KAILUA-KONA — Sepsis kills. ADVERTISING KAILUA-KONA — Sepsis kills. Nobody knows that better than Gerry Tenn, whose husband was killed by sepsis after he stubbed his toe. Now, she wants to make sure that no one else suffers from “a
KAILUA-KONA — Sepsis kills.
Nobody knows that better than Gerry Tenn, whose husband was killed by sepsis after he stubbed his toe. Now, she wants to make sure that no one else suffers from “a disease that just takes over your body.”
Sepsis occurs when chemicals that enter the blood stream lead to inflammation all over the body.
Tenn’s husband, Rodney Y.F. Tenn, of Waimea, died Dec. 31 at The Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu as a result of a series of health problems that caused his donated kidney to fail. After he stubbed his toe, they thought he would recover.
“He had always bounced back, but he kept going downhill,” Tenn said.
According to the Mayo Clinic, anyone can develop sepsis, but it’s most common and dangerous in older adults or those with weakened immune systems.
In Rodney Tenn’s case, it was the result of the medication needed after his kidney transplant. That kidney was donated 14 years earlier by his friend, Andy Lee, who he’d met at Bible study at First Baptist Church of Waimea.
Before the transplant, Lee remembered that Rodney Tenn was headed home to paint the interior of his house after Bible study. Lee and other men in the group volunteered to help. While they were working, Lee noticed that Rodney Tenn’s color was off.
“I didn’t want him to have a heart attack on the ladder,” Lee said, although he tried to pass off his concern as a joke.
He asked what was wrong.
Tenn explained that his kidneys failed and that he was on dialysis, so Lee asked what was needed for a successful transplant.
Medical technology meant the donor only needed to have Type A blood, Lee said.
“A plus? I got that in school,” Lee joked, but the idea stuck with him. So he offered to donate one of his to Rodney Tenn.
“I only need one kidney,” he said. “I thought they were giving more to me with their friendship than I was giving to them.”
Doctor Peter G. Stock said he tells patients that they can have a normal life. In this case, that meant “14 years of life,” he said. However, “you can get sick very quickly.”
Stock is a transplant surgeon, one of those who did the operation. Due to HIPAA rules, Stock could not comment directly on their surgery, but he did speak generally.
And while there was opposition from the Tenns, as they didn’t want Lee to rely on a single kidney, Stock said that donors see little change in their quality of life, and the current procedure means they are out of the hospital in two days.
“It’s a life-saving organ,” he said, especially for people who are diabetic and may not live long enough to receive a transplant.
“We did our best to talk him out of taking this risk with such young children. Nothing we said could change his mind. I recall (Lee’s son) Simon saying, ‘That’s what Jesus would do.’ How do you argue with that?” Tenn wrote in an email about their friend’s decision.
Lee is the father of three children, then aged 7, 5 and 3.
They went through the battery of tests required and went to the University of California — San Francisco Medical Center.
“We have memories of the two walking the halls of UCSF transplant floor in their hospital gowns looking for Popsicles,” Tenn wrote. “As Andy’s gown was shorter, it was a bit more breezy for him; especially sitting on the wall of the ramp to the lobby area.”
The surgery was successful, and Lee left about a week later, Tenn said. Her husband had some initial issues that kept him there for 10 days. But when he got back he was back to normal, she said, although staying in contact with his friend became more difficult, as Lee had left the island.
But they stayed good friends, she said, even when Lee moved to Florida.
Tenn remembers her husband making meals and cleaning the house, after he’d retired after working his way up from dishwasher at a hotel to executive steward. During the surgery he lost the position and tried his hand as a fast-food assistant manager. It didn’t work, so he retired while Tenn continued to work.
“He could move faster with that walker than I could without a walker,” she said.
Late last year Rodney Tenn stubbed his toe, which became infected. It lead to a cascading series of problems that ended in the failure of Lee’s gifted kidney.
“Our hope is that more public awareness takes place through education for early treatment,” Tenn wrote of the disease.
