For kidney patient, her patience may finally pay off

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For kidney patient, her patience may finally pay off

Published: Saturday, March 14, 2009

By William k. Alcorn

Foster’s blood has been cleansed of antibodies that prevented her transplant Jan. 12.

YOUNGSTOWN — Latanya Foster hopes the third time is the charm in her effort to receive a kidney transplant.

She is scheduled for the long-awaited operation Monday at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and said she has her fingers crossed that nothing else goes wrong.

Her living donor is Christina “Christy” Crocker of Grove City, Pa.

On her first try, Foster was notified in spring 2006 that a kidney was available for her, but she was ineligible for the transplant because, weighing in at about 275 pounds, she was too heavy.

Determined to lose weight and not lose another chance at a kidney, the former Delphi Packard employee underwent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, known as lap-band. She had slimmed down to about 200 pounds by the end of 2008, making her eligible for a transplant.

Then, through a chance meeting with Crocker, she found a willing donor who was a match, and was scheduled for the transplant Jan. 12.

But Foster, a 1992 graduate of East High School, was to be disappointed again.

She said that because of a transfusion, her blood developed antibodies that rejected Crocker’s blood, and the Jan. 12 surgery was called off. Foster then underwent 12 treatments, the last one Friday, that successfully cleansed the antibodies from her blood, and the operation is on again.

Foster said she will be in the hospital for three to five days after the operation, and then four to six weeks in the family hospital house near the hospital.

Both women said they are “very excited.”

“So far, everything is going well,” Foster said.

“A lot of people are praying for us,” Crocker said.

alcorn@vindy.com

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