The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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| 26-year-old has been on donor list for more than two years |
Photo by Jeff Johnson:
Jamie Wright, a technician at the Franklin County Dialysis Center, prepares 26-year-old Emily Johnson for Mondays treatment session.
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Friday, January 22, 2010
By MORRIS STEPHENSON - Staff Writer
Emily Johnson of Rocky Mount is in desperate need of a kidney donor before her diabetes takes even a greater toll on her 26-year-old body.
Despite laser surgery, she has lost about half of her eyesight.
She can only walk alone for short distances within the home, as her feet and legs have also been affected. Walking has become such a major problem that she must resort to using a wheelchair for greater distances, including trips to town.
Tuesday she had an appointment with a Roanoke surgeon to discuss the problems she is experiencing with both middle fingers.
The middle finger on one hand began to get smaller and then "scab up." Then about three months ago, the middle finger on the other hand developed the same symptoms.
"Now both middle fingers look alike, and both are scabbed up like there is no blood circulation in those two fingers," her mother Kim said this week.
Following the visit with the surgeon Tuesday, Kim Johnson said her daughter was sent to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for tests on her fingers, and the results were given to the surgeon.
Kim Johnson said her daughter is in so much pain she was willing to do anything to eliminate it. However, the surgeon decided against amputation because of her daughter's young age. She has another appointment with the surgeon in three weeks.
Her doctors have also recommended both a kidney and pancreas transplant. The kidney transplant is covered by her insurance but not the pancreas transplant. That transplant is estimated to cost approximately $50,000, according to her mother.
Emily Johnson was diagnosed with the disease when she was 10 years old. Oddly enough, the news came on the same day as her father, Jeff, learned that he, too, suffers from diabetes.
She learned to live with diabetes as a youngster when it was in its early stages, and doctors were able to control it with proper medication. As she grew older, the disease became more of a problem.
"When I was about 15, I started having complications. Things kept getting worse for the next two years. I was having trouble walking, and things were getting all out of whack," Johnson said.
During her senior year at Franklin County High School, symptoms became more troublesome. Despite the problems, Emily earned her diploma in 2001. By that time, complications had multiplied to the point that attending college was out of the question.
Year after year, her diabetes continued to worsen. She tried a home treatment program for about nine months, and it was just not working out.
"I was not getting any positive results," she said.
This was when the decision was made to begin hemo dialysis last October at the Franklin County Dialysis Center in Rocky Mount
The young woman is taken by her parents to the center on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for her blood to be recycled for four hours. During each session from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., she is confined to one location as the treatment is administered.
"I've noticed a lot of improvement since I started these treatments. Mainly, my body is not as swollen as it was," she said.
Her weight dropped from about 160 to 140 pounds.
Johnson's name has been on the University of Virginia Medical Center's kidney donor list for two and a half years, according to her mother.
Her parents and friends are doing their best at spreading the word about their daughter's need of a kidney donor. They also realize their daughter's name appearing on a donor's list will not make people aware of the pressing time element involved for a kidney donation.
A kidney transplant is the only answer to keeping the disease at bay.
There have been several stories of successful kidney donations and transplants in Franklin County during the past 10 years.
Volunteering to donate a kidney is the first step to a kidney transplant and a long road to recovery to a more normal life for Emily.
She does have one thing going in her favor. Her blood is a common type, A+. The Johnsons say in addition to having the correct blood match, several other tests also need to be conducted before a donor can be matched.
Should a kidney donor be found, the potential donor would have to accompany Emily Johnson to the medical center in Charlottesville for additional testing.
"If anyone would come forward (to donate a kidney), it would be greatly appreciated. I'm desperate. I really need a kidney, now," Johnson said.
For more information, call the Johnson's home at 489-3962. Her father's cell phone number is 420-3962, and Emily can be reached at 420-7791. |
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