COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) – When Piedmont Columbus Regional recently raised a flag at 1:08 p.m. to highlight the importance of organ donation, the timing was intentional. It represented the impact one donor can have on up to eight people.
One of the people attending the ceremony was Pat McDougall, an IT project manager at Piedmont. McDougall understands that impact more than most.
In 2018, McDougall felt perfectly healthy. She went to the gym multiple times a week and attended a spin class. But in April she fell and broke her arm. In the ER, she was told she would need surgery.
Doctors were concerned with her blood work before her surgery, however, worried about the impact of anesthesia. The surgery was delayed, and that weekend McDougall became extremely sick. Over the next six weeks she underwent testing, and her body began swelling badly as her condition worsened.
After six weeks of testing, McDougall’s doctor informed her that she was in Stage 5 kidney failure. An autoimmune disease she had in her feet 15 years ago had returned and destroyed both of her kidneys within a handful of months.