Family Struggles with History of Kidney Disease
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jennifer [email protected]
Scott, 46, Warsaw, is the mother of a 15-year-old boy, Branden, and is married to Brian.
Scott is one of seven in the Moerchen family, her maiden name, who has been affected by kidney disease. There are three generations of her family who have faced kidney complications.
She said five family members have kidney disease, two are healthy, one already gave a kidney and one just had a baby and can’t be tested for a year.
“Your kidney is the boss of a lot of things in your body and controls your blood pressure, and can affect your hearing and eye site, and when it’s not working a lot of things don’t work along with it,” Scott said.
She said kidney disease causes fatigue, and four years ago she noticed she had uncontrollable blood pressure and severe migraines.
She went to the doctor who informed her she had kidney disease, a genetic defect.
She has been in kidney treatment for the past four years, knowing that everything leads up to the day she will receive a kidney from a donor.
“If I can get 10 to 12 hours of sleep a day I can make it through the week, and if I get less than that I struggle,” Scott said.
Scott said she is not currently on dialysis, and her kidney is functioning at 12 percent currently.
She is on the kidney transplant program waiting list to receive a kidney at Lutheran Kidney Transplant Center, Fort Wayne.
“The testing process will take one to three months to make sure there are no underlying diseases besides the kidney disease,” Scott said.
In the meantime, she is awaiting someone to step up to donate their kidney to her.
She said to give a kidney the donor is in the hospital for one day, and the recovery period is one to seven days, depending on a person’s job.
The donor does not pay for donating a kidney, but the recipient does.
Scott’s father, Ron Moerchen, died from kidney failure in 1981.
Besides Scott, 31, her brother, Jeff Moerchen, will need a kidney transplant in the future.
Scott said her sister, Sara Kropf, 38, Syracuse, received a kidney transplant from her brother, Greg Moerchen, 50, in 2000 at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
Kropf works for a company in Omaha who makes transplant documentation and tracking software for transplant clinics.
Stephanie and Sara’s brother, Todd Moerchen, received a kidney from his wife, Lisa, at Tampa General, in 2000; their sister, Leah Glassburn, received a kidney from their cousin, Toni Copenhaver, at IU Medical Center In Indianapolis in 2005; their cousin, Angela Moerchen, received a kidney transplant from her friend at IU Medical Center in Indianapolis in 2007.
The Moerchen family is one of 30 individuals, groups, or companies sponsoring trees in the local North Webster Kiwanis club’s annual “Festival of Trees” at the North Webster Community Center.
All of the proceeds from the trees go to Riley Hospital For Children.
Sponsors decorate trees that are displayed in the hallways and seek votes for the best decorated trees.
The Moerchens family has pictures of their family dangling from the tree and a poster seeking support for kidney donors.
Alice Charlton, Scott’s mother, came up with the idea for the tree.
“I decided my theme would be kidney organ donation awareness because my family has been affected by that,” Charlton said.
She said when a person donates an organ they give the gift of life.
“The way we feel about people who donate kidneys is that they are angels,” Charlton said.
The tree, along with 29 other trees, will be on display at the community center until Dec. 31, Mondays through Fridays from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
To donate a kidney to Scott, a person must be healthy and age 18-65. To learn more and to donate a kidney to Scott, call Valeria Barto, living donor coordinator at Lutheran Kidney Transplant Center, Fort Wayne, at 260-435-6211.[[In-content Ad]]
Scott, 46, Warsaw, is the mother of a 15-year-old boy, Branden, and is married to Brian.
Scott is one of seven in the Moerchen family, her maiden name, who has been affected by kidney disease. There are three generations of her family who have faced kidney complications.
She said five family members have kidney disease, two are healthy, one already gave a kidney and one just had a baby and can’t be tested for a year.
“Your kidney is the boss of a lot of things in your body and controls your blood pressure, and can affect your hearing and eye site, and when it’s not working a lot of things don’t work along with it,” Scott said.
She said kidney disease causes fatigue, and four years ago she noticed she had uncontrollable blood pressure and severe migraines.
She went to the doctor who informed her she had kidney disease, a genetic defect.
She has been in kidney treatment for the past four years, knowing that everything leads up to the day she will receive a kidney from a donor.
“If I can get 10 to 12 hours of sleep a day I can make it through the week, and if I get less than that I struggle,” Scott said.
Scott said she is not currently on dialysis, and her kidney is functioning at 12 percent currently.
She is on the kidney transplant program waiting list to receive a kidney at Lutheran Kidney Transplant Center, Fort Wayne.
“The testing process will take one to three months to make sure there are no underlying diseases besides the kidney disease,” Scott said.
In the meantime, she is awaiting someone to step up to donate their kidney to her.
She said to give a kidney the donor is in the hospital for one day, and the recovery period is one to seven days, depending on a person’s job.
The donor does not pay for donating a kidney, but the recipient does.
Scott’s father, Ron Moerchen, died from kidney failure in 1981.
Besides Scott, 31, her brother, Jeff Moerchen, will need a kidney transplant in the future.
Scott said her sister, Sara Kropf, 38, Syracuse, received a kidney transplant from her brother, Greg Moerchen, 50, in 2000 at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
Kropf works for a company in Omaha who makes transplant documentation and tracking software for transplant clinics.
Stephanie and Sara’s brother, Todd Moerchen, received a kidney from his wife, Lisa, at Tampa General, in 2000; their sister, Leah Glassburn, received a kidney from their cousin, Toni Copenhaver, at IU Medical Center In Indianapolis in 2005; their cousin, Angela Moerchen, received a kidney transplant from her friend at IU Medical Center in Indianapolis in 2007.
The Moerchen family is one of 30 individuals, groups, or companies sponsoring trees in the local North Webster Kiwanis club’s annual “Festival of Trees” at the North Webster Community Center.
All of the proceeds from the trees go to Riley Hospital For Children.
Sponsors decorate trees that are displayed in the hallways and seek votes for the best decorated trees.
The Moerchens family has pictures of their family dangling from the tree and a poster seeking support for kidney donors.
Alice Charlton, Scott’s mother, came up with the idea for the tree.
“I decided my theme would be kidney organ donation awareness because my family has been affected by that,” Charlton said.
She said when a person donates an organ they give the gift of life.
“The way we feel about people who donate kidneys is that they are angels,” Charlton said.
The tree, along with 29 other trees, will be on display at the community center until Dec. 31, Mondays through Fridays from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
To donate a kidney to Scott, a person must be healthy and age 18-65. To learn more and to donate a kidney to Scott, call Valeria Barto, living donor coordinator at Lutheran Kidney Transplant Center, Fort Wayne, at 260-435-6211.[[In-content Ad]]
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