'I had to ask for a kidney'

'I had to ask for a kidney'

By Melissa Regennitter of the Muscatine Journal

MUSCATINE, Iowa — After more than 20 years of dealing with his disease, Kevin Reichert found himself having to ask for a kidney.

“I had originally planned to do home dialysis, but in my case things started turning quickly,” said Reichert, 46, who had polycystic kidney disease. “I didn’t want to ask but I couldn’t wait for another donor. I was facing the end.”

Polycystic kidney disease is a disorder in which clusters of cysts develop primarily within your kidneys. Cysts are non-cancerous sacs containing water-like fluid. Kidney failure is common with polycystic kidney disease.

Reichert, a Muscatine native, started by telling his family members that a kidney donation was needed to save his live. He worried about his wife of 17-years, Nancy Reichert, and their two daughters, Hope and Danielle.

“You have to move forward. You have to ask. You don’t want to ask but it’s do or die,” Reichert said.

Late in 2007 he spoke to his brothers Kenneth, Jeff and Darren about the situation he faced. He needed to find a match to get the transplant. The brothers agreed to undergo testing, as did their parents, Jack and Dorothy Reichert of Muscatine. They all said they would have given up one of their kidneys to save him.

Kenneth Reichert, 51, was tested first and was acknowledged as a match. He agreed to the procedure because waiting for a cadaver to contribute a kidney was no longer an option for his brother.

“It needed to be done and I wasn’t going to lose a family member. I could deal with the pain of the operation over the pain of losing a loved one,” Kenneth Reichert said.

Kenneth Reichert, formerly of Muscatine, has been living in Florida where he transferred from Muscatine’s Bandag Inc. to a facility there. He and wife, Idalia, discussed the risks and questioned the procedure because their children could someday need a kidney.

“In the future I hope someone would step up to the plate and do what I did if my kids were in trouble. I am a living example now,” Kenneth Reichert said.

Kevin Reichert is employed by Muscatine’s HON Co. and the business helped pay for airline expenses to get his brother from Florida to the University of Iowa Hospitals.

The guys said nothing too emotional happened during the minutes before they went to their separate hospital beds for the Feb. 28 transplant. But, they kept their spirits high and brotherly instincts about them.

“Before we went in I said to him: ‘Well, you’re finally gonna get a piece of me, boy,’” Kenneth Reichert said with a laugh during a phone interview. After the surgery was over his brother told him jokingly, “Well, I guess I done did my paybacks.”

Kenneth Reichert stayed with his brother’s family in Muscatine for three weeks following the operation because of travel restrictions. The two enjoy talking about and studying alternative energy, so that consumed much of their time.

Kenneth Reichert has returned to Florida and planned to start work again early this month.

Kevin Reichert is still off work as he heals and has taken a lot of time to reflect on what this second chance at life means to him.

“It changes the way you look at life, people and your family,” Kevin Reichert said. “It’s a new beginning. You are a living representation of organ donation. I live only because of that.”

Reporter contact information

Melissa Regennitter: 563-262-0526, or mregennitter@muscatinejournal.com

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2008/05/05/news/doc481f13fadf697910167956.txt