In the back of her mind, Judy Anderson believed she’d been sent home again on that February evening.

She had a pot of chili on the stove at 5:15 p.m. when she got a call from the transplant coordinator at the University of Minnesota Hospitals.

They told her they had a kidney for her, and asked if she could she get there by 9 p.m.

Of course, tests once she got there would determine if the kidney was indeed a good match. &uot;In the back of my mind, I didn’t think it would be a good match,&uot; she said. &uot;When I got my first kidney back in 1991, I was sent home five times prior to that because it wasn’t a match.&uot;

Because of complications of diabetes, Judy received her first kidney transplant 12 years ago. &uot;It was a cadaver kidney from the Rochester area,&uot; she said. &uot;It worked great until 1999.&uot;

That was when Judy was in a car accident, and was pinned behind the steering wheel of her car. She had contusions in the area of her kidney, and after that, its function began to decline.

She started receiving dialysis in 2001, and was put on the waiting list for a transplant.

&uot;I was told there was a four- to five-year waiting list,&uot; Judy said. &uot;I didn’t think I would get one this early. If you’re not seriously ill, you wait your turn.&uot;

While she had lists of people to call if she should get the transplant call, Feb. 18 turned out to be bad timing. People weren’t home or had already made plans for the evening. Finally, the Peer Counseling director located one of her volunteers who agreed to drive her to Minneapolis.

&uot;We got up there by shortly after 9,&uot; she said.

There were many tests, and it was after 2 a.m. when she learned it was a match. &uot;I sat with the chaplain for a couple hours, and I was scheduled for surgery at 8 a.m.,&uot; she said.

She expected the second surgery to be much like the first. That time, the kidney was extremely large, and the transplant took 5 1/2 hours.

This time, it took 12 hours, Judy discovered when she when she awoke two days later. That was because Judy had received not just one kidney, but two, in what’s known as a bilateral transplant.

&uot;My doctor told me it was very unusual,&uot; she said. &uot;It was only the second one he’d performed.&uot;

Normally, people can get along just fine with one functioning kidney, she said, so when there’s a pair, two people generally get transplants. But her doctor believed she was a good candidate for two kidneys because of her background. &uot;If one of these failed, I’d still have a backup,&uot; she said. &uot;My doctor told me that’s probably last me the rest of my life.&uot;

Recovery time was a lot longer than with the first transplant, Judy said. She spent two weeks in the hospital. The kidneys didn’t begin working right away, and even &uot;slept&uot; for a few days. After she came home, there was still a lot of pain, she said.

She began to suffer from hydronephrosis, where her kidneys would fill up with too much fluid. Her ureters had developed scar tissue, which made it necessary for her to have nephrotubes for nine weeks to help drain the fluid.

&uot;The nephrotubes were pulled out right before the fair,&uot; she said. &uot;A renal-gram showed the kidneys were functioning properly.&uot; She is down to one lab appointment a week, and hopes that as things continue to improve, those appointments will become fewer and fewer.

Her lengthy recovery time forced her to leave her Peer Counseling position at Senior Resources, and she misses the people there. But she has goals.

An avid crafter and crocheter, Judy is already thinking of what she’s going to take to the Freeborn County Fair next year. She’s also planning to teach Sunday school again.

Her first goal was always to be a nurse, and she took all the necessary classes except her clinicals. &uot;So maybe next year that’s something I can pursue, or maybe I can use my degree in counseling,&uot; she said.

Judy recently wrote a letter to the family of the woman whose kidneys she received. While she sent it through the transplant coordinator and regulations prohibit her telling them her identity, she hopes she’ll hear from them someday.

&uot;Last time, I wrote the letter right away, but I didn’t hear back for four years,&uot; she said.

&uot;It’s such a wonderful gift. I want to thank them for what they’ve done.&uot;

(Contact Geri McShane at lifestyles@albertleatribune.com, or call 379-3436.)