It\u2019s National Donate Life Month and Dwight Otani, the CEO and owner of D. Otani Produce, wants people to know the importance of becoming an organ donor after receiving a kidney from his son in January.<\/p>\n
For Mitchell Otani, a state firefighter, the decision was simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an opportunity for me to do something that is within my capability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He had no hesitation in getting screened to be a potential donor for his father, who was undergoing dialysis.<\/p>\n
Hawaii has a high prevalence of factors that can lead to kidney failure that include type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, alcohol consumption and unhealthy diets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an absolute need for organ donations,\u201d said Dr. Felix Lung-Yi Lee, a Queen\u2019s Medical Center transplant surgeon and director of Queen\u2019s kidney transplant program. \u201cWithout people willing to donate, our patients will suffer on dialysis and do poorly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don’t miss out on what’s happening!<\/p>\n
Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It’s FREE!<\/p>\n
In his specialty, Lee said more than 300 people are on the waitlist for a kidney transplant, far exceeding the number of patients waiting for a combined kidney-pancreas transplant or liver transplant.<\/p>\n
Kidney failure is known as \u201cthe silent killer\u201d because there are no obvious symptoms and usually gets detected through blood work that measures whether a kidney is healthy or failing.<\/p>\n
A Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) measure of 90% or higher indicates a kidney is functioning normally. Even a GFR rate that falls to 30% often won\u2019t give a patient signs of kidney failure, Dr. Lee said.<\/p>\n
Even when a GFR number falls below 20%, \u201cthey may just feel fatigued or weak with swelling in the legs or feet,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThey\u2019re bloated everywhere and basically have to start dialysis at the very end-stage of the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
Preparing for surgery<\/p>\n
Dwight Otani had no symptoms until his feet and hands began swelling and grew darker in color. He stopped drinking 15 months ago \u2014 his drinks of choice were wine and champagne.<\/p>\n
When his GFR plummeted to 10, Dwight\u2019s doctor at Queen\u2019s became more urgent in recommending transplant surgery using a kidney donor, possibly from one of his four children, three of whom work with Dwight in their Kalihi headquarters and warehouse.<\/p>\n
Mitchell, 43, was the healthiest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re looking at the possibility of diabetes in your future,\u201d he said. \u201cThey look at high blood pressure and all of those important things that help your kidney function overall.\u201d<\/p>\n
His Queen\u2019s health care team also wanted \u201cto make sure that post surgery we\u2019re going to be OK living your life with just one kidney,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mitchell underwent six months of testing while preparing his wife and three children \u2014 ages 3 to 15 \u2014 of the potential downsides of undergoing major surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the operation, anything can happen,\u201d he said. \u201cThose things are scary, you know. But I told them, \u2018Papa needs help.\u2019 I was telling them, \u2018He\u2019s done so much for us, his kids, and if this is the only way I can give back to him then this is what I\u2019m going to do.\u2019 \u2026 I was 100% physically prepared and 100% mentally prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dwight Otani had begun dialysis treatment for kidney disease in August.<\/p>\n
In late January, both Mitchell and Dwight were wheeled into surgery for the transplant.<\/p>\n
Dwight, 70, now wears protective gloves and takes antibiotics to ward off infections, along with medications to prevent his body from rejecting Mitchell\u2019s kidney.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also had to eat healthier and can no longer enjoy bloody rare meat. While in his hospital bed at Queen\u2019s, he called the chef at the Pacific Club on prime rib night and had him prepare a cut that was well done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018Brother, you need to make me one prime rib. But it has to be cooked well done\u2019 and he brought it well done,\u201d Dwight said. \u201cIt was horrible. It was like eating beef jerky. And he gave me the end, so it was even worse. But now I\u2019ve learned how to cook and cook it right and everybody\u2019s on this journey \u2014 even the chefs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son has given me life again,\u201d Dwight told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser following the transplant.<\/p>\n
When he saw Mitchell days later for the first time after surgery, Dwight said his first words to his son were simple, but heart-felt:<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018Thank you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Saving strangers\u2019 lives<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one thing to donate an organ to a family member or other loved one.<\/p>\n
But Brandi Mikami \u2014 a 27-year-old, third-year medical student at the University of Hawaii\u2019s John A. Burns School of Medicine \u2014 has undergone months of screening and testing to donate her bone marrow or stem cells to two different patients she\u2019s never met.<\/p>\n
Mikami was vacationing in New York in 2023 when she was asked to undergo further testing after she matched with \u201ca very young girl with some sort of blood cancer\u201d who apparently lived in the area.<\/p>\n
After six months of phone calls, screening and testing, the girl\u2019s family ultimately went with another donor, likely because of Mikami\u2019s childhood history with Grave\u2019s disease, an autoimmune disorder, she believes.<\/p>\n
Mikami knows nothing about her other, more recent match, including where he or she lives.<\/p>\n
But she\u2019s willing to start the process over, including the possibility of traveling to the mainland again, if it means helping someone whose life she can possibly save, or at least make better.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a young age, I\u2019ve always wanted to step in to help people,\u201d Mikami said. \u201cNo one ever said, \u2018You should help other people.\u2019 If I saw a stranger fall down, something about me wants me to get more involved than I have to. That instinct has matured, especially as I\u2019ve gone into the medical field and can see medical needs. I think my classmates feel the same way. It takes a specific type of person to become a medical student. The goal at the end of the day is to provide that help.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Hawaii, an estimated 80% of transplanted kidneys come from deceased donors, making living donors highly sought-after, Dr. Lee said.<\/p>\n
Deceased donors often are elderly and may have died from the same sorts of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure that plagues Hawaii and can lead to kidney failure, Lee said. \u201cThere\u2019s a reason they died,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Living donors can be more thoroughly screened for their health histories, lifestyles and compatibility with recipients to better ensure their organs will not be rejected, Lee said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe only choose the healthiest people,\u201d he said. \u201cIdeally they will be a living donor. There\u2019s always a need for living donors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ongoing need <\/p>\n
Mitchell Otani stays in shape for his job as a state firefighter stationed at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, eats healthy and doesn\u2019t smoke or drink.<\/p>\n
Healthy family members like him typically represent the best hope to match an organ donation with a family member while reducing the chances of the organ being rejected, Lee said.<\/p>\n
But the ongoing need for donated organs in Hawaii \u2014 especially kidneys \u2014 means that complete strangers are also needed, he said.<\/p>\n
Lee called donors like Mikami \u201cthe most altruistic people. I know many cases where people donated to a complete stranger they know nothing about.\u201d<\/p>\n
In one instance, Lee said, a restaurant customer learned of his server\u2019s need for a kidney and agreed to be tested and ultimately had one of his own surgically removed.<\/p>\n
As children, Lee said many people are raised \u201cto be altruistic and change the world. This is a way for them to contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n
So he called April\u2019s National Donate Life Month \u201ca call to the public to volunteer as an organ donor or be willing to be tested.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mikami\u2019s interest in health care began as a child while being treated for Grave\u2019s disease, starting at age 12 or 13. \u201cThat shaped my life in pretty significant ways,\u201d she said. \u201cI always wanted to do the same thing for other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her interest in becoming a donor began when her UH anatomy and physiology professor \u2014 Dr. Jason Higa \u2014 offered extra credit for students who signed up for the national bone marrow registry.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be able to provide that help for someone I thought would be really rewarding,\u201d Mikami said. \u201cInitially, I didn\u2019t know a whole lot about it. All I knew is they needed something to live.\u201d<\/p>\n
The process to donate bone marrow or stem cells can be painful, followed by a week or so of recovery, Mikami said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a low cost to me to be able to prolong somebody\u2019s life,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s painful but I always think it\u2019s temporary and I\u2019ll heal from it. It doesn\u2019t feel odd. It doesn\u2019t feel strange. I\u2019m all in for it. If I can, I should. Why not?\u201d<\/p>\n
Higa told the Star-Advertiser in a text that, \u201cWhen we first held a donor drive after class, I have to admit that I was disappointed to find out from the program that some students matched, but backed out at the last minute.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, knowing that Brandi matched multiple times and remained 100% committed to donating every time makes up a thousand times more for that, and it really shows her dedication to saving lives and helping the local community.\u201d<\/p>\n
BECOMING A DONOR<\/p>\n
For more information on becoming an organ donor, contact legacyoflifehawaii.org<\/a>; visit queens.donorscreen.org<\/a> or call Queen\u2019s Transplant Center Organ Donation at 808-691-8897.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s National Donate Life Month and Dwight Otani, the CEO and owner of D. Otani Produce, wants people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[6813,97],"class_list":["post-587422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-editors","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}