Newspaper Ad Rep Fighting Kidney DiseaseOne of our own at the Times-Union needs your help. Specifically, she needs one of your kidneys.
Many people may recognize Sue Byland from her work selling ads for the Times-Union. She’s been here for three years. She recently learned she has Stage 4 polycystic kidney disease. There are five stages, and she is severe stage 4.
Polycystic kidney disease is an inherited disorder where clusters of cysts develop primarily within the kidneys, causing the kidneys to enlarge and lose function over time. The cysts vary in size, and they can grow very large, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Byland, 64, lives in Warsaw and has two adult children and three grandchildren. Damage to her kidneys began when she was 6 months old.
“I found out about seven years ago that my mom had polycystic kidney disease. It’s a hereditary disease caused from abnormal genes,” Byland said. “A year later after finding out about my mom, I decided that I would get an ultrasound, and I tested positive for the same disease.”
Byland has been seeing a nephrologist the last five years. She has struggled with high blood pressure, despite medications, and six months ago her doctor put her on a new drug. Byland said she was on that new drug for two months and it damaged her kidneys further instead of doing any help.
Byland has been told she needs to prepare for dialysis and sign up for the donor’s list.
Through tears, Byland said she felt shock and fear when she was told she was severe stage 4.
“I’m just living for my family. It is hard,” she said.
Byland said she realizes the donor process is complicated and that the donor would need to be a tissue match.
“When I see other people receiving the gift of life, it’s always brought tears to my eyes to see that. I never thought that would happen to me,” she said. “It’s bad times, people are hurting, and I know it’s really a lot to ask somebody.”
Byland said her doctor told her the average waiting time for a donor match is four to five years, and if she can’t find one, she’ll die.
March is National Kidney Month.
According to statistics from donatelife.net, 112,000 men, women and children are waiting for lifesaving organ transplants. Even the largest football stadium in the United States could not fit the number of patients on the national transplant waiting list, and another person is added to the list every 10 minutes. Every year, 8,000 people die in the United States because organs are not donated in time, with 22 people dying each day for the same reason. Eighty-two percent of patients waiting are in need of a kidney.
Anyone who wants to see if they’re a match for Byland can contact her at 574-526-1261.
