Aleisha Sadorsky looks young for her age.
At 35, she stands just five feet tall, packing 125 lb. on her small frame.
Her neat, chin-length auburn hair is streaked with swatches of purple and teal, and her music playlist includes tracks from Demi Lovato — but “no heavy-metal rap junk.”
But she doesn’t frequent nightclubs, never got her driver’s licence and has one good friend whom she has known since Grade 4.
You could say Sadorsky has just started living — thanks to a dying donor’s gift.
Six months ago, 40 lb. lighter and gravely ill, Sadorsky received a rare transplant in an operation so unique that the Port Coquitlam woman is one of a few people on Earth — and the only known patient in Canada — to have undergone the procedure.
On Sept. 8, 2016, surgeons at Vancouver General Hospital successfully transplanted a parathyroid gland — the size of a grain of rice — into Sadorsky’s body.
Located in the neck behind the thyroid, parathyroid glands (people have four of them) regulate important elements in the body such as calcium, magnesium and phosphorus.
“They’re four tiny dots,” Sadorsky explains while cradling a cup of coffee in the kitchen of the home she shares with her mom, Charlene Webster, and stepdad, Gary.
But without those dots, Sadorsky has waged a fierce battle for her life since birth.
Born without the glands, Sadorsky’s body was unable to process calcium, causing severe muscle cramping and involuntary contractions along with other life-threatening conditions. Hypoparathyroidism is the term.
Sadorsky has suffered multiple cardiac arrests, undergone two kidney transplants and survived three bouts of skin cancer. She has spent more time in hospitals than out.
During the year of Sadorsky’s first transplant at age 19, “I spent $6,000 in [hospital] parking,” says Webster, who donated one of her own kidneys to her daughter.
An education assistant (EA) at Seaforth elementary school in Burnaby, Webster always wanted to be a nurse.
“I guess I am,” she says good-naturedly, noting caring for Aleisha has always come first, often to the detriment of her jobs.
When Sadorsky was hospitalized as a sick newborn, Webster slept on the floor next to the crib, and over the years, she has been her daughter’s constant companion for countless medical visits, tests and procedures.
“I don’t know what I’d do without my mom,” Sadorsky says, calling her a “kindness generator.”
Despite her medical challenges, which resulted in a small stature — at age 10, she was the size of a typical two-year-old — Sadorsky says she was never bullied as a child.
In fact, she was the one standing up for others.
“I protected my friends who were special needs,” she says. “And I have a protective older brother [Arvid].”
She was a social butterfly, participating in Brownies, clubs and youth groups, and taking part in what sports her fragile bones would allow, such as swimming. In her 20s, she volunteered as a camp counsellor for Easter Seals, connecting with and mentoring others with disabilities.
Still, Sadorsky was often sidelined due to poor health. By last September, her condition was critical and her body began shutting down.
The pioneering transplant changed everything.
Sadorsky had been on dialysis for seven years waiting for a second kidney transplant when a rare match was found, allowing the transfer of not only the donor’s kidney but, also, a parathyroid gland.
“The combination of Aleisha’s blood type and high levels of antibodies made finding a match like winning the lottery,” says Dr. Olwyn Johnston, transplant nephrologist at VGH. “This was a highly unusual case and a once-in-a-lifetime surgery. I may never see the need for another parathyroid transplant during my career.”
The match was made through Canadian Blood Services’ Highly Sensitized Patient program, which provides people like Sadorsky access to a national donor pool.
Sadorsky underwent surgery, with Dr. Chris Nguan first transplanting the kidney and Dr. Mark Meloche transplanting the parathyroid gland.
“The universe came through for Aleisha,” Nguan says.
Today, Sadorsky’s calcium levels and other vital functions are within normal range and she’s up to a healthy weight.
She plans to get her driver’s licence (if she moves out of the gridlock-plagued Lower Mainland) and is looking forward to a trip to the Yukon with her parents this summer. She recently earned her Dogwood diploma and hopes to one day work as an EA, like her mom.
And she’s a hands-on entrepreneur, creating colourful reusable sandwich wraps, shoulder bags, ballet tutus and other items that she markets online and at local markets through Ally’s Bags.
Most of all, Sadorsky is passionate about encouraging others to register as organ donors (check out Ally’s Kidney Wish on Facebook).
Reflecting on her long days in hospital and her many years of medical problems, she says she had little tolerance for the complainers with whom she sometimes crossed paths.
“There were so many sourpusses,” Sadorsky recalls. “But you’ve been given the gift of life.”
