Frankfort Girl's Kidney Transplant A Success
Janis Thornton
"Perfect" is how Dr. Mark Pescovitz, a surgeon at Riley Hospital for Children, Indianapolis, described the kidney transplant he had just performed on Frankfort teen-ager Placida Vasquez.
The smiles on the faces of parents Aaron and Modesta Vasquez indicated their relief. The surgery could bring an end to their daughter's nearly four-year bout with kidney failure that required her to undergo home-dialysis four times a day.
Vasquez, 16, an eighth-grader at Frankfort Middle School, is the beneficiary of a six-month-long communitywide effort to raise $75,000 for the life-saving surgery.
On the Riley Hospital transplant recipient's list since late January, Vasquez's family has looked forward to the hospital's phone call telling them a suitable kidney was available.
Vasquez took the long-anticipated telephone call Thursday shortly after 9 p.m. and then called family friend Lu Whitaker, said Whitaker Friday as she waited in a Riley surgery waiting room.
"They just called," Whitaker said Friday, recounting the teen's exact words when she called.
Whitaker arrived at the Vasquez home within 15 minutes. She drove Vasquez and her parents, Aaron and Modesta, to University Hospital, arriving by 10:30, Whitaker said with a grin.
"I didn't tarry, but I didn't drive too fast," she said. "We did have a purpose."
"Scared but excited" is how Whitaker described young Vasquez as the teen absorbed the reality of the imminent transplant surgery.
Whitaker and the Vasquezes spent the night at the hospital as the medical staff prepared the girl for surgery, Whitaker said. The kidney arrived around 5 a.m., she said, and after hospital personnel confirmed its compatibility with Vasquez's system, she was directed to Riley for surgery.
Vasquez said goodbye to her parents at about 8 a.m., and the elder Vasquezes and Whitaker took to a corner of the hospital waiting room.
The Spanish-speaking Vasquezes appeared calm as they quietly waited for a bi-hourly report from the operating room. Ann Blind, a medical translator for Riley, facilitated the communication.
At about 12:45 p.m., the hospital's Shelly Suarez strolled into the waiting room with an update of Vasquez's condition. She reported the procedure was going well and would likely be completed within the next two hours.
But at 1:15, to their surprise, they learned the surgery was complete.
Huddled together in the hallway with Pescovitz, the Vasquezes learned the procedure went well. He said the new organ appeared to be healthy, one he said he would "put into anybody."
"I started at 10:30 and finished at 1:15," the surgeon said. "Everything went just perfect - perfectamente."
Whether Vasquez will require dialysis for a few days will depend on how soon the new organ begins to function, the surgeon said. He explained it is not unusual for a transplanted kidney to take a few days before it starts working.
Pescovitz said Vasquez will likely remain in the hospital from five to seven days as she recuperates and doctors ascertain her body is not rejecting the new organ. Check-ups at the hospital clinic will be required for several months, he said.
Once Vasquez fully recovers, her life will normalize, Pescovitz said.
"We've had children grow up and have babies," he said. "Nothing to prevent any of that."
Several of Placida's concerned friends formed a task force in June to plan and oversee the fund-raising activities. One of those friends was Ruth Dommestrup, who chaired the group.
Dommestrup called 89 churches today requesting Vasquez's name be placed on their prayer lists.
"I give God credit for all of it," Dommestrup said upon learning of the successful surgery. "A lot of prayers went up for this child. I thank God it's over and she's going to be all right."
The transplanted kidney was donated by a recently deceased individual whose identity will remain anonymous.
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This article posted March 30, 2003.