Matt's recovery is expected to take 4 weeks, and I'm hoping to return to work on July 9. Marie's recovery is expected to take longer--4-6 weeks.
We're very fortunate to have such a caring and supportive family and friends--Sallie will be Marie's primary caregiver during recovery, and Ann Permar (Sallie's mom) will be Matt's primary caregiver during recovery, with David Permar (Sallie’s dad) and Susan Permar (Sallie’s aunt) serving as backup. Matt's sister Terri will also be flying down to help both of the patients during recovery.
Sallie, Marie, and Matt will post updates on the surgery and recovery below.
