![\"Living](\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Angele_Lamothe_and_Raymond_Lamothe_The_Ottawa_Hospital-edited-scaled.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAt first, Raymond was concerned for his daughter, but she put his mind at ease<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Ang\u00e8le\u2019s living kidney donor story began more than 14 years ago when her father, Raymond Lamothe, suddenly found that he had trouble walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne morning, I woke up and couldn\u2019t get out of bed,\u201d recalls Raymond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doctors told Raymond that he had granulomatosis with polyangiitis, a rare disease of the blood vessels that was restricting the blood flow to his kidneys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As soon as Ang\u00e8le heard that her father would need a new kidney, she wanted to see if she was a match. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t even something that I had second thoughts on,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That decision didn\u2019t sit well with her father. \u201cI was a little leery at first,\u201d recalls Raymond. \u201cI didn\u2019t really know what it would do to my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ang\u00e8le is a long-serving speech pathologist at The Ottawa Hospital. As a health-care worker, she knew a few things about living kidney donation and was able to re-assure her father that donors go on to live healthy lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With her father\u2019s mind at ease, Ang\u00e8le completed the living kidney donor evaluation process at The Ottawa Hospital and was approved to donate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not long after the father and daughter went into surgery at the General Campus, Raymond was given some very good news. \u201cEven when I was still on the operating table, the doctor told me that Ang\u00e8le\u2019s kidney was already working,\u201d he says with a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news kept coming. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe I was back home in five days. They took good care of me,\u201d he says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t down very long. It was two months max before I was back at work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ang\u00e8le was in the hospital for four days, debunking another persistent myth\u2014that donors are in the hospital for a long time. The reality is that the average hospital stay for a living kidney donor is between two and four days, and most donors fully recover within eight weeks of surgery. Ang\u00e8le experienced fatigue for a bit longer than the average donor, but the surgery may not have been the reason why. \u201cI did have an eight-month-old at home,\u201d she explains with a smile, \u201cI think any parent with an eight-month-old is tired.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond celebrated his 72nd<\/sup> birthday this past December. He still works three days a week and stays active maintaining his cottage and keeping up with his teenage children. He is glad to still be healthy and able to do the things he loves. \u201cI wasn\u2019t on dialysis that long but long enough to realize how much the transplant changed my whole life,\u201d he says. \u201cJust unbelievable. My quality of life is no comparison to what it was before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for Ang\u00e8le, if her pictures weren\u2019t evidence enough, she\u2019s happy to report that she is also living her best life. \u201cIn terms of my own quality of life, sincerely it has not changed. My checkups are pristine,\u201d she says. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have gone through with it if it meant I couldn\u2019t do the things that I love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter I donated, I wanted to give back,\u201d says Ang\u00e8le.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For eight years, she was a guest speaker at The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s donor education sessions, which provide candidates with an overview of the living kidney donation process and give them an opportunity to talk to a donor like Ang\u00e8le. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would come in for about an hour and answer their personal questions. Two of the most common ones they had were, \u2018Can I have kids?\u2019 and \u2018Will I be able to work out again?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ang\u00e8le, who is also a personal empowerment coach, helped put their minds at ease by sharing her story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though Ang\u00e8le is unsure if any candidates went on to compete in triathlons, she does know that many of them crossed a more important finish line: they completed the donation process and helped someone in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are you considering becoming a living kidney donor but are concerned about what you may have heard or read? Ang\u00e8le has some advice for you: \u201cStay open minded, be curious, ask questions and don\u2019t be attached to what you think it will look like or what people have told you. It\u2019s true for anything in life\u2014there are things people have told us, and a lot of them are myths.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like any surgery, living kidney donation does come with certain risks. If you are considering donation, our Living Kidney Donor team will discuss potential risks with you based on your individual medical history. In the meantime, to help you separate fact from fiction, we\u2019ve got a great resource you might want to check out\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA donor needs to be in perfect health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA donor needs to be a family member.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA donor and a recipient must be in the same blood group.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Raymond](\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Raymond_Lamothe_kidney_recipient-edited-scaled.jpg\")
Ang\u00e8le and Raymond are living their best lives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Living](\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Angele_Lamothe_and_Raymond_Lamothe_The_Ottawa_Hospital_2-edited-scaled.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHelping donor candidates cross the finish line<\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"Ang\u00e8le](\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Angele_Lamothe_living_kidney_donor_triathlon-edited.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nDon\u2019t let misinformation stop you from giving the gift of life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
More living kidney donor myths debunked<\/h3>\n\n\n\n