Notice in church bulletin leads to kidney transplant

[okarol]

Tuesday, July 10, 2007 12:34 PM CDT

Notice in church bulletin leads to kidney transplant

By Trish Wallace
Jefferson County Journal

A notice in a church bulletin resulted in a kidney donor for Sue Kossman, 54, of Imperial.

Kossman went on a transplant list in November 2006, and doctors told her she would probably have to wait two or three years before a donor could be found.

Not willing to wait, Kossman's husband, Art, spoke with their pastor at South County Baptist about listing Sue's need in the bulletin as a prayer need.

"We didn't really expect for anyone to come forward," Kossman said.

Heather Allen, 28, of Pevely, read the notice just before leaving on vacation with her husband in the beginning of December.

"It piqued my interest," Allen said.

Allen wasn't the only person interested in helping Kossman. One of Kossman's sisters and another church member wanted to donate, but each had blood pressure that was too high to allow that, and her daughter failed the cross match.

"I thought, 'Oh, no, what am I going to do?'" Kossman said.

During the time the Kossmans pondered about putting the notice in the church bulletin, Allen suffered her second miscarriage of the year. She and her husband already have four children but want more. When she read about Kossman's need, she wanted to help.

"I thought maybe this happened for a reason," Allen said.

With an average attendance at the church of about 400, Kossman and Allen barely knew each other before sitting together at the church's Thanksgiving banquet--just before Kossman's transplant need was printed in the bulletin.

The women are more than acquaintances now. A transplant surgery is scheduled for this month for Allen to give one of her kidneys to Kossman.

The need for a kidney transplant was no surprise to Kossman. Nearly 30 years ago, Kossman was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, a hereditary disease that causes cysts to grow on the kidneys.

Kossman finally had to be placed on a transplant list when her kidney function dropped to 20 percent. Dialysis becomes necessary at 10 percent.

"I'm real close," Kossman said. "Without the transplant, I'd be looking at dialysis."

Both women said they were excited about the donation at first, but as the date of the surgery draws closer, a bit of nervousness has set in.

Kossman will be in the hospital for four to seven days, and Allen, three to five. The recovery period could take anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks.

Allen said doctors told her that her biggest adjustment will be learning to deal with a drop in energy until her other kidney "kicks in full force."

Kossman is looking forward to being able to spend time outside and take walks without having a lot of pain and "not having to be tied down to a machine three days a week."

"It's hard to express the feelings I have for Heather," Kossman said. "How do you repay someone who gave you another chance at life?"

The women encourage others to pursue the option of being a living donor.

"If they're willing to, there is no reason not to," Allen said.

Kossman agreed.

"I really just want people to know it's such a wonderful gift to donate," she said. "There are a lot of people still waiting."

http://jeffcountyjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2007/07/14/news/sj2tn20070710-0711jef_kidney.ii1.txt