Karen Lungu
The Canon City Daily Record
The Canon City Daily Record
Kelly found herself in need of a kidney more than a year ago, after suffering kidney failure for unknown reasons. Until then, Kelly was healthy and active, with a routine exercise regimen. She also was a health teacher at Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility. A friend at DOC developed a “Find Becky a Kidney” Facebook page, while other friends opened a weekly booth at the Farmers Market to share the message of organ donation and Kelly’s need.
More recently, Dennis Wied of Raftmasters offered Kelly the use of his billboard until March, though she still needs to raise about $2,000 to have two banners made for the billboard. Another friend, Linda Carlson, made a YouTube video of Kelly sharing her search for a donor.
“I was looking online, reading about kidney donation,” Carlson said, “and the ways people were raising awareness in their campaigns for organ donation.”
Carlson spent a morning at Kelly’s house filming the video. Kelly said she hopes her search for a kidney will raise awareness of the need for other organ donations. In spite of finding new ways to broaden the message, Kelly braced herself for an extended wait.
She is registered for donation through Texas Methodist Hospital in Houston and Porter Hospital in Denver. With recent declining health, Kelly was moved to the top of the list at Methodist Hospital.
“I just talked to my doctor of kidney transplant in Houston,” Kelly said. “He wants to transplant ASAP. They said I am a very difficult case.”
Kelly’s recent labs were not good, and she took an early retirement from DOC to maintain her health for transplant.
“My doctors told me if I did not focus on taking care of myself, I would not get a transplant,” Kelly said.
When Kelly first was diagnosed with kidney failure, she received two units of blood and several complete plasma transfusions, which caused her to develop additional antibodies, making her a difficult match, with a higher rate of rejection. Though considered a one in a million match, Kelly found two matches, but both learned of life-threatening illnesses while going through initial donor testing.
“If something comes along, it has to be a perfect match because of the antibodies,” Kelly said.
For more than a year, she was on hemodialysis, going into the dialysis center three to four days a week, four to five hours a day.
“Dialysis has taken over my life,” Kelly said.
Most people’s kidneys work 24-7, Kelly said. Dialysis only releases fluids and toxins during the dialysis period. Because of a shunt going directly to the heart, hemodialysis often leaves patients at a higher risk for infection. Kelly spent two weeks training in peritoneal dialysis, which she now does from home. Peritoneal dialysis requires a tube through the abdominal wall instead of a shunt into the heart. Though a more efficient form of dialysis, with fewer risks for infection, it is more technically difficult.
A close friend is paying a home health-care nurse to come in four hours a day to help Kelly. Her home dialysis takes about eight hours a day. Carlson also took time to train in helping learn peritoneal dialysis.
“She’s been my angel,” Kelly said.
Kelly’s best bet probably is kidney pairing, where family and friends of a difficult-to-match person pairs with another family searching for a kidney. Some paired donation surgeries have included up to 16 matches.
Kidney donor surgery can be done laproscopically, with a brief hospital stay. The second kidney grows larger to compensate for the two.
“They go back and get on with their lives, and they don’t feel any different,” said Carlson. “Also, there’s no cost to them. Every penny is paid by Becky’s insurance.”
For more information on being a match for Kelly or a candidate for pairing donation, call Porter Hospital donor coordinator Jill Douglass at (888) 872-8891 or Texas Methodist Hospital referral center at (713) 441-8900. Kelly needs an O positive donor. For more information, visit Kelly’s YouTube video at Becky Kelly Kidney and her “Find Becky a Kidney” Facebook page. Donations for Kelly’s billboard can be sent to 867 Evelyn Drive, Canon City, CO, 81212.
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