Chance meeting changes lives

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Chance meeting changes lives

By By CYNTHIA REYNAUD
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Posted at 04:05 on 04/15/2008

The women had worked next door to each other for two years, but had never spoken.

It was only by chance they were both behind the strip mall off Swanson Boulevard in Clive when a gust of wind scattered Glazed Expressions owner Laura Riegel's cardboard boxes across the alley.

"I didn't know you were expecting," Riegel commented as Kirsten Martin approached with a box. She motioned to the noticeable bump under Martin's shirt.

"I'm not," replied Martin of Ankeny, an employee at Heartland Mortgage Group. "I'm on dialysis."

Embarrassed and intrigued, Riegel probed further. Martin's kidneys were failing, and no one in her family was a match for her rare O-negative blood.

Riegel was. Five minutes later, Riegel went from stranger to Martin's hope for a normal life.

"Do you want a kidney?" Riegel asked.

"Yeah, I do."

-

There have been 87,169 living donor kidney transplants to date in the United States, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS. Iowa accounts for 766 of those.

More than 98,000 people are on a waiting list maintained by UNOS, which administers the nation's organ transplant network.

A year earlier, Martin's future had flashed before her eyes when she became one of those people. "You're in kidney failure," her doctor told her.

It was Oct. 5, 2006. Martin, 45, had reluctantly gone to the doctor complaining about a lack of appetite and constant exhaustion.

As it turned out, Martin needed four pints of blood. Doctors said she would have been dead in two months if the condition had gone untreated.

Martin's name went on the donor list, but she was told it would take at least 2years before she was called. Until then, she would need to do daily dialysis.

-

Then she met Riegel.

The 46-year-old from Urbandale is married with three daughters. Riegel describes herself as an introvert who would rather be at home than out socializing.

Giving a kidney wasn't something Riegel ever planned to do. But when she heard Martin's story, offering her kidney seemed like common sense.

"As human beings, we don't often have the opportunity to change someone's life," she said. "What if one of us wanted a kidney? We would want someone to give us one."

It took some time for Riegel's family to understand her reasoning.

"It was a hard discussion," she said. "But they were very supportive and loving of me wanting to do this."

Martin's family was a little more skeptical.

"When I said I had found a donor, they said 'Yeah, right. Don't get your hopes up.' And I said, 'I know it will go through,' " she said.

Riegel assures Martin she has no intention of backing down. The two are planning for surgery in May.

-

People need only one kidney to function, although they are born with two. The most dangerous part of the donating process is the surgery to remove the kidney.

"I understand surgery is a scary thing. But statistically, the risk is very low for the donator," Riegel said.

She will have a two-to-four-week recovery period after the surgery when she won't be able to work, but a fund has been set up to help her.

"And what's two weeks for a life? To me, that sounds like a bargain," she said. "I might be losing a kidney, but I've gained a lot more. Most importantly, I've gained a friend."

Reporter Cynthia Reynaud can be reached at (515) 284-8254 or creynaud@dmreg.com

http://www.altoonaherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080415/NEWS/804150379