Plains man recovering from kidney transplant surgery

By CHUCK BANDEL

Valley Press

Francis Church, a newspaper editor from years ago, is credited with the saying, “yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”.

He was answering a letter to the editor from a young child asking if such a person existed. He assured the little girl that belief in what is good is a very real and powerful force.

Sovereign Valentine and his growing group of friends and supporters can back that up.

Last Wednesday, Plains resident Valentine overcame the latest hurdle in his battle against a potentially fatal kidney disease when he emerged from a renal transplant procedure with a functioning kidney and an optimistic prognosis for a new lease on life.

The fact that he was able to find a donor was a miracle of Clausian proportion. The fact the donor was found right here in the same small town was another Christmas-like miracle in itself.

Now, for Valentine the road to recovery has begun.

“I’m recovering fast,” Valentine said from within his room at the University of Washington Medical Center where he underwent five-and-one-half hours of surgery to replace his kidneys with an organ donated by Plains resident and co-pastor of the Church on the Move, Krista Standeford.

“There was a lot of pain today (Friday) but I was able to exercise in my room and walked a half-mile around here,” Valentine continued. “I feel I’m exceeding medical staff’s expectations on all counts for recovery.”

Standeford too was reported doing well, up and moving about after learning several months ago that out of thousands of potential donor candidates, she was a match for Valentine.

While he will face more challenges in the coming months, Valentine is quick to credit the thoughts and prayers of people from throughout the town and from all over the country as key to the apparently successful surgery and his start on recovery.

“Thank you for thinking of me,” he said. “There is a lot of education training in the works to prevent rejection of the kidney. There are about 20 practitioners who come to my room each day and throughout the night.”

But the positive outlook and sense of humor that Valentine has displayed throughout the ordeal, with loving backing from his wife Jessica, are very much intact.

“Krista named the transplanted kidney Brunhilda,” he said with a laugh.

He now faces an approximately month long stay in the Seattle area, where he will report twice a week to make sure the anti-rejection medications are “dialed in.”

“I was in surgery for 5.5 hours and spent three hours in recovery,” he said of the Wednesday procedure. “The entire staff here is beyond nice and professional. This truly is a five-star place.”

His story and success have spread throughout the region after it was first reported in an August article in the Valley Press and was subsequently picked up by other area newspapers and a Missoula TV station.

Word has also spread on the internet. He said a man from the dialysis center has begun copying his social media strategy to find a donor as a means of passing that process on to others waiting on a long and growing list of persons needing a transplant.

Jessica, a physician with Clark Fork Valley Hospital in Plains, first reported the news of the surgery and said in addition to Sov and Krista being out of surgery, she herself was “doing well”.

“Jessica is my 24-hour care person,” Valentine said.

Valentine is not sure exactly when he will be able to return to Plains, but indicated before the surgery that his stay in Seattle would likely be about one month.