Student recovers from
successful kidney transplant
By Jenny Jones
Staff
Writer
In 1997, Daniel Escobedo joined the national
organ transplant list, a list of more than 70,000 people.
This is the time of year that the National Kidney
Foundation promotes organ and tissue donor awareness and the time
of year that Nathan Shaw, a friend of Escobedo's, remembers the pain
his friend endured while waiting for a new kidney.
"He went to the doctor because he was having
really blurry vision and they tested his blood pressure," Shaw, a
junior in the School of Technology, said. "It was the highest they'd
ever seen for someone his age."
After realizing that something was terribly wrong,
Escobedo, a sophomore at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne, underwent testing
and discovered he was losing large amounts of protein through urination.
"I was healthy and everything, well as far as
I thought, and all of a sudden, I'm sick in the hospital," Escobedo
said.
His chances of receiving a kidney were slim and
Escobedo's doctor told him that he would have to start dialysis right
away.
"Four times a day he had to hook up to a dialysis
bag and clean his system out himself," Shaw said. "That was a real
pain for him."
For three years, Escobedo continued his dialysis
treatment and his wait for a donor.
It was not until his family members started to
become tested that Escobedo regained hope.
"Originally, my mom was going to (donate) and
she couldn't because she had health problems with her own kidneys,"
Escobedo said. "Then it went to her older sister and she couldn't."
When Escobedo's four other aunts volunteered
to help out, his Aunt Becky was the first to be tested and she was
a perfect match.
"I lucked out with her," Escobedo said.
The day of the transplant was very emotional
for Escobedo and his family. As he and his aunt were rolled into surgery,
his entire family lined the hallway waving and crying.
"Up until then, I hadn't really thought about
it, but before you go under the knife it kind of sinks in that it's
pretty cool what your aunt's doing for you," he said.
After the surgery, Shaw went to visit his friend
in the hospital.
"He was up and around and kidding around, but
I think he was hurting a little bit," Shaw said.
Although the surgery went well there was still
a chance the high protein count could reappear.
"After I had gotten my transplant, a lot of protein
was showing up in my urine the first day so I was kind of worried
it didn't work, but it turns out, it was normal," Escobedo said.
Since his transplant, Escobedo has become one
of the more than 10,000 organ donor recipients to fully recover.
