By Kent Jarrell.
(April 21, 2021) — Jim and Randy Puska of Killingworth are stuck in a waiting game. Randy desperately needs a new kidney, and the wait for a transplant can be three to five years. That is time she may not have.
Randy, 69, retired from a pharmaceutical company, knew her kidneys were at risk when she developed Type 2 Diabetes in her early forties. But suddenly, two and a half years ago, her kidney function plummeted, and she was forced to undergo dialysis. Three times a week, she goes to a dialysis center in Branford and is hooked up to an artificial kidney machine that flushes waste and extra fluid from the blood. It is a physically exhausting treatment.
“It sucks the life out of you the days that you go, you are sitting in a chair for 4 or five hours,” Randy said in an interview.
Her husband, Jim, 74, who still works as Haddam’s Zoning and Wetlands Enforcement Officer, interrupted, “And you have to get down there in all kinds of weather.”
“Yes, but we don’t have a choice,” said Randy. “One of the disappointing things is I see people around me and I don’t see them again. I have lost so many friends I have made there over two- and one-half years. It’s frightening to think about it and what I am putting my husband through. That’s always in the back of my mind.”
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Randy, as of April 15th, was one of 1,020 people in Connecticut on the kidney transplant list. “It’s very frustrating. I know there are a lot of young people that need them too. And one of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t start taking things off my bucket list because now it is too late. There are so many things I want to do,” said Randy.
To avoid the waiting list, Randy tried to find a donor in her family who had a kidney compatible for a transplant. She has no children and testing showed her four siblings didn’t qualify. She is now registered at the Hartford Healthcare Living Donor Transplant Program, the Yale New Haven Transplant Unit, and the National Kidney Registry. If a donor contributes one of their two kidneys and it is a match with Randy, the transplant is scheduled for a convenient time for both people. If the donor kidney is not a match for Randy, the donor kidney goes to another person who needs it, and Randy gets a matching kidney as it becomes available.
A donor of a live kidney does undergo a major surgery according to the National Kidney Registry. Medical tests require at least a full day in the hospital, one to three days in the hospital after surgery and a couple of weeks off work for recovery. The Mayo Clinic advises most kidney donors can “return to normal activities,” but they may be advised to avoid contact sports or other strenuous activities that may cause damage to their remaining kidney.
Randy is fully aware of the sacrifices made by kidney donors. “What they are doing is saving a life. Not a lot of people are comfortable donating a kidney but there are some good people out there and I happen to need them.”
More information on the Hartford Health Living Donor Transplant Program can be found at https://hartfordhospital.org/services/transplant-services/departments-services/living-donation or at 890-972-9727.
Photo by John Nork.
