Three weeks with his brother’s kidney has made Todd Brennan of Portland a new, healthier man.

“I am doing fantastic,” Brennan, 47, said Friday. “Things are doing very well.”

Travis Brennan, left, donated a kidney to his brother Todd Brennan three weeks ago, and both are doing well after the surgery. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Brennan said the new organ – donated by brother Travis Brennan, 46, of Augusta – has put his kidney function into the range of people with two healthy functioning kidneys. His kidney function, which was 10 percent before surgery, tested at 87 percent last week.

“I have endless energy,” he said. “It’s just complete night and day the way I feel.”

Todd Brennan, an Augusta native, needed a transplant as a result of his end-stage kidney disease, a side effect of the Type 1 diabetes he’s had since age 12.

The transplant surgery was performed June 21 at Maine Medical Center in Portland, and Todd Brennan was back in his Portland home three days later. Now he’s back to work in the office of a property management firm three days a week, although he still has numerous medical appointments.

Travis Brennan was in the hospital two days more than his brother, but except for some abdominal pain, he is pretty much back to normal and returning to the golf course, Todd Brennan said with a hint of jealousy.

“No lifting more than 10 pounds for the first 12 weeks is frustrating for me,” he said. “I’m not a very good sitter. I’m highly susceptible to a hernia till I’m past that restriction time, so I’ve just got to be smart.”

In the meantime, he’s dealing with the effects of medication – including the steroid Prednisone – on his diabetes.

“Prednisone makes my sugar levels wacky,” he said, adding that he tests his blood sugar 20 times a day and is making constant corrections with insulin.

He remains grateful to all friends and relatives who have donated to a gofundme page called “Todd’s Kidney Transplant Fund” in hope of raising $60,000. On Friday, the total donated was just under $40,000.

“It’s pretty special to know that you have met and known so many people for so long, and as you get older, you sometimes lose track of a lot of people,” Brennan said. “When something like this happens, and they all step forward, it just humbles you. It’s a big deal.”

The money raised covers bills insurance doesn’t pay, such as co-pays that accompanied eight weeks of thrice-weekly doctors’ visits, medication and diabetes specialists.

“Just my dental bills were over $13,000,” Brennan said. He required extensive dental work before getting cardiac clearance for the surgery.

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