Women hope to give, receive friendship's ultimate gift

Friday, July 10, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL Lauraleigh Devey, left, of Dowell is hoping to get a kidney from her friend Dianne Koerper of Lusby. Devey has been struggling with chronic kidney disease since 2002. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

In a few months Lauraleigh Devey of Dowell and Dianne Koerper of Lusby are hoping to become what they call "the ultimate blood sisters."

It all started in 2002 when Devey learned she had chronic kidney disease, a condition that she believed stemmed from a childhood illness and an undiagnosed autoimmune disease that her doctors said is similar to lupus.

"[Life became] very different, mostly with eating … everything has to be very fresh with very little meat and no salt … eating out is very hard," said Devey, 50, who described her kidney disease as "very much like a pool filter that needs to be replaced but still has enough oomph to work. You just need to keep the water in balance."

Devey explained that she was able to do such through diet and exercise to the point where she has never needed dialysis, which she said "is not the cure-all."

In 2007, however, she met Koerper, whose husband Keith had previously known Devey's husband Bill from the military.

Koerper said that as soon as she got to know Devey and learned of her condition, she and her husband knew they needed to do something to help.

"I know that when somebody goes through many trials daily it just tugs at your heart strings and you think ‘there's something I can do to help at very little cost to me,'" said Koerper, 42. "I thought, boy, if she could just go out and say ‘I'm going to go out and have a pizza and a beer' that would be great."

So Koerper decided she wants to make this happen by donating one of her kidneys to Devey, a process both admitted could be complicated by them not having the same blood type. Her husband, Koerper said, did have the same blood type as Devey but could not donate as he had two kidney stones in the past and was pre-diabetic.

To combat this problem, Koerper and Devey have been added to a kidney swap list, which Devey's doctor, Dr. Robert Montgomery, chief transplant surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, recently made news for completing an unprecedented eight-way kidney swap, according to the Associated Press.

Koerper explained that while on this list she could end up donating a kidney to somebody who she's a better match for while Devey would receive a kidney from someone who is better match for her.

"They want to make sure that the donor is extremely healthy and can go through this and then lead a healthy life after," said Koerper, who said she has already had multiple blood tests, a CAT scan and an EKG, all of which are paid for by Devey's insurance.

Both women have also received some psychiatric counseling regarding their decision.

"I couldn't imagine having any serious illness and not keeping your head in check because it really plays with you," Devey said, adding that her own husband initially was hoping to donate but discovered through the various tests that he had three blocked arteries and needed triple bypass surgery.

"It ended up saving his life," Devey said , continuing that should she and Koerper not find a match from the swap list, she would go through plasma pheresis, a "blood recycling procedure" similar to dialysis, which she said has a nearly 95 percent success rate.

Koerper said that she has had no second thoughts about her decision, particularly as "the Hopkins team has made me very well educated so there's very little question as to what's going to happen."

She also said that after having had previous caesarean sections to give birth, she is aware of "normal risks involved with surgery" and only anticipates needing to stay in the hospital for two or three days before resuming her life as normal.

Devey, however, said that her recovery process will be a bit more complex, explaining "Post-transplant is pretty intense … immediately after with blood work and medication.

"You'll take up to 40 or 50 pills daily – and the variations change – until they have you where you need to be," Devey said.

The operation will occur in late August or September the women are hoping, and for Devey, the new kidney could not come sooner.

"I might start running," Devey said, adding that there is one post-transplant bonus that might not be beneficial.

"I'm a little nervous about eating whatever I want because [my diet] is pretty restrictive now and if I'm literally able to eat whatever I want, there goes the size 6 if I'm not careful," she laughed.

Koerper said that going through this process has taught her a lot, not only scientifically, but also about how little it takes to change someone's life.

"Even if you don't have it in you to be a living donor, there's a donation box on your license you can check if something does happen to you and that's so important."

lbuck@somdnews.com