Monica Goulet is going to dance the night away at a party she has planned for this upcoming autumn.
The party is to celebrate a new kidney.
After a long battle with kidney disease, she has found a perfect match donor in her nephew, Jim Searson. The surgery is scheduled for March 26.
Originally from Cumberland House, she moved to southern Ontario to live with her sister, Josie and her husband George Searson, after her mother passed away at the age of five. At 11, the Searson’s thought it would be a good idea for Goulet and her siblings to reconnect with their roots and they moved to Stanley Mission.
At the age of 26, she was diagnosed with reflux, which is when toxins reenter the kidney, rather than being expelled normally. During a visit to the doctor at that age, they discovered that her right kidney was about 95 per cent scar tissue and had it removed.
“When you have kidney disease,” says Goulet, “It is so gradual the impact of your body and how tired you feel, and it drains your energy. So, it affects you mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.”
Goulet lived a normal life with her left kidney until it also became diseased.
“I got sick in Puerto Vallarta (in 2011),” says Goulet. “Up until that point, I had about 60 per cent function in my kidney, and when I got back from Puerto Vallarta, it was at that point I was assessed with stage four kidney disease.”
In 2016, she started peritoneal dialysis for two years, and when that became ineffective, she began hemodialysis.
Her donor is Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson’s husband. She describes Jimmy as having a zest for life and describes him as “kind of an adrenaline junkie.” She jokes that once she has his kidney, she will likely have a streak of his wild side.
Approximately 70 people are waiting for a kidney in Saskatchewan and Goulet has a message for them.
“What I would tell people who are in need of a transplant, that have kidney disease is do what you can to stay alive, because there is always hope. Never, ever give up.”
The healing process will take approximately three to six months, and Goulet plans to write a book about her long journey in that time, documenting the challenges of life with kidney disease. Once she is healed, she will have her party.
“When I’m fully healed up, you will be shocked at how much I’m going to be able to do,” explains Goulet. “I’m going to throw a huge party, and I’m just going to dance the night away.”
After her party, she has a few bucket list items to check off. One activity is snorkeling, and one is travelling with her husband, who has provided her care during her illness.
Goulet bought a dress on a previous trip to Hawaii that she has not been able to wear. She plans to wear the ball-gown-style dress on a trip to Spain with her husband, where she can dance without pain.
She encourages people to sign their donor cards and to think about giving the gift of life through being a living donor, just like her nephew, Jimmy.
(PHOTO: Monica receiving a call saying her nephew is a perfect match for a kidney transplant. Photo courtesy of Monica Goulet, Facebook.)