Thompson benefit planned

MINERAL — On the day after Father’s Day, Jim Thompson of Mineral received a gift from his son which will remain with him for the rest of his life.

On June 21 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Thompson received a kidney from his son Mike. Father and son had their surgeries in the same surgical room. Mike’s surgery was about three and one-half hours, Jim was in surgery about four hours.

“I was so proud that my son would do this for me,” Thompson said. “He gave me the gift of life, the gift of hope again.”

Mike said he didn’t hesitate when it came to giving a kidney to his dad.

“I was happy to do this, to give back to my dad after all he’s done for me,” Mike said. “I asked some of my friends who had lost their fathers if they would have done the same thing, if they’d had a chance. They all said they’d do it in a heartbeat if it meant they would have even one more day with their dad.”

Jim has struggled with some health problems for the last couple years.

In July 2008, Jim had his left kidney removed after doctors found a tumor the size of a football on the kidney. Jim said he was prepared for a diagnosis of cancer, but fortunately that was not the case. He didn’t know if it was due to the prayers of his church, but the doctor discovered the tumor was no longer growing but dead, Jim said.

But his kidney problems weren’t over. Jim knew something else was wrong and his other kidney wasn’t working properly. He went to a specialist and learned high blood pressure had severely damaged his remaining kidney. He would need a kidney transplant or face dialysis.

As Thompson was being put on a kidney transplant waiting list, his wife Loretta, sons Mike and Marty, daughter Tara Linder, a nephew and a couple friends all came forward, willing to be tested to see if they were a match for Jim.

As it turned out, Mike was first rejected as a donor when he failed a blood sugar test because he’d eaten before the test. But Mike wanted another test and was found to be a perfect match.