Anchorage Daily News

FAIRBANKS -- Fairbanks Mayor Terry Strle is recovering after donating a kidney to her cousin.

Both Terry and cousin Kathy Strle -- who have been close friends since childhood -- were recovering Wednesday after a successful kidney transplant in Madison, Wis.

The doctors made a last-minute decision to transplant the mayor's right kidney instead of the left, a procedure that is more painful.

Family members say the mayor will spend the next several days in recovery.

Kathy is just one month older than the mayor. The two were virtually inseparable growing up in a small town outside Chicago. The families lived within blocks of each other.

Kathy's mother died of polycystic kidney disease, or PKD, when Kathy was 2. Kathy's grandmother also had the disease.

PKD is a rare genetic disorder that causes the body to grow multiple kidney cysts that often result in kidney failure. There is no known cure.

Polycystic kidney disease affects more than 600,000 Americans. According to the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation Web site, about 3,000 Americans affected with the genetic disease are on a wait list for a kidney transplant.

A transplant is the only known solution to avoid total kidney failure. Transplanted kidneys do not develop the disorder.

PKD also afflicted Kathy's oldest sister, Jackie, who received a kidney transplant about two years ago.

Terry Strle's husband, Steve Ferree, said the surgery went well for Terry and Kathy. He noted that the only questions his wife had after the surgery were that she wanted to know if her kidney was transplanted successfully and if her cousin was doing all right.

"She's like that," he said. "She's always thinking of everybody else."

The transplanted kidney started working immediately for Kathy.

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