Kidney Recipient (Almost) Free to Live a Normal Life

Can you fill your cup with ice at a self-serve drink dispenser? Lisa Lane has to drink her beverage without the commercial ice. Can you take ibuprofen when you have a headache? Lisa Lane has to choose other pain relievers. Can you plant flowers and vegetables in your garden? Lisa Lane has to stick with store-bought varieties.

Lisa doesn’t mind these and other minor adjustments because she has a new lease on life thanks to a kidney transplant in October 2024.

During National Donate Life Month in April 2024, the wife and mother was anxiously awaiting news that a kidney had become available for a transplant. Lisa was diagnosed with kidney disease in June 2021. She had been experiencing bouts of nausea and was losing weight only to have tests come back inconclusive. When her white blood cell count plummeted and was virtually nonexistent, her doctor immediately ordered her to the hospital where she was diagnosed with lupus nephritis, an autoimmune disease that occurs when lupus autoantibodies affect parts of the kidneys that filter out waste. She was unaware that she had lupus because she never experienced any symptoms. Following a 21-day stay in the hospital, she began outpatient dialysis. For three and one-half hours, three days a week, she went to outpatient dialysis.

In 2023 she met the criteria to be placed on the transplant list at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) in Pittsburgh, PA. To be placed on the transplant list, aside from the kidney disease, the person must be otherwise healthy and not have any other chronic illnesses such as heart disease or cancer. Transplant candidates go through rigorous multidisciplinary testing. In addition to the testing at AGH, she then went through it at two other facilities, and was placed on the lists at WVU Medicine and Cleveland Clinic.

“Each health system requires its own testing multiple times,” explained Lisa. “I met with nephrologists, nutritionists, psychologists, pharmacists, surgeons, cardiologists, gynecologists, and many others. It is a long process. When you are placed on the transplant list, each of the health systems tell people to have a phone on you 24/7 because you never know when the call will come that they have an organ for you.”

The call finally came on October 7, 2024 at 7:30 PM while Lisa, her husband, Dave, and daughter, Abby were watching television. Allegheny General Hospital, which is located approximately 30 minutes from their home in Gibsonia, PA, had a kidney that was a match.

“All three of us immediately started crying,” said Lisa. “Our tears of joy then transitioned into excitement.”

After arriving at the hospital, the pre-op preparation took hours and she was finally taken into surgery on October 8, 2024 at 11:00 AM. The transplant took four hours and was complication free. Lisa remained in the hospital for 10 days following surgery where she had post-surgery dialysis twice because the transplanted kidney was not working as fast as they anticipated which can sometimes happen with kidneys transplanted from deceased donors.

“I left the hospital with a six or seven-inch scar but was happy to go home. I was mostly tired and anxious,” said Lisa. “Most people may not realize that when a new kidney is transplanted that the other two kidneys still remain in the body so I am walking around with three kidneys now.”

Every day following her discharge, Lisa was visited by a home healthcare nurse who checked vitals and monitored her for infection. On her own, she also had to log her intake and urine output, temperature, blood pressure and pulse oxygen. Physically she was not limited -- she could do steps and shower; however, she was not permitted to drive for six weeks.

In addition to attentive care from Dave and Abby, Lisa’s twin sister, Linda Cherevka, a nurse who lives in Hawaii, traveled to Gibsonia to help during the recovery.

“My friends and neighbors were a huge help too,” said Lisa. They prepared meals for my family and helped drive me to my appointments.”

While recovering, Lisa had to travel to the transplant office twice a week, and then once a week every six weeks. She had blood drawn every week and now every three weeks. While she will need to have blood drawn once a month for the rest of her life, she can stop seeing the transplant team in two or three years.

Due to concerns over bacteria, she cannot swim in a lake or river or eat the items on salad bars, sushi or commercial ice. Alcohol, grapefruit, pomegranate and green tea can no longer be part of her diet. However, she is now back to eating potatoes, kiwi, oranges and dairy.

“We were planning an Alaskan cruise this summer, but my family had to postpone it because the doctors recommend refraining from air or cruise travel for one year which is a very small price to pay for having a new kidney and a normal life again.”

Throughout April, many hospitals and health systems throughout the U.S., including Penn Highlands Healthcare, are sponsoring activities to raise awareness of the importance of organ, cornea and tissue donation. Penn Highlands Healthcare is sponsoring flag-raising ceremonies at many of its nine hospitals, posting outdoor signage and posters and using social media to encourage donor registration.

If you are not already an organ, cornea or tissue donor, please consider registering to help someone. In Western Pennsylvania to become a donor, visit donatelifepa.org. In Central Pennsylvania, visit donors1.org. You can also become a donor when you renew your driver’s license in person, or online at dmv.pa.gov. Once you register, please tell your loved ones about your decision so that if the time comes, they will not be surprised and can help carry out your wishes.