Only days before Winter Quarter began, Ohio University sophomore Rachel Lentz picked up the phone and canceled all her classes for the coming quarter.
Up until that very last minute
she had been waiting to find out when physicians at Cleveland's University Hospital could schedule corresponding surgeries that would allow for Rachel to donate a kidney to her mother.
Rachel's mother, Elizabeth Lentz, had been diagnosed with a rare kidney disease last year called Microscopic Polyangiitis. Instead of attending classes Winter Quarter, she and doctors arranged for surgeries February 20. Rachel spent the 10 weeks preparing for and then recovering from a four-hour surgery to remove one of her kidneys.
Elizabeth said the cause of the rare disease is generally unknown.
People usually get it at 50 though she said. Elizabeth received news of her diagnosis four days before her 50th birthday.
While she underwent dialysis, doctors encouraged Elizabeth to add her name to the waiting list for a cadaver kidney, which could have left her waiting anywhere from three to six-years.
I was shocked at the amount of time
she said. There's a really big need for kidneys right now
more than ever before
and most people don't realize it.
In what Elizabeth called a very remarkable show of support, friends and family - including their father, Rachel and her older sister - stepped forward and underwent testing last Spring to see if they were compatible for donation.
Rachel was the closest match, but Elizabeth's body, had developed antibodies that would have rejected her daughter's kidney.
So, Elizabeth continued dialysis, giving the antibodies time to leave her body, and when Rachel was re-tested at the beginning of Winter Break, results showed that a donation then would work.
In the weeks leading up to the surgery, a nervous Rachel went through various health screenings and appointments with a social worker.
If I got a splinter
they'd know about it
Rachel said.
Though the legal age to donate an organ or tissue is 18, Elizabeth said it is rare that young people do so and there are concerns about emotional development and maturity.
Rachel's surgery, which was more difficult than her mother's, left her with four scars from incisions made on the right, lower half of her torso.
When she awoke after surgery, Rachel said she immediately questioned her mom's well-being, because there was a chance her body could reject it.
Once told her mother's surgery had been a success, Rachel said she was comforted knowing she was down the hall in the same boat.
Elizabeth said she remembers waking up to her husband telling her everything was working well. We were over the first stumbling blocks right away
she said.
The day after the surgery, about six of Rachel's friends from OU - including roommate Alisha Rice - visited her in the hospital, bringing flowers, balloons and gifts.
Alisha said she was lonely while Rachel was gone. The time we spent together at night
just talking
watching TV
