Arbutus mother, daughter celebrate gift of kidney donation one year later

Jamie Conway didn't ask for any presents this Christmas.

The 31-year-old Arbutus resident knows she will never receive a gift better than what her mother, Valerie Eigner, gave her last year.

On Dec. 23, 2010, Eigner, then 59, donated a kidney to her daughter after the lupus she was diagnosed with in 2004 spread to her kidneys.

Before the transplant, Conway had endured dialysis three times a week to combat the disease, which affects 1.5 million Americans, while holding down a full-time job as a graphic designer.

Conway's husband of seven years, Brian, knew his wife's condition was serious, but it wasn't until he brought his wife to her dialysis treatment on Thanksgiving in 2010 that it sank in.

"This thing really doesn't stop," he recalled thinking. "There isn't any holiday. There isn't anything that takes priority over this type of thing."

Eigner's donation brought an end to the dialysis treatments and fatigue that would leave her daughter so drained she couldn't walk from store to store as she shopped the outlets in Lancaster.

Jamie Conway called the medication she will take the rest of her life so her body doesn't reject the new organ "a small price to pay" for returning to a more active lifestyle.

The mother-daughter team returned to the outlets last November, and Eigner's fond memories of the day have nothing to do with the bargains she found.

The day reminded Eigner of the trips they took before Jamie got sick.

"I've always been proud of Jamie," said Eigner, who lives across Council Street from her daughter. "The big accomplishment this year was watching her live life to the fullest and have the energy to do things she wanted to do."

To celebrate their good health and fortune, the pair went to dinner on the anniversary of the transplant.

"After going through this, you realize how lucky you are," Jamie said. "It's really sad that, before being sick, you don't realize how precious life is and how easily it can take a turn."

With the wisdom gained over the past year, Jamie has taken big and small steps to teach others.

For example, both Jamie and her mother have "Donate Life" license plates.

In September, Jamie and a team of 20 solicited donations from friends and family to participate in the lupus walk around Druid Hill in Baltimore.

For Christmas this year, Jamie and Brian reached out to a family facing a similar situation to theirs last year and bought them presents.

"We told our family that we weren't giving gifts to them," Jamie said, noting that she still bought presents for her nieces and nephews. "Giving gifts to family isn't what's important. It's being happy and healthy and being together."

Jamie said many of her family members donated the money they would have spent on gifts for her and Brian to the cause.

Brian and Jamie met their adopted family and dropped off the presents on Dec. 21.