"Desperate Housewives" are Desperate for a Kidney

Lynette's pranks continue as she finds ways to release some of her rage over Tom's one night stand with best friend Renee (Vanessa Williams) dishing out peanut butter and brownies with laxatives, until there is the real explosion in the Scavo household.

Tom: "I'm unbelievable sorry about this...I could never find the right moment. We have had so many beautiful moments together I didn't want to ruin a single one of them. I hope you can forgive me for this. It would be a shame, a shame if some meaningless encounter 20 years ago ruined the wonderful life we have built together."

Apparently Lynette wants many more of those moments as she takes Tom's hand at the breakfast table. Maybe revenge really wasn't that sweet.

Beth Young feels the need for a friend and their pastor calls upon Bree to fill that need.

Bree: "Unless you are talking about Beth Young, I would rather shave my head and join the Hari Krishna's."

After a battle of the Bible:

Pastor: "Bree Van de Kamp is shacking up with her boyfriend, Cynthia Thomas pew 5 seat 7."

Bree: "Fine, I will talk to her but this is spiritual blackmail!"

Pastor: "I'm a man of God; I do what it takes to get the job done."

However, no good deed goes unpunished as Beth believes the ladies of Wisteria Lane have set her up to be accused of Paul's shooting after she finds a .38 under a couch cushion at Bree's home.

Susan's daughter Julie returns to "Desperate Housewives," desperate to help her mother.

Julie: "I had to come. They don't let you mail a major organ."

Julie isn't a match, but there is still hope. Susan's mother, Sophie (Lesley Ann Warren) and Aunt Claire (Sophie Valerie Harper) arrive after Julie calls in for reinforcements.

Mike: "This is good - you need a kidney, she's got a kidney."

Susan (Teri Hatcher): "That I will be paying for, for the rest of my life. Why won't you come visit me? I gave you a kidney. Why won't you friend me on Facebook, I gave you a kidney."

Sophie" "Oh wouldn't that be nice. I wonder who it will be! You hear all these stories about strangers brought together by life threatening circumstances."

Mike: "Our best bet is a match within the family."

Sophie: "MJ?"

Susan: "Mom, You don't take a kidney out of a 9 year old."

Susan's Aunt reveals that her mother has cancer and is undergoing three months of chemotherapy, and that's the real reason why she can't donate a kidney. Susan and her mother share a few touching moments, each keeping their secret but sharing some secrets about their relationship that are even more important.

At the end of 2009 there were a total of 86,071 people on the waiting list for a kidney transplant according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.

According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network:

About 95 percent of people who receive a living-donor kidney transplant have a functioning kidney after one year. After five years, that rate is about 80 percent.

About 92 percent of people who receive a deceased-donor kidney transplant have a functioning kidney after one year. Five years after transplant, the rate is about 70 percent.

Kidney transplants are needed by thousands of people due to several different illnesses or injuries like Polycystic kidneys, Diabetes mellitus, Kidney stones, Renal cell carcinoma and Wilms' tumor.

The wait for a donor kidney can take years, and the best possible matches are made from within the family. The need for kidney donors has grown significantly over the last 20 years. Most donations are made through organ donor cards, with very few offering a live kidney donation. Once renal failure occurs, patients have to go onto dialysis, a 6 hour long painful procedure to clean the patient's blood and remove the impurities that the working kidney used to do.

Becoming a kidney donor takes several steps: First, you complete a questionnaire, next your blood type, antigen match and cross match are determined through blood testing. The donor is then met with to discuss in greater detail more about donations including information on a comprehensive evaluation which includes a complete physical, CTA, lab tests and X-rays, and a complete psycho social evaluation.

Current research indicates that being a donor does not have to change your life and that after recovery they can take on all the activities that they did prior to the donation.

Considering organ donation? Get many of your questions answered at Living Donors Online.

Sources:

Desperate Housewives episode "Where do I belong?"

ABC.com

Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients

Medline Plus/National Institute of Health

UNOS

Mayo Clinic