Pete’s Kidney Transplant
Donation protected
A little over 5 years ago Pete was admitting to the hospital because a routine blood test to refill his blood pressure medicine came back abnormal. After 2 weeks of countless tests to find out what was wrong, a biopsy sent to the Mayo Clinic brought back devastating news. Pete had a rare blood disease called Amyloidosis. After speaking to many doctors in St Louis and receiving the heart-breaking news that the survival rate was not good, we made an appointment with the Mayo Clinic. Even after being given a 2 year, then a 3-year timeline, Pete has fought hard and have amazed the doctors with his staying power.
Since this disease is so tricky and attacks many different organs in the body, there was damage done to many vial organs. Pete was not only seeing many doctors in St Louis; he has a whole medical team at the Mayo Clinic that he sees every 3-4 months. The damage had taken it toll on his kidneys and he had to start dialysis. This meant not only being on weekly chemo to treat the Amyloidosis, but he also had to go to dialysis three times a week for 4 ½ hours. Even though all this was rough on his body and physically exhausting he still worked full time and has remained a driving force with family activities.
Then about a year ago Pete surprised all his doctors with the result of his Amyloidosis going into remission. He was told that if this status held for a year, he could be tested to for possible kidney transplant. A year went by and his numbers still looked good. Pete traveled to the Mayo Clinic for the first round of qualifications for transplant. Even with his great strides he was not passing the cardiac portion of the tests. He traveled back to the Mayo Clinic two more times to try to quality for transplant. Finally, on the third visit, things looked brighter. All the doctors felt positive about the tests, even the cardiac portion.
The call came in the first week of November 2019, he was accepted into the transplant program. From everything the doctors indicated, chances of a donor kidney was low and he needed to find a living donor. There were many friends and family member lined up to be tested to see if they match. Then unbelievably on the morning of November 17, a call from the Mayo Clinic. They had a matched kidney for Pete, and he needed to get to Rochester in the next 12 hours. Pete hopped in the car and started driving, while Renee booked a flight for later in the day so home details could be figured out.
After a lot of scrambling and many friends stepping in to help, both Pete and Renee made it to the Mayo Clinic. Very early in the morning at 5am on November 18, Pete underwent the transplant surgery. With only a few problems with blood pressure the surgery appears to be a success so far. In addition, to all the doctors delight by 4pm his new kidney was making urine.
While things are looking very positive, there is a long road of healing a head. Both Pete and Renee must remain at the transplant house for at least 4 weeks. While the Mayo provides the transplant house as a lower lodging price, the next month of lodging, food, medical costs of rejection drugs and much more, will be financially overwhelming.
Over the last 5 years, Pete and Renee never wanted to ask for help and figured out ways to always pay the medical bills, while allowing the kids lives to remain normal. The next 1-2 months holds many unknowns for them both medially and financially. It is the first time they have ever voiced concern.
Since this disease is so tricky and attacks many different organs in the body, there was damage done to many vial organs. Pete was not only seeing many doctors in St Louis; he has a whole medical team at the Mayo Clinic that he sees every 3-4 months. The damage had taken it toll on his kidneys and he had to start dialysis. This meant not only being on weekly chemo to treat the Amyloidosis, but he also had to go to dialysis three times a week for 4 ½ hours. Even though all this was rough on his body and physically exhausting he still worked full time and has remained a driving force with family activities.
Then about a year ago Pete surprised all his doctors with the result of his Amyloidosis going into remission. He was told that if this status held for a year, he could be tested to for possible kidney transplant. A year went by and his numbers still looked good. Pete traveled to the Mayo Clinic for the first round of qualifications for transplant. Even with his great strides he was not passing the cardiac portion of the tests. He traveled back to the Mayo Clinic two more times to try to quality for transplant. Finally, on the third visit, things looked brighter. All the doctors felt positive about the tests, even the cardiac portion.
The call came in the first week of November 2019, he was accepted into the transplant program. From everything the doctors indicated, chances of a donor kidney was low and he needed to find a living donor. There were many friends and family member lined up to be tested to see if they match. Then unbelievably on the morning of November 17, a call from the Mayo Clinic. They had a matched kidney for Pete, and he needed to get to Rochester in the next 12 hours. Pete hopped in the car and started driving, while Renee booked a flight for later in the day so home details could be figured out.
After a lot of scrambling and many friends stepping in to help, both Pete and Renee made it to the Mayo Clinic. Very early in the morning at 5am on November 18, Pete underwent the transplant surgery. With only a few problems with blood pressure the surgery appears to be a success so far. In addition, to all the doctors delight by 4pm his new kidney was making urine.
While things are looking very positive, there is a long road of healing a head. Both Pete and Renee must remain at the transplant house for at least 4 weeks. While the Mayo provides the transplant house as a lower lodging price, the next month of lodging, food, medical costs of rejection drugs and much more, will be financially overwhelming.
Over the last 5 years, Pete and Renee never wanted to ask for help and figured out ways to always pay the medical bills, while allowing the kids lives to remain normal. The next 1-2 months holds many unknowns for them both medially and financially. It is the first time they have ever voiced concern.
Organizer
Renee Burgart-Schrader
Organizer
Saint Charles, MO
