Julia Williamson, from left, Christine Stevens, Molly Gray-Hooper and Heather Kellogg at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, where Gray Hooper donated a kidney to Stevens with the support of friends Williamson and Kellogg on January 6. Submitted photo

BETHEL — Molly Gray-Hooper and Chrissy Stevens are forever connected after Gray-Hooper donated her kidney to Stevens earlier this month.

The surgery on Jan. 5 went well, according to Heather Kellogg of Bryant Pond, who was in Florida along with Julia Williamson of Bryant Pond to offer support for their friends who were at the Mayo Clinic.

“Surgery was yesterday, a long day for sure, …  (but) everything went really well,” Kellogg, a nurse, said after the surgery. “(Chrissy) started making urine before they were even out of the operating room. She’s having a lot pain, but she’s feeling really, really good.”

The women, who have been friends since the 1980s, call themselves “four peas in a pod.”

“It took a long time for Chrissy to get to her room on the transplant floor,” Kellogg said. “She was finally able to go to the transplant room (instead of back to ICU). You go through every emotion you can imagine. … It was a relief for everyone.”

“Her lab work has improved overnight,” Kellogg said.

Before the surgery, Stevens “was on the transplant list (with poor kidney function) for over a year.”

Gray-Hooper, of South Thomaston, was back at Stevens’ house in Saint Augustine, Florida, by the next day. Her surgery was difficult, but her recovery will be easier. Stevens will need to stay in the hospital as she starts many medications, including anti-rejection drugs and blood thinners.

Stevens had a liver transplant 25 years ago, she told the Bethel Citizen in December.

“Organ donation saved Chrissy’s life, and it’s going to again,” Kellogg said.

Kellogg, who is back in Maine, said Gray-Hooper “is resting outside in the sun. It’s nice and warm right now.”

“Everybody has been blowing up our phones, sending good wishes and prayers … old friends from high school,” said Kellogg, some people they know and some they don’t know.

One thing that Kellogg said she’d like to emphasize is simple and yet significant:

“Donate your organs.”