Lynn’s Barton gives sister the gift of life

LYNN – Thanksgiving is a major event in Virginia Barton’s extended family, but the holiday will be all the more special this year when the Barton clan gives thanks for two siblings’ successful surgeries.Gordon “Buzzy” Barton, 56, and sister, Donna, 53, both underwent hours-long operations on Sept. 30 that provided Donna with a life-saving kidney donation, courtesy of her brother.Sister and brother are recovering well with Buzzy receiving a post-surgery clean bill of health last Friday and Donna recuperating well enough to go out to eat on Tuesday.The medical problem that led to the double operation at Massachusetts General Hospital had its origins in Donna’s childhood. One of her kidneys failed when she was 6, but its mate immediately started working double-time and the failure was not detected until Donna was hospitalized 14 years later.”They said the one kidney was working fine but warned it would wear down,” said Virginia Barton, matron of a family devoted to local public service and a multi-generation commitment to the civil rights movement.”We knew for years this day would come,” she added.Donna suffered a heart attack several years ago and doctors confirmed that her lone kidney was indeed failing. By the time doctors scheduled a transplant and lined up family donors, the kidney had shrunk to the size of a pea.After a host of family meetings, discussions with doctors and a battery of tests, surgeons identified Buzzy as the most suitable primary donor, and sister, Pat, as the backup.On the morning of the surgery, the Barton family converged on a floor in Massachusetts General Hospital reserved for live donor operations involving relatives.Donna’s doctors told the Bartons that modern organ donor surgery is not without risks, even fatal ones.”We were worried, but Buzzy said, ‘That’s my baby sister.'”With the recuperations going well, Virginia Barton is looking forward to the family events and gatherings that will give her children and other family members a chance to celebrate Donna’s new lease on life.”Just trying to get through it changed my whole mood. We’re so lucky,” she said.