Organ donors bravely save lives of family, friends
By Nick Claussen
Athens NEWS Associate Editor
May 12, 2008
Everyone should have a friend like Shelly Lutz or a sister like Marcia Guess.
Both Athens area women give a lot for their family and friends, even giving a part of themselves in order to save lives. They are both organ donors who heroically volunteered to give up a kidney in order to save someone they love.
Athens County has many people who have donated their organs in order to help others, and each story is special. These are just two of the local stories, but they stand out for the family ties involved in Guess’ donation, and the inspirational story involving Lutz.
MINDY CISNEROS HAS known Lutz for years, but for most of the time they only knew each other because Cisneros was married to Lutz’s ex-husband. The two had a good relationship and worked together on behalf of Lutz’s children and Cisneros’ stepchildren, but they weren’t really close friends. For a long time, they didn’t even really talk at all, though that was due to circumstances beyond their control.
After Cisneros and her husband divorced last summer, though, she and Lutz began talking more and became close friends.
Cisneros is a cancer survivor who had Wilms’ Tumor (a cancer of the kidneys) when she was 2 years old. She had to have her left kidney and half of her right kidney removed because of the cancer, and she has been living with half of a kidney ever since. She had a few restrictions on her diet and had to watch her health, but having half of a kidney did not affect her substantially.
Six years ago, though, her kidney production began to drop, possibly because of stress in her life. Her doctors had told her that she might have to have a kidney transplant at some point in her life, but she tried not to worry about it.
Lutz has known for several years about Cisneros’ health problems and last fall told her while they were talking about the kidney problem, “I want to give you my kidney.” She had an overwhelming feeling that she would one day donate to Cisneros, but had no idea how soon that day would come.
“I don’t think she took me too seriously,” Lutz recalled.
In December, Cisneros got the flu, and Lutz ended up taking her to the doctor. That trip led to Cisneros learning that her kidney was failing and that she would need a new one. She told a few people about her need for a new kidney, and soon people were volunteering to be tested to see if they could donate to her.
“I had 30 people say, ‘I want to be tested,’” Cisneros said.
Lutz and another close friend were the first two tested, and Lutz was found to be a perfect match. The doctors looked at several different criteria to find a good match for Cisneros, and Lutz had high scores in each area.
Cisneros said it can be difficult to find a match, and she was fortunate to find one so quickly in Lutz.
“The average wait for a kidney is three years if it’s from a cadaver,” Cisneros said. “There are people dying every day waiting for an organ.”
Lutz said she is not too concerned about the surgery or living with one kidney, though she admitted to being scared for the first time about the upcoming donation while she was talking to the doctors recently.
“I’m honored,” she said about being the organ donor for Cisneros. “God will really save Mindy’s life. I’m giving Mindy the opportunity to have a healthy kidney.”
Cisneros is understandably emotional about everything she is going through. She’s thankful to Lutz for giving her this kidney and saving her life, she’s thankful for her friendship with Lutz and the others who volunteered to give her a kidney, and she’s gained a new understanding of why things sometimes happen in life.
Her marriage had many trials and tribulations, and it was hard to have the marriage end and go through the divorce, she said. Often during those tough times, she wondered why things were happening as they were.
“Many people go their whole lives asking why,” Cisneros said. “This just answered the question for me.” If she hadn’t gotten married in the first place, she likely never would have known Lutz, and if she had never gotten divorced, she probably never would have become close friends with Lutz.
“A year later, I can say it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. This year has given me back my life,” Cisneros said.
Cisneros and Lutz are both teachers, Cisneros at East Elementary School in Athens and Lutz at the Meigs Primary School in Rutland. School lets out for Cisneros on June 11, and on June 12 she and Lutz will be admitted into the hospital in Columbus so that on June 13 the kidney transplant can take place.
Cisneros and Lutz are anxious about the surgery, but are much more concerned about their children being worried about the surgery.
“We both want all of the children to know that foremost in our mind is that we love them,” Lutz said. Her youngest daughter, Morgan, 6, has been proud of her mother donating the kidney, and has been telling people that she is saving someone’s life.
Cisneros said that while Lutz is giving her this kidney, she already gave her something more important by allowing her to be a stepmother to her children and having her be a big part of the children’s lives.
“She gave me the gift of being a mother,” Cisneros said.
SONIA JARVIS, WHO LIVES near Guysville, has polycystic kidney disease, and needed to receive a new kidney because of it earlier this year.
“It was inherited from my mother,” she said about the genetic condition.
Her mother was on dialysis for five years, and died while on the waiting list for a new kidney, Jarvis said.
Her sister, Teresa Courtney, who lives in Williamstown, W.Va., also has the disease, but her other sister, Marcia Guess, who lives in Tuppers Plains, does not.
Jarvis has known she has had the disease for the past four years, and has had her health monitored because of it.
When the condition worsened and Jarvis learned that she would need a new kidney, Guess faced a very tough question.
“I have one healthy kidney to donate here, and I have two sisters who have the same disease. Now who do I give it to?” Guess said, describing her dilemma. Courtney does not need a kidney yet and may never need one, so she decided to volunteer to give a kidney to Jarvis, who needed it quickly.
Guess ended up being a perfect match for the kidney transplant, and the two sisters went forward with the procedure.
On Feb. 29, the sisters had the surgery, and Jarvis is now using Guess’ kidney. The family jokes that they knew that a part of Guess was inside Jarvis when she woke up after the surgery and immediately started talking more than usual.
“We are only going to celebrate this every four years,” Guess said, pointing out that the surgery occurred on leap-year day.
For Jarvis, the surgery did more than just rid her of the disease; it showed her how her children and her children’s children could also beat this fatal disease.
Brian Keirns, one of her two sons, said he tries not to think about the fact that he could one day need a kidney transplant just like his mother.
Jarvis said, however, that she is happy the medical procedures allow for transplants today, and added that she hopes a cure for polycystic kidney disease will soon be found.
The transplant also allowed her to avoid going on dialysis, and in the fall she will return to work driving a school bus for the Federal Hocking Local School District. Guess, who works at the Dollar General in Tuppers Plains, said she does not worry at all about living life with one kidney, and she’s proud that she could do this to help her sister.
Jarvis’ husband, Calvin Jarvis, said the whole experience has taught him more about the importance of organ donation. He and the whole family are encouraging people to sign up to be organ donors.
Guess added that there are many myths about the donation, and pointed out that she did not have to pay any of the medical costs for the procedure.
The family also received a great deal of support from the community, with a benefit held in Guysville in March to help pay Jarvis’ medical bills, and many people offered emotional support.
The two sisters want to get involved with the local organizations for organ donors and recipients, and encourage people to learn more about organ donation by logging onto lifelineofohio.org.
Lutz and Cisneros are also encouraging people to learn more about donating, and to agree to be organ donors when they renew their driver’s licenses. Anyone with questions about organ donation can e-mail Lutz at shellyzhppy@yahoo.com or Cisneros at mindy.cisneros@gmail.com.
“There are so many people who need them, people who are desperately needing them,” Lutz said about the organ donations. “There are children who desperately need new kidneys.”
Comments
Please log in to post a comment.
Don't have an account? Get one here. It's free and easy!
shellyl commented, on May 12, 2008 at 1:12 p.m.:
Thank you to the Athens News for reinforcing the message that there is a great need for organ donors. The quote at the end of this article was intended to say that even children are in need of donated organs, not just kidneys. Consider that each of us has the ability to save lives, inquire about becoming an organ donor.
