'I just wanted to make him feel better': Tracey Previti shares how she donated a kidney to her now-husband with help from AKF's Living Donor Assistance Program

When Tracey Previti first told her family and friends that she was going to donate her kidney to her then-boyfriend John, they were unsure if she was making the right choice. 

"Everyone thought I was crazy. Crazy. Crazy," said Tracey. They repeatedly asked her if she was sure and "why would you do that?" Tracey said that their reaction was understandable considering that she John were only dating at the time. "It wasn't like we were together forever, you know?" she said. 

Tracey and John originally started dating in 2019 and reconnected in 2021. "From there, we just knew, this is it," Tracey explained. 

About a year later, Tracey was surprised to learn that John was in kidney failure and would soon need to begin dialysis unless he could get a kidney transplant. Then it was Tracey's turn to surprise him.

"I said, 'If I could take this away from you, I would. If I knew I was a match, I definitely would,'" Tracey told him. The offer even surprised her. "I wasn't even an organ donor, at that point, I just wanted to make him feel better."

Tracey knew that John hadn't been feeling well for a while at that point. He would work, come home and sleep, but "he didn't get up to do anything – it was bad." "He was sick, and he wasn't telling me exactly what was going on," Tracey said.

When John did share his struggles with his kidney health, Tracey learned that it was a genetic kidney disease called polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and it was affecting multiple members of his family. His father had received a transplant from John's sister 30 years ago. John's brother has been receiving dialysis treatments for 10 years and his sister was now also looking for a kidney. "He's a very private person. His family is like that. I didn't know he had a brother that's on dialysis. I didn't even know he had a brother!" Tracey explained. "And the only reason why I knew his sister needed a kidney was because I saw her sign [asking for a kidney] with her name on it."

Before learning about John's health struggles, Tracey admits she knew very little about kidney disease. "I just knew you could live with one kidney. That's all I knew," she said. "I didn't really know it can kill you… I just thought like, oh, dialysis, you can be on dialysis forever, but I now know you can die from kidney disease, and no one really talks about it." 

Tracey also learned about paired organ donations, which is when two donor and recipient pairs swap donors to get better kidney matches. She was not a match for John, but on Oct. 25, 2023, Tracey donated a kidney and John received one. "We were nervous and then [there was] excitement too," Tracey said. "Day of, he was really, really nervous, but I've had minor surgeries before that, so I've been under before, so I wasn't afraid of that whole process or anything like that. I just wanted him to feel better."

(Coincidentally, John's sister also received a kidney on the same day in the same hospital, Tufts Medical Center! "Knock on wood, they're both doing good!" Tracey said.)

After the transplant, Tracey said the transplant made "him just feel so much better." Unfortunately, Tracey's recovery was a little more complicated. There was a problem with her incision site that required two additional surgeries to correct.

Not only did this cause physical and mental stress, but the additional surgeries also caused some financial stress.

"At the beginning, I was on FMLA, so that covers 66% [of my salary]," said Tracey, "But then I had to stay out a little longer in increments. And that's when [Tufts Medical Center] had said something about the David Atkins Living Donor Assistance Fund."

The Living Donor Assistance Program (formerly the David Atkins Living Donor Assistance Fund) seeks to increase access to living kidney donations by reimbursing out-of-pocket costs for current living kidney donors. 

"It was a great feeling," said Tracey. "I knew some things you get reimbursed for like fees or hotel days if you're coming far away. But I didn't know that there was something like this around…. So, it was just a relief."

After receiving her grant, Tracey decided to "pay it forward." When her company offered to donate $100 to one cause, one person or one organization of each employee's choosing, Tracey chose to donate to the Living Donor Assistance Program. She also encouraged several of her co-workers to pick it as their selected organization as well. In an email to her co-workers, Tracey said, "This organization really helped me when I donated my kidney back in October '23. If you're looking for a great place to donate, this is a great organization that I can say for certain helps great people." 

Together, she and her coworkers contributed over $1,800 to the program.

"I did it because I knew what donors go through, and it's physical," Tracey said. "But I think it's mentally harder than physically. You just worry constantly … I just wanted [donors] to know that there is help out there if you need it."

Almost exactly a year after their transplant surgery, Tracey and John were married in a "short and simple" ceremony on Oct. 31, 2024. "We just want to spend the rest of our lives with each other," said Tracey.