A daughter's gift of love - Paula Anderegg donates kidney to father

By Michelle Park, Times Reporter Staff Writer

October 24, 2005

Paul Anderegg, a former kidney dialysis patient, recently received a kidney donation from daughter, Paula Anderegg. Times Reporter Pat Burk

Uhrichsville -- In early August, about 62,000 people were waiting for a kidney transplant in the United States. Of that figure, 1,890 Ohioans were waiting for the organ.

There was no wait for Uhrichsville resident Paul Anderegg.

Before the former kidney dialysis patient's name was added to a transplant waiting list, Paul's daughter, Paula Anderegg, decided she would give her father one of her kidneys. On Aug. 9, the two underwent surgery together.

Two months later, Paula and Paul are recovering well in their respective residences. Paula, an 8th-grade intervention specialist at Revere Local School District at Richfield, returned to work Oct. 4 and said two weeks of soreness was the only side effect of the surgery.

After his medications were adjusted to ensure a good blood count, Paul said he, too, was feeling sore, but good. Now, he is able to do things he couldn't do when he was taking dialysis treatments, which clean the blood of those individuals whose kidneys cannot.

"I've been feeling better, and I can eat things that I could not because of the dialysis (treatments)," he said, noting that he can now enjoy two of his favorite foods, chocolate and tomatoes. Grapefruit is the only food he must avoid because it can interfere with his medications. "That's a small price to pay," he said of the dietary restriction.

The end to dialysis treatments is one thing Paul anticipated prior to the surgery. As the surgery date neared, Paul counted down his final dialysis treatments, which he underwent three times a week for about three years.

"They hook you up, and you have to sit there for the duration," he said of the treatments. "Mine (were) three hours and 15 minutes. It used to be 4 hours. It's something you have to do to stay alive."

Aug. 6 was his last day of dialysis treatment.

"I don't have to go," he said. "My life changed. You don't have to go there to have your life supported by that. You can feel independent."

Paul, 62, went into the hospital in 2002 and stayed for four months as doctors treated an immune disease. While at the facility, he experienced kidney failure, and after he left, he needed dialysis treatments. As a result, Paul took disability retirement from Gradall at New Philadelphia, where he worked for 38 years.

Paula, who resides in Cuyahoga Falls, is the middle child of three daughters and two sons born to Paul and Bertie Anderegg. Her father and she traveled to the Ohio State University last September to undergo testing, which would determine whether the two were compatible.

According to her father, Paula was persistent in her desire to donate a kidney from day one.

"She was the first one who was tested, and everything looked good and she kept pursuing," Paul said.

Paula agreed.

"I was glad because then I could give him the kidney, and he could go on with the rest of his life and not have to do dialysis," she said. Paul was stubborn himself, Paula said.

"He told me to stop," she said of her planning to go forward with the operation.

"She never did listen to me," her father quipped, explaining that he did not want to proceed with the operation. "My life is pretty well over, and she has a good way to go yet."

When her father expressed his concern, Paula responded simply.

"He said he did not want a kidney from any of his children, and I told him that was too bad," she said. "I only need one. I think it took a while for it to sink in. I told him that it was matched and that I wasn't having second thoughts about it."

Paula became a living donor two months ago. In 2004, 6,647 of 16,000 kidney transplants completed in the United States were made possible by living donors, said Jennifer Martin, donor services program director of the National Kidney Foundation based in New York City. Martin cited that information from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Organs also come from deceased donors.

Kidney transplants are the most common transplant in the United States, Martin said. Liver, lung and pancreas transplants are among the other transplants performed.

Despite the donation of thousands of organs each year, 17 people die per day, waiting for an organ, Martin said. Many Ohioans continue to wait for kidney transplants. Martin estimated the number of names on the list in August at 2,300.

"The waiting list has expanded in past years," she said. "It's constantly getting bigger and bigger. It's hard to say why that is. Certainly, kidney disease is very prevalent."

Most living kidney donors have a good outcome, Martin said. Between 6,000 and 7,000 people give kidneys each year.

"There are risks with the surgery just like any other surgery," she said.

The decision to become a donor is a personal one, she added. Speaking with a doctor and researching surgery risks are two steps Martin recommends to individuals interested in giving organs. Two helpful Web sites are www.livingdonors.org and www.shareyourlife.org.

Martin herself is a registered organ donor, as identified on her New York driver's license.

"I think in terms of deceased donations, signing the donor card is an easy thing that anybody can do to help save a life," she said. "There are a lot of things that people can donate to save people's lives or enhance people's lives."

Although he still voices reservations about Paula's donation, Paul said he looks forward to getting back to his "normal life."

"I have a pretty good backlog of things I need to do," he said. "I own a small dairy farm, and I'd like to get back to taking care of my cows."

As he looked forward to getting back to the dairy farm, Paul extended thanks and prayers to those who helped his family and him persevere through the surgery. He was speechless, however, about his feelings toward his daughter.

"I don't know what to say," he said. "I can never repay."

Paula responded matter-of-factly.

"He already has.

"There were five kids, and he worked and did the farming and worked for Gradall. Everything that we needed he gave it to us. Giving him this, it really wasn't much. I honestly think I couldn't repay him. I don't think this even touches what he's given all of us."

Copyright © 2005 The Times Reporter.

This article posted November 7, 2005.