Mr. Ken Anderson

Post Office Box 141

Rehoboth, Massachusetts 02759

Dear Ken:

At long last I am writing to thank you for your willing-ness to answer my questions about being a kidney donor, and for writing A Small Part of Me, A Kidney Donor’s Story. I was lucky to find your web site on my very first time using the Internet.

Your book gives the prospective kidney donor much information not available from any source I explored, and I always do my homework. The book provides an account of your pre-surgery renal evaluation, the surgery itself, and an overview of your recovery period. More than that, though, you have managed to provide a glimpse of your various emotional states throughout the process of giving your brother one of your kidneys. It is that revelation which was so telling and so beneficial to me, for no one at the transplant center had actually been a donor and therefore could not give me firsthand information as to any feelings I might experience.

My recuperation has been on a fast track, as I decided to get up off the couch and re-enter my pre-nephrectomy world. I drove my car on day 18 (one day after having walked two fast miles), and even got my waistline back at about four weeks. I have incredible energy, and a joy which I cannot describe. My sister, Carol, is enjoying life free of dialysis, and that makes it all worthwhile.

Thank you again for making your book available to the many individuals who face the decision of whether to give a kidney to someone who needs it so desperately. I do not know how many times I read that book, but it was well worth the modest cost. If you wish, you may include my letter on your web site if it can possibly help someone understand what an informative, encouraging, and often humorous story lies in that monograph.

I hope you and Mike will continue to enjoy the good health you described in the book and have since related to me in one of our conversations. Please let me know if I can help spread the good news about kidney donation.

Sincerely,

  Connie Mulkey
  Dry Hollow Road, Chestnutridge, Missouri 65630

'A SMALL PART' IS A GREAT READ by Bill Hannan

- Bill is a retired editor of the Sun Chronicle. His column appears on the Prime Time page Sundays.

The story Betsy Johnson wrote about Kenneth Anderson of Rehoboth and his donation of a kidney to his brother Michael was complete as well as interesting and well-written. It ran several weeks ago. Betsy's story included the fact that Ken Anderson had written "A Small Part of Me", a book about his experience as a donor. I recently read the nine chapter book, which is why I am writing this. It is so well-written that it's like the work of a professional writer and better than many professional writer's efforts. Red Smith, who did nothing but good writing, said in a foreword or preface to W.C. Heinz's "The Professional" that the one thing that makes writing good is truth. There is a ring of truth in everything Anderson writes in "A Small Part of Me". There also are pictures of the brothers, their wives and an especially touching one of the recovering Michael with his two children and a message they have composed for Uncle Ken. The book is well-organized and so carefully written that it would not be fair to try to summarize any of it here except to quote one of the messages: "The patient always comes first at the Boston University Medical Center Hospital and the Doctors Office Building (adjoining)." The dedication is well worthy of mention: "To the Good Lord / For helping Mike and me through this adventure and beyond." Anderson, when he gave his book it's title, "A Small Part of Me" was referring to his donated kidney. Probably that is a good description of a kidney. He ought to know. When you have read the book, you know "a small part" would never describe his heart.

LOCAL BROTHERS TEACH CLASSIC LOYALTY LESSON

One of the ancient Greeks' great lessons of loyalty and brotherhood is told in the myth of Castor and Pollux, where Pollux sacrifices his own immortality in exchange for the resurrection of his mortal half-brother Castor. Zeus later makes the two into the twin stars of the Gemini constellation. Hardly less inspiring is the down-to-earth story of the Anderson brothers. Two years ago Ken Anderson, 41, of Rehoboth, allowed one of his kidneys to be transplanted to Michael Anderson, 38, of Attleboro, when he was diagnosed with renal failure. Ken Anderson has since written a book, "A Small Part of Me," that he hopes will encourage others to consider becoming living donors for kidney transplant patients. Anderson points to statistics from United Network for Organ Sharing in Richmond, VA., that of 10,643 kidney transplants in 1994, just 3,004 were from living donors. Yet, points out the author, when a family member donates a kidney the gift saves a cadaver kidney for someone else, making the gift even more bountiful than it appears. We salute both brothers for their example of selflessness and hope that "A Small Part of Me" finds its way to places where it can help save lives.

Mr. & Mrs. Joseph A. Mellen
27 Cedarbrook Rd.
Pawtucket, RI 02861-1321
401-723-3777

May 19, 1997

To whom it may concern,

On March 26, 1997, my husband Joe donated his kidney to a friend of ours. Besides the birth of our children, I can honestly say it was one of the most touching experiences of our thirty years together. So wonderful was this experience of giving, we often wonder who was the recipient... our friend... or us.

As you can imagine, before making this commitment we needed several questions answered and we were fortunate enough to be given a book called "A SMALL PART OF ME" written by Ken Anderson.

Ken donated his kidney to one of his brothers four years ago and thankfully had the insight to realize that live donors would like first hand information from someone who had gone through the procedure. Someone who would tell you how he/she felt during the screening process as well as the surgery.

"A Small Part Of Me" was so informative to both my husband and I. It is written in story format with a bit of humor. After reading the book we knew step by step what would be happening next. Had we not had access to the information in this book, we would have felt very insecure.
The doctors who do the pre-operative work up to determine your physical well being as well as your compatibility only give an overview of the tests you will go through. We needed more.
We highly recommend anyone needing information on the process of becoming a kidney donor to read this book.

Sincerely,
Sandy Mellen