Uniontown kidney patient finds donor in her workplace

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Uniontown kidney patient finds donor in her workplace

By Mandy Wilson
For the Tribune-Review
Sunday, August 5, 2007

Stephanie Bittner, of Ohiopyle, and Carol Ann Kuklar, of Uniontown, underwent organ transplant surgery, and Kuklar received one of Bittner's kidneys.

For Bittner, the decision to donate was easy: She and Kuklar are mothers, and she understood the importance of Kuklar being around for her children.

Both women also said they relied on their faith and knew it was meant to be.

Bittner and Kuklar met while working at the Laurel Ridge Center. Bittner described Kuklar as "very health-conscious," and said she and her co-workers called her "Competitive Carol Ann."

So after working with Kuklar for almost six months, Bittner was surprised to learn of her colleague's medical history.

Kuklar, a juvenile diabetic, had a kidney-and-pancreas transplant in January 1996.

The organs came from a cadaver and the transplant was successful, until Kuklar had a heart attack. This put a strain on her kidney, resulting in the need for another transplant.

In October 2005, Kuklar found out she would need a new kidney.

"That was devastating," Kuklar said. "I was sick. I kept getting sick, and didn't know why I was sick. And my transplant coordinator called me one day and said that my numbers weren't good."

The coordinator told Kuklar that she needed to find someone who would be willing to give her a kidney. Otherwise, she would have to get back on the transplant list, which Kuklar said is very long.

"It could be a three-, four-year wait," she said. "It depends. It depends on your blood type. That's probably the biggest thing. They have to find a match. Some people are more critical than others."

In contrast to some other types of organ transplants, the sickest person doesn't always get the kidney. Chances for a successful transplant improve when the organ donor and the recipient share not only a blood type, but also a similar cellular profile -- what doctors call a "tissue match" -- that reduces the likelihood of organ rejection.

Luckily for Kuklar, she didn't have to look very far to find a match -- or, in her case, two matches. When Bittner found out about Kuklar's need for a new kidney, she immediately took action to find her a donor.

"So she was on dialysis, and she was telling us she needed a new kidney and was going to get back on the transplant list, but of course the list is very long," Bittner said. "They told her that a live donor would be the best. So, I told her, 'We'll do something. We'll hold some kind of function here, you know, where everybody can come and get tested, and we'll find somebody who's a match.'"

When Bittner approached Kuklar with the idea, Kuklar said she "was all for it." Kuklar was ready to start spreading the news by word of mouth, but she knew she was unlikely to find someone willing to go through with the surgery.

"It's probably one in a million people who will say, 'Oh yeah, I'll give you a kidney.' You know, relatives. You go to relatives first," Kuklar said.

Kuklar's mother and brothers were ruled out because of high blood pressure, but her husband immediately volunteered to be an organ donor.

Although Kuklar knew that not many people would offer up one of their kidneys, Bittner was surprised that not everyone was as eager to be tested as she was.

"So, everybody else didn't think like me. They were all like, 'I'm not going to get tested,'" Bittner said. "In my mind, I'm kind of thinking, 'Why wouldn't anybody do it?'"

Bittner and Kuklar's husband were tested, and from the first step they both were a match.

"I have a lot of faith, and I knew that it would happen, and I would find a match," Kuklar said.

She began dialysis, spending hours each week hooked up to a machine that did the work of her failing kidney, filtering waste from her blood.

"I started the day after Christmas of 2005, but I knew I wasn't gonna be on dialysis very long," she said. "I just knew it. Just something told me, and like I said, I call it faith. Have faith in God, and I knew that I wasn't gonna be on it for very long."

Since both Kuklar's husband and Bittner were eligible donors, they had to decide which one of them would go on with the rest of the medical testing.

Bittner explained that the hospital tells only the person who was tested if he or she is a match. If potential donors have a change of heart, they can just say they are not a match.

Bittner said that option was never considered.

"She has three small little girls (now 9, 7 and 4). And I said, 'Well, you know if you and your husband were both in the hospital through this thing, who would be taking care of those kids?' So, I told her I would go through with the rest of it. So, I went through, and the next step I was a match, and the next step I was a match, until it came out that I was a complete match," Bittner said.

The process took about a month and involved three rounds of blood work and two rounds of tissue typing.

After all the tests were complete, the next step was waiting for the surgery.

"So, she said we're going April 5, and I said, 'OK, I'll clear my calendar,'" Kuklar said.

Bittner has only three small pinholes and a 3-inch incision where the kidney was removed. Her surgery took about two hours.

Kuklar's procedure went smoothly, as well. She went into surgery first, because doctors had to remove her old kidney.

Even though the doctor told Bittner that most people require four or five days to recover before going home, she was determined to get home to her two small boys. Bittner said she told the doctors, "I'll recover better at home. I'm not going to be able to lie here in this bed and worry about them at home."

The next day Bittner was home, leaving her physician surprised at her speedy recovery.

She said the doctor, who has been performing these kidney transplants for more than 30 years, said he'd never seen a kidney respond like Bittner's did, except for an identical twin's.

Bittner said the body can function normally with one kidney, and she hasn't had to make any lifestyle changes.

Kuklar said there were no lifestyle changes for her, either, just "an improved quality of life" with her new organ.

For Bittner, the reward is in seeing Kuklar healthy.

"To see somebody that's so full of life be so sick ... " she said. "So, when I see her come in here all full of energy and so lively, that's the reward, right there."

Although Kuklar no longer works at the Laurel Ridge Center, she stays in contact with Bittner. They attended a donor dinner together in April.

Kuklar encourages more people to donate organs, and even suggested that her husband become an altruistic donor. He declined, saying he is "the back-up" for both Kuklar and Bittner if either one ever needs another kidney.

"He was way ahead of me," Kuklar said.

She said they are keeping that kidney in the family. Although she and Bittner aren't actually related, she looks on Bittner as family now. Kuklar said people ask if the living donor is her sister, and she said she tells them, "'No, just a friend.' But I always say 'just' in quotation marks, because it's definitely more than just a friend. Just someone with a big heart."

Bittner said she was looking out for not only Kuklar, but also for her family. She told Kuklar, "You need to be around for your kids. It's for you, but (the kidney is) for your kids, too."

Bittner and Kuklar have been through a lot together, and know they will always have a special relationship.

"We'll have a lasting friendship forever, I'm sure. A connection. A special connection," Kuklar said.

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