I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: News Articles => Topic started by: okarol on August 18, 2008, 02:07:34 PM
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A kidney for his kid
Father has to lose 80 pounds so he can donate organ to his daughter in Wheatland
August 18, 2008 12:04:00 AM
By Katy Sweeny/Appeal-Democrat
A 16-year-old Wheatland teen with kidney failure shook her dad's foot, waking him up about 6 a.m. Her back and sides hurt.
"Dad, something's really wrong," Teniya Barber said to Herb Barber on Aug. 11.
Teniya cried.
Barber took his pajamas-clad daughter to Rideout Memorial Hospital in Marysville. Teniya had vomited and the waste product creatinine in her blood was elevated, which could mean her kidneys — already at a dangerous low of 9 percent function — could be failing.
She has suffered from kidney failure since she was 9 and the highest level of renal reflux - a problem that causes urine to flow back from the bladder to kidneys - since birth.
"I've almost lost her three times," Herb Barber said.
In 2007, Teniya became pregnant and decided to have the child, although her doctors said her low kidney function would kill her or her baby, she said. Teniya had an emergency Cesarean section in December and is now mom to a healthy, 7-month-old daughter, Divinity Barber-Bills.
"She lost 10 percent of her function by having a baby," Barber said of Teniya's decision. "It was eating her function."
Hours after Teniya checked into the emergency room Aug. 11, doctors told the Barber that Teniya has a cyst from her right ovary to her uterus that caused the pain, Barber said. Neither were immediately relieved by the news.
Barber said he was preoccupied by the possibilities of potential problems related to a cyst.
"Oh great," Barber said he thought. "There's one more thing to add to it."
Dad's a match
Barber, an Appeal-Democrat sales representative, walks around the workplace with a big smile and keeps an upbeat attitude when questioned about his daughter's health.
About two years ago, Barber, 40, learned he has the same blood type as Teniya, allowing him to take his place as her "live donor," so she isn't on a waiting list for a kidney.
"They said basically once she gets a new kidney, she has a new life," he said.
In order to be a good candidate to donate his kidney to Teniya for a transplant, doctors told Barber he has to lose 50 pounds off his 280-pound, 6-foot 4-inch frame. To be a great candidate he has to lose 80 pounds.
"I have to physically be in excellent health — one, to give her a quality product and two, to speed up my recovery time," Barber said.
Today he'll start eating eight small and healthful meals a day and doing cardio workouts twice a day like he did when he competed in the AAU Wrestling Grand Nationals in the 213.75 pound weight class more than seven years ago.
His blog on the A-D Web site, "80 lbs of Heart," is chronicling his journey to lose weight for the health of his daughter and himself. He has eight children.
After a transplant Teniya would have to take a cocktail of drugs so her body doesn't reject Barber's organ.
"Her body will physically fight that kidney for the rest of her life," Barber said.
Teniya's nephrologist — a doctor who specializes in diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract — told her he doesn't suggest transplants for teenagers because they have to be responsible for taking medication and staying healthy, said Katy Barber, Teniya's stepmother.
"It's really hard to take care of someone else's kidney in your body when you have all this other stuff going on," Teniya said, referring to being a teenage mother.
Katy Barber said she's scared of having both her daughter and husband in surgery.
"I basically worry every day," she said.
Teenage woes dominate
Enjoying time away from her dad and stepmom's house, Teniya sits in the booth closest to the window at Primetime Pizza in Wheatland. The teen gets distracted from talking about her health by a woman outside wearing a "really cute outfit."
Her friend Miranda Abbott, 15, holds Divinity while the 7-month-old drools on the table. Teniya's 3-year-old brother, Herby, runs around the pizza place causing trouble.
On Wednesday, Teniya starts her senior year at Wheatland High School.
She says she's afraid people will think she's fishing for attention or that her friends will try to put her in a "bubble" to protect her when they find out the severity of her kidney failure - so she doesn't talk about it much. She tries not to worry about her health and "stupid teenage stuff."
Teniya says she has no idea what she wants to do after high school.
"It's depressing," she says matter of factly about her kidneys failing. "I get upset about it. If I go on with my day I don't really think about it because I'm still walking and still breathing."
Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Katy Sweeny at 741-2400 or ksweeny@appealdemocrat.com
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/barber_67654___article.html/teniya_kidney.html
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80lbs is a tall order but I lost 95 lbs on my own and he has more motivation than I had because he is doing it for his daughter.
Go Herb we are rooting for you! :2thumbsup;