Awaiting kidney, young mom captains cause

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Awaiting kidney, young mom captains cause

By NANCY FRENCH/Special to The Herald

Sandy Melton is an active member of First Baptist Church, a Girl Scout leader, a Zion Elementary PTF leader and the mother of two young children. But there’s something that makes Sandy different from the typical, active mother — she is also the captain of “Melton’s Miracle Walkers,” a team participating in the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Walk.

On April 27, she and others will tie their shoes and walk around Maury County Park to raise awareness for organ donation for the National Kidney Foundation.

More importantly, however, she hopes to find a donor for herself.

Her quest for a kidney began four years ago when Sandy decided to lose a few pounds. After a few weeks of watching her food intake, she had blood tests run as the diet suggested. When the test came back abnormal, she realized she’d lost a lot more than a few pounds. Melton had kidney disease.

Four years later, she is still one of 92,000 people waiting for organ transplants. When Sandy realized her husband and sister have disqualifying health issues, she began ramping up her efforts to find a suitable kidney donor through church bulletins, school folders and message boards.

Many do not realize a living person can donate an organ for transplantation to another person. Kidneys are the most commonly donated organs because people can live normal, healthy lives with just one kidney. In fact, some people are born with only one, and never realize it.

Living organ donation has several advantages over cadaverous donation.

# Potential donors can be tested to find a donor most compatible with the recipient.

# The transplant can take place at convenient time for the donor and recipient.

   

# A kidney from a living donor usually functions immediately, making it easier to monitor.

A person interested in becoming a living donor for Sandy must have Type A or O blood, either positive or negative. They also must have an evaluation including laboratory studies of blood and urine, health exams, chest x-ray, EKG, 2llection and several kidney tests. The required tests are covered by the recipient’s insurance.

To learn more, please call Laura Butler at Vanderbilt Medical Center at (800) 288 5000, Ext. 60695, option 3. The hospital respects privacy as potential donors explore whether they would qualify or choose to donate a kidney. Additionally, information from the National Kidney Foundation can be found at www.kidney.org .

Information will also be available at the upcoming Kidney Walk. This event is non-competitive and educational, focusing on the prevention of kidney and urinary tract diseases and awareness of organ donation. It also allows the community to celebrate life with dialysis patients, organ transplant recipients, donor families and living donors. Many Kidney Walk participants are walking proof that living donors and their recipients go on to live full and healthy lives. In fact, some kidney recipients even play professional sports.

Alonzo Mourning, for example, of the NBA’s Miami Heat has had a successful rebound from kidney disease. Since his recovery, his wife Tracy began promoting organ donation nationwide by designing a T-shirt to raise awareness about the life-saving power of organ donation. Her shirts — available on the National Kidney Foundation’s Web site — have the slogan “Share Your Spare.” If interested in walking with or financially supporting “Melton’s Miracle Walkers,” please call Karin Shewbart at (931) 379-4905.

Of course, Sandy Melton doesn’t want to play NBA basketball, but she would like to play with her young children — something that has become increasingly difficult. During the last snowfall, Sandy and her husband went outside with her kids to sled, but she was exhausted after just a few minutes.

When she tucked her son into bed that night, she tried to make the best of it. “I enjoyed playing in the snow with you today,” she whispered.

“But it made you tired,” her son replied before slipping off to sleep.

As Sandy battles her disease, please consider giving her — and her family — the gift of life. After all, as a community we have a chance to give her some much-needed relief.

Nancy French is the author of “Red State of Mind: How a Catfish Queen Reject Became a Liberty Belle.” She began her writing career as a Philadelphia City Paper columnist tackling politics, religion, and culture with a light humorous touch; her articles have also appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Daily News.

She is an alumna of David Lipscomb University and New York University, where she studied English and philosophy. In addition to book writing, she is also co-founder of the grassroots political Web sites EvangelicalsforMitt.com and TNforMitt.com. Nancy, her husband David, and their two children live in Columbia. They attend Zion Presbyte

http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/articles/2008/04/07/lifestyles/02lstyle.txt