BANGOR, Maine — (EDITOR'S NOTE: The video attached to this story is from before the transplant. NEWS CENTER Maine will update this article with video of reaction from the procedure as soon as it is available.)
Dustin Saucier and Laura Dunn are now both recovering after their successful kidney transplant surgery this past Tuesday at Maine Medical Center.
About a year ago, Saucier, who is from Bangor, was desperately seeking a kidney due to kidney failure. The 34-year-old Maine musician was on dialysis, and using his music to find a donor who is an O+ blood type match. At the end of January 2022, he found a match.
Laura Dunn, who is from Biddeford, saw Saucier's story and went through the evaluation process to donate one of her own kidneys to him.
After lots of tests and lab work, Dunn was a perfect match for him.
On Tuesday, they had the surgery at Maine Medical Center's Maine Transplant Program.
Dunn said the attention at Maine Medical Center was very professional and detailed.
"I met everybody that was going to be involved, they all came and they all explained what they were going to do," Dunn said. "Then it happened."
Dunn said everything turned out well for both of them post-surgery.
"Someone in his family reached out to me in messaging and said that his kidney was already working and that was when we were both still basically in recovery, just to think that's its that intense like flipping a switch is very cool," Dunn said.
Dunn said doctors told her she was going to experience fatigue for a few weeks after the surgery. "You can only do so much and then you just have to lay down," said Dunn.
"You are just waiting for your donor to get done with their surgery and getting prepped," Saucier said. "My portion of the surgery was about 4 hours."
Saucier said he cannot find words to describe his happiness.
"The biggest change in my life now is that I won't have to go to dialysis 4 days a week. as soon as I had the kidney transplant, it was just on the up and up from there, I could actually feel the difference of having a working functioning kidney that minute I was out of surgery as opposed to before when I was going to dialysis just kind of getting the baseline cleaning," said Saucier.
Saucier said it was a little bizarre waking up at first knowing that he had now a working organ in his body. He spent 3 days after surgery at the hospital and was sent home on the fourth day.
"You kind of don't remember a lot, and then just wake up in a recovery room," Saucier said.
Just that day, Maine Medical Center lightened up its visitation restrictions: Dunn's husband was able to come to the hospital with flowers for her.
Dunn said her recovery is taking her a little longer than she expected, but she knows the pain is temporary and every day she feels a little bit better.
Saucier said he feels more energetic. He said his priority will now be taking care of the gift he received: he sees it as a new chance of life.
"I've been laying low, still a little fatigued, still a little swollen from surgery but feeling hopeful," Saucier said.
Saucier said the next six months are critical for him to make sure his body accepts the new kidney, and that he takes proper care of it.
"I need to make sure I'm doing everything the doctor says, there is a lot of medication adjustment during those 6 months," Saucier said. "I need to adhere to a diet and just make sure that I am taking care of the gift that's been given to me."
Dunn said she has no regrets.
"I've been really happy, and I've been in touch with Dustin and he is doing amazingly well," Dunn said. "He already has his guitar out!"
"There are plenty of us in the world of recipients of kidney transplants, and we wouldn't be where we are today without people like Laura," said Saucier.
"Once I heal, I'll just function normal as I always did," said Dunn.
Saucier and Dunn both hope to spend more time with each other in the future.
If you would like to find more information about the kidney donations process in Maine and if you could potentially qualify to save someone else's life, click here.