Miami Wife's Kidney Gives Family New Life

MIAMI, FL — A suburban Miami wife and mother gave up a kidney to save something even more precious — her family.

"I didn't think that I would ever possibly be a match so I didn't even put any mind into it until I realized that that was a possibility — and then there was nothing else to it," explained Gabriela Valdes of Kendall, Florida who underwent a kidney transplant on March 20 to save her 38-year-old husband's life.

"He's my husband. He has to live," insisted the 36-year-old nurse, speaking at Jackson Memorial Hospital earlier this week. She wanted to call attention to April’s “National Donate Life Month” observance. "He's the father of my three beautiful children and there was nothing to it. I just went along with the process and didn't give it much thought."

The couple learned that Abel Valdes suffered from chronic renal failure — also known as chronic kidney disease — around the same time Gabriela was pregnant with their third child. The condition is characterized by a gradual loss of kidney function over time and retention of fluid.

Abel Valdes began dialysis in 2016 at the same time he was placed on the national transplant waiting list. But his health continued to decline and he had to be admitted to the hospital multiple times for fluid retention prior to undergoing open heart surgery last October. The surgery was needed as a result of the toll dialysis had taken on his body.

The family was eventually referred to physicians at the Miami Transplant Institute, a development that would change their lives. The institute represents a unique affiliation between Jackson Health System and UHealth — the University of Miami Health System at Jackson Memorial Medical Center. The institute's Living Donor Kidney Program there is run by Dr. Giselle Guerra of UHealth.

“It is the heart and soul of the kidney program because it generates the best results,” said Guerra. “The patients do not have to linger on a waiting list; and it shortens the amount of time a patient needs to be on dialysis because they can be transplanted at any point with a living donor.”

Abel's surgery was led by transplant surgeons Doctors Gaetano Ciancio and Mahmoud Morsi in addition to a multidisciplinary team.

"Just not being on dialysis in and of itself is a big change," Abel Valdes told reporters, adding that he was very grateful for his wife's gift.

Abel and Gabriela began dating at 17 and married in 2004 so when they regained consciousness after the surgery they instinctively wanted to know about the other.

"All I kept saying was where was he? I wanted to know if he was okay. I heard that he was asking the same, so the nurses actually wheeled my bed over to where he was, and then they opened the curtain so that I could see him," recalled Gabriela, who works at a local hospital. "He reached out his hand to me and we held hands. It was just relief knowing that it was done, that we did it — and now we were on the road to recovery and the rest of our lives basically."

The couple is looking forward to being able to travel to places like the Grand Canyon and New York City.

"It's still weird to think that my kidney is inside of him," Gabriela said. "We joke all the time because they don't take out his kidney so he has three. So, he always jokes and says: 'I have three. Now you have one.'"

The surgery went so well that the family took pictures of Abel's first urine.

"He's feeling better than me actually," acknowledged Gabriela. "His recovery was so much better than mine. He was up and going before me."

Photo courtesy Jackson Health System