I know the fear of the unknown when your heart stops with an unheard-of diagnosis. My 13-year-old granddaughter is in remission with C3 Glomerulonephritis, an extremely rare kidney disease, that requires bottles of medication and frequent monitoring, praying the results don’t change.
My friend Noelle Stuteville’s heart has skipped beats many times over the last seven years as her daughter, Abby, was diagnosed with lupus nephritis at the age of 16. Noelle watched Abby’s teenage life change entirely from normal teenager planning sleepovers and weekend shopping outings to beginning chemotherapy, steroid infusions, weekly shots and daily medicine in order to try and keep her kidney functioning and slow the progression of kidney failure.
Abby graduated from high school and began college, but her kidney continued to fail hospitalizing her numerous times with several kidney biopsies. Unfortunately, in January of 2020, she had to drop out of college to begin hemodialysis 3 days a week at the dialysis clinic, with most days after dialysis spent in bed until the next
round.
June of 2020 provided the answer Abby needed when she received her new kidney from her dad. However, a series of illnesses beginning with Covid in October of 2020 damaged the kidney and despite numerous processes to save the kidney through 2021-22 the kidney had to be removed.
Abby currently hooks up to her dialysis machine each night for nine hours as well as completes a manual transfer dialysis treatment each afternoon.
Noelle says, “Abby is 23 and would like to complete school to be a special education teacher. She currently is a special education pre-k assistant and loves her students. However, dialysis is not easy and she misses out on simple daily life events that people take for granted like going to an evening movie, staying out late with friends and working a job without being absent. She is exhausted, but keeps fighting with a smile.”
Abby is currently listed for another transplant at UT Erlanger in Chattanooga – 423-778-8067. They do not participate in the share program so she is on the national list with them, and the wait time is 5-6 years. She needs a miracle with a living donor.
Information for potential donors: Abigail Stuteville 6/6/2000 O positive Contact: Deidra Gonzales, MSN, APRN Independent Living Donor Advocate Erlanger Transplant Center 423-778-7872 or deidra.gonzales@erlanger.org
All of us have a story and I want to tell yours! Send them to susan@knoxtntoday.com