Osoyoos resident June Sletten believes she is one of Canada’s oldest and longest kidney transplant recipients. (Keith Lacey photo)
Editor’s note: Former Osoyoos Times Editor Keith Lacey interviewed June Sletten for this story last October when she attended a fundraiser for Osoyoos kidney transplant recipient Matt Hassen. The story is timely because March is Kidney Month and Sletten received a call to get a kidney transplant on Good Friday 32 years ago.
It was an exceptionally Good Friday back in 1986 when June Sletten got the phone call that would save – and change – her life forever.
“I was very sick at the time … getting dialysis four times a day, every six hours and this had gone on for more than three years,” said Sletten, who believes she’s “one of” Canada’s oldest and longest-living kidney transplant recipients.
“I can still remember getting that phone call on Good Friday of 1986 like it happened yesterday. Doctors from Vancouver General Hospital called and said they had found a kidney for me and for a second gentleman from Kamloops. By the end of the day, they had us both on a plane to Vancouver.”
After spending three days completing final medical examinations, Sletten was given a new kidney and a new lease on life.
More than 31 years later, she has never had any serious issues with her kidney and at age 84 considers herself blessed to have been given a second chance at life.
“I was 52 years of age when I had my transplant and I was very sick,” she said. “It saved my life. I do consider myself very blessed.”
Not only did she get a new kidney that quickly reversed her serious medical issues, but she got to spend that summer in Vancouver recovering from surgery when Expo 1986 was taking place.
“My sister and I attended Expo for 29 straight days,” she said smiling. “I went from being extremely sick to being able to get out and enjoy myself for the first time in a long time only days after getting my new kidney.
“Finally getting a new kidney after years of waiting was certainly a defining moment in my life.”
Sletten, who grew up in the small Saskatchewan farming town called Wynyard, has lived in Osoyoos since she and her late husband Palmer moved here to retire in 1975.
Her husband died four months before she received her new kidney.
Sletten attended a fundraising event at the Owl Pub in October for local bartender Matt Hassen, who received a new kidney the following month at the same hospital where she received hers.
Several other kidney donors and recipients were at that fundraising event, including Brian Rawlings, who donated a kidney to local resident Julie Wolter in 2015.
Terry Craig, who donated one of his kidneys to his wife Laura, also attended, as did Lynn Cunningham, who received a cadaver kidney several years ago. Judy Sloan, who received a kidney transplant three years ago, was also there.
The fact a small town like Osoyoos has this many kidney donors and recipients “is rather quite remarkable,” said Sletten, who was briefly a teacher before getting married.
Sletten said her recovery was so quick and strong because it removed the cause of the illness that forced her kidneys to stop functioning properly.
“I spent several years battling a bladder infection and it got to the point where it killed one of my kidneys and I had very little use of my second kidney,” she said. “After the surgery, by bladder infection immediately went away.
“Many people who need a kidney transplant have other issues they have to deal with, but with me it got rid of the bladder problem and that’s why my recovery went so well and I never had any serious issues following surgery.”
To remain active, Sletten spends a lot of time line dancing at the Osoyoos Seniors Centre.
“I’m out line dancing twice a week throughout the year, except when we stop for July and August,” she said. “I love it and it keeps me busy and in shape.”
Because her kidney transplant literally saved her life, Sletten got heavily involved for many years raising money for the Kidney Foundation of Canada.
Back in 1997, she received the National March of Dimes Drive of Excellence as Volunteer of the Year as she had helped raise more than $40,000 over eight years by getting herself and dozens of volunteer donors involved in a door-to-door campaign over eight years.
Sletten said while there are problems within Canada’s health care system and some people fall through the cracks, she has nothing but praise for the system she has relied so heavily on through much of her adult life.
“I just can’t say enough about Canada’s health care system because not only did those doctors and nurses save my life, but I’ve never had to pay a penny out of my own pocket for all of the treatment I’ve received,” she said. “My trip to Vancouver for surgery was all paid for and all of my medications are taken care of.
“I get blood work done regularly and that’s all free. All of my medications remain free and all of my visits to the clinic every three months for a check-up are free. I just would not be here today if it wasn’t for the wonderful health care system we have here in Canada.”
Being able to live a relatively healthy life for more than 30 years with her new kidney is a gift she never takes for granted, said Sletten.
“I got to see my two kids and my four grandchildren grow up and there were many years I never thought that would happen,” she said. “I’m very lucky.”
Sletten said being able to live in Osoyoos for more than 40 years has been wonderful.
She and her husband sold a hotel they owned in Saskatchewan to purchase land in Osoyoos.
Her husband liked Osoyoos so much, they decided to build the home she still lives in back in 1975.
“This has been my home since 1975 … and I don’t ever want to leave,” she said.
Whenever Good Friday rolls around every spring, Sletten says she always remembers that phone call with the good news she was going to get a new kidney.
“It was the phone call that changed my life,” she said.
KEITH LACEY
Special to the Times
