Friend advocates for reporter who needs kidney

Published March 17, 2008 12:33 pm
A journalist who has often written about the medical plight of others now finds himself in need of a donor kidney.

Friend advocates for reporter who needs kidney

By Tom Vartabedian
THE EAGLE-TRIBUNE (NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.)

HAVERHILL, Mass. —

Death is not an easy word when you're talking about a friend. But it is a word that's heavy on my mind because of what doctors have told my journalist colleague, Mike LaBella, about his chances of getting a kidney transplant.

LaBella, a 54-year-old reporter for The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, Mass., has had a chronic kidney disease for many years, though he kept the illness to himself. Now, his doctors tell him he needs a transplant or he may not live.

The problem is there's a three-to-five year waiting period, and even that could stretch out, depending on the suitability of the donor or the roster of patients.

LaBella's kidneys were damaged when he developed nephritis (a kidney infection) as a child. Over the years, the condition of his kidneys has gotten worse and now they are functioning at 5 percent efficiency.

Kidneys clean toxins from the body's blood and thus toxins are building up in LaBella's bloodstream. They can be removed through dialysis on a temporary basis but the permanent solution is a kidney transplant.

An e-mail that Mike recently sent me painted a dire picture, and for him just sounding the alarm took courage.

"My kidneys are on the way to complete failure," he wrote. "Currently, they are operating at 5 percent normal function which means I'll have to go on dialysis very soon.

For Mike, a suitable donor must have a blood type of either B or O. If a donor is found, the kidney would be removed via laparoscopic surgery with small incisions. The hospital stay for the donor would be three to four days, followed by two to three weeks of recovery at home.

Donors are in such short supply because there are about 26 million Americans with chronic kidney disease, according to the doctors at the Lahey Clinic, in Burlington, Mass., where LaBella has undergone evaluation as a transplant candidate.

While he waits he must follow a very restricted diet that is low in protein and other things that make the kidney's work too hard. For example, a simple fruit like a banana is out because it has too much potassium.

Mike's dialysis treatments will begin shortly and continue for three nights each week until a donor is found or his body gives up.

"It is frightening to think about the consequences," said LaBella. "The longer I wait for a transplant, the more complicated it becomes."

He will continue to work as a reporter and make plans for his daughter's wedding. God willing, he'll march Stephanie down the aisle next year and resume his fishing trips with his son Matthew. His wife Pam provides unwavering support. Unfortunately, nobody in his family has the right blood type.

LaBella has been a consummate community journalist, covering local news in Haverhill, Mass., for several years. He's often written about the medical plight of others, and now he finds himself in the same distressing situation. His doctors have told him he should advocate for himself because of the prolonged wait for a kidney from a donor bank.

But Mike is a modest man and finds it hard to ask a favor. As a friend, I'm doing it for him because his future depends on it.

Anyone interested in more information about being a kidney donor to Mike LaBella can contact Brenda Reed at the Lahey Clinic at 781-744-8974. For the sake of my good friend and his family, I pray someone steps forward.

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Tom Vartabedian writes for the Haverhill, Mass., Gazette. You can contact him at tommyvart@aol.com.

http://www.alliednews.com/statenews/cnhinsall_story_077123351.html