Senator Wergin to donate a kidney

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St. Cloud Times | WWW.SCTIMES.COM

Senator Wergin to donate a kidney

By Lawrence Schumacher lschumacher@stcloudtimes.com

August 24, 2007

While some state lawmakers are preparing for a special session, Betsy Wergin is preparing for a medical procedure she will undergo in hopes of restoring her sister’s health.

Wergin, a state senator from Princeton, is scheduled to have a kidney removed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester this morning. Her kidney will be transplanted to her sister, Loni Knase of Coon Rapids.

“I think most anybody would do it for a sibling,” Wergin said. “I can’t wait to see her feeling better.”

The second-term Republican said she expects to be in the hospital for three to five days, but she’s been told not to expect to feel great for up to six weeks afterward.

Though she doesn’t think a special legislative session is necessary, the surgery shouldn’t affect her ability to represent her district if Gov. Tim Pawlenty calls one, Wergin said.

“It’s not like I’m going to be lifting heavy boxes or doing lots of physical labor,” she said. “My body will have to adjust to 50 percent kidney function, but you can live a full, healthy life after that.”

Wergin’s sister has had kidney problems for many years, and was a candidate for transplant six years ago, Wergin said.

But Knase was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly before a scheduled transplant, and recipients must be cancer-free for five years before a transplant can take place, Wergin said.

Since then, Knase has received kidney dialysis treatment, but has contracted a disease related to dialysis that made her very sick, Wergin said.

Wergin and another sister had both volunteered to be donors six years ago and were initially considered tissue matches, but the other sister was recently screened out before final approval, she said.

Wergin, 55, is an assistant Senate minority leader and the ranking minority member of the Senate Capital Investment Committee, which deals with state bonding bills.

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