12/12/17 — Woman donates kidney to cousin's husband

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Woman donates kidney to cousin's husband

By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on December 12, 2017 5:50 AM

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T.D. Bryant of Goldsboro, left, and her cousin's husband, Chris Puckett, are pictured in the surgical waiting area before being called back to surgery this past August, when Bryant donated a kidney to the Baltimore man.

T.D. Bryant has always had a close-knit family, and this year its bond got even tighter.

Sometimes the ties that bind, though, go beyond biological connections.

And time folks get to spend together.

After a few absences at family functions, her cousin's husband, Christopher Puckett took to Facebook to explain why -- he had kidney disease and was in need of a kidney.

"He really wasn't requesting anybody to donate, he was just explaining because he knew probably everyone was questioning because he was usually always there," said Bryant, who lives in Wayne County.

Puckett lived in Baltimore, Maryland. He had been a nurse in the military and continued in the profession. But now he was tackling the battle as a patient.

"I read the message two or three times, like, really? This is really happening?" Bryant said. "I sat there, and I read it, and I kind of thought about it."

The next morning she awoke with one thought -- to get tested to see if she was a match.

"I just believe family takes care of family," she said. "I love my family.

"And even though he was not biological, he's been there for so long."

She called her cousin, Chris' wife, Tracey Puckett, after sharing her intention with her parents and three children. She requested more information about getting tested.

Bryant then set up an appointment at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and by the end of June was undergoing tests to see if she was a match.

"It was kind of a long day," she says now. "I think they took like 23, 26 vials of blood because they test for everything. It's like you get a physical when you do something like this.

"I had to talk to a psychologist, social worker and surgeons and then they assign you a primary doctor and you talk to them as well, and this is all in one day."

About two weeks later she received a call telling her she was a match.

She was beyond excited, she said. Not only because she could help her cousin-in-law but she knew they both shared the same blood type -- O-positive, which can be a donor for others but not everyone can be a donor for them.

"I told my family I was a match," she said. "I told my parents, my kids, my sister, my boyfriend. I called my cousin and told them I was a match. It was like big excitement all around.

"I told them I was going to do it -- all we needed to do was discuss a date."

In late summer she underwent another "long day" of pre-op tests to make sure nothing had changed healthwise and that she was prepared

"This time they took 16 vials of blood, and we talked to the physicians again," she said.

The kidney transplant surgery was done Aug. 31. She stayed in the hospital three days, her cousin closer to a week.

Everything exceeded their expectations, she said.

"They said right away when they hooked the kidney up, it was working like it was supposed to," she said. "I have to go back again in March for the six-month checkup and again for a year checkup.

"Physically, I can't really tell the difference except for the minor aches now and then. I was told that nothing will change for my lifestyle."

The detention corporal with the sheriff's office works at the new jail in Goldsboro.

She is 44.

Puckett, she says, would have turned 52 on Dec. 17.

"He lived until Sept. 12," she explained. "But from my understanding it had nothing to do with the kidney -- it was natural causes."

The unexpected turn of events still stings, she admits.

Their bond had been "incredible" and the loss has been profound.

"When my cousin called to me he had passed, I think I kind of took it harder than she did, which probably wasn't the case since she'd been married to him for over 30 years," she said. "It took me a minute to deal with it. I just couldn't imagine. It felt like a part of me died."

In spite of how things turned out, she says she has no regrets about stepping up to donate a kidney to Puckett.

"If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would because I just felt honored to do what I could to help my family," she said. "I actually, I do feel peace. From listening to my aunt and my cousin, the one thing they told me was, don't think for a minute you didn't help because believe it or not, those were the best 12 days he'd had in a long time.

"I know I tried and for a brief moment, no matter how brief it was, it did help him."

She clings to that and the memories of time spent with her precious cousin-in-law, she said, including phone messages and text messages along the way. She still has the last voicemail he left on her phone, two days before he passed.

In the message, he reassured her that he was OK and did not want her to worry.

"I don't want to delete it," she says of being able to still hear his voice.

Her hope is to continue to find ways to honor Chris, be it through volunteering with kidney patients or encouraging others to get tested to be a donor.

And if she didn't realize just how much family support meant before, she definitely does now.

"Just the comments on how strong I am and how I was brave, that they couldn't do it but to me it wasn't really about that. My answer will always remain the same -- I love my family and I would do it again. No doubt," she said.