For nearly four years, Gurjit Cheema had to spend eight hours, every day on dialysis, to maintain her failing kidneys because of an autoimmune disease she was diagnosed with when she was 15 years old.

“It was pretty time-consuming,” says Gurjit, who is now 27. “And I felt crappy most of time.”

But those long evenings of dialysis came to an end when Gurjit and her fiancée Shak Pawar enrolled in Living Donor Paired Exchange Registry, a program that connects pairs of people who are in need of a healthy kidney and who are willing to donate one, increasing the likelihood of finding a medically-compatible donor. In Gurjit and Shak’s case, they found another pair who had a kidney to offer Gurjit and were in need of a kidney from Shak – a true win-win situation.

“That was why I wanted to do it,” Shak says. “We could help somebody out and in the end, two people would be getting kidneys…it’s pretty awesome.”

“He was able to help someone else out and they could help me out,’ Gurjit adds. “It’s a good feeling.”

Amazing care

One fall day last year, Gurjit received a new kidney at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) and Shak donated one of his the next day. Gurjit, a nursing student, was back in class six weeks later and Shak, a correctional officer, was back on his feet after three weeks.

“I’m feeling really good,” Gurjit says. “The care we received at (VGH) was pretty amazing…I’m really thankful how this all happened.”

She says that she’s thankful of how well the operation went and also, of course, for having Shak by her side.

“I feel really blessed to have Shak in my life and really grateful to have him with me to help me get through this…just a really good support system and such a motivator.”

Shak says it wasn’t even a question if he would donate his kidney to get a new one for his future-wife.

“It was just the right thing to do,” the 26-year-old says. “I felt like it was my responsibility to help her find one and help get her through this time. I would do anything for her and this was any easy decision. I was all for it…there wasn’t any second-guessing.”

Gurjit and Shak hope that they will eventually meet the pair who they exchanged kidneys with.

“Even though we’ve never met them and don’t know much about them, it’s a cool feeling knowing we are connected this way and helped each other out,” Shak explains. “If we do meet them, we’ll probably be a part of each other’s life for a long time.”

Now that Gurjit does not have to have dialysis every day, the happy couple is excited about the future together.

“We felt pretty relieved after it was done, a huge weight off our shoulders,” Shak says. “We’re just moving forward and excited about doing things that normal people do like…”

“Like doing more travelling,” Gurjit interjects. “We could go on shorter trips before, but now we can go longer, like to Europe where we’ve wanted to go for a while.”

Did you know it’s Kidney Health Month?

March is Kidney Health Month. See if you’re at risk for kidney disease here or learn more about the services offered at our Kidney Clinic here.