MORRIS COUNTY — Debra Kaufman, 60, wife, and mother residing in Denville, needs a kidney.
Her blood type is A+. She is working with New York-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Hospital, and Renewal to coordinate the transplant. The surgeons have indicated that her best chance for a successful transplant is a living donor. Her case is more complicated than most since she also had two pancreas transplants because of Type-1 diabetes. Her life can return to normal if there is an angel out there that would be willing to provide this gift of life.
There is absolutely no cost to the donor, as her insurance and renewal work in concert will cover the expenses.
Debra has been married to the love of her life, Allan for 39 years. He is her best friend and caregiver. They do home hemodialysis. They were trained to do hemodialysis at home so they would not have to go to a center for treatment. They can make their own schedule, but they must do the treatment four times a week, each session is four hours from start to finish. She is a Type-1 diabetic.
Her story began in 1985 when she was pregnant with their son Bryan. She developed pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure) and was hospitalized for five weeks prior to delivery. This condition led to end-stage renal disease eight years later. She was retaining fluid and was extremely nauseous. The doctors determined that she had kidney failure. They told her that she would need a kidney transplant, or she would be on dialysis for the rest of her life. This was all foreign to her. She underwent surgery to have a fistula created to provide access for the dialysis treatments. She was on dialysis for almost six months.
Her sister unselfishly was tested to see if she could donate a kidney. She turned out to be a perfect match. We both had surgeries on October 27, 1993. Everything worked perfectly for 24 years and my sister has had no ill effects. In 2017, Debra needed cardiac bypass surgery. In order to do the surgery, an angiogram was necessary. The dye from the angiogram is unfortunately toxic to the kidney. As a result, her heart condition was addressed, but my kidney failed.
She has been on dialysis since September 2017.
Debra worked full time as the office manager in her husband’s accounting firm. She is currently working at home because of kidney disease and COVID-19. Her abilities have been significantly reduced as she does not have the strength to do all that she used to do.
Kaufman’s life has been turned upside down. She used to be active with friends and family. She loved to travel. This has become exceedingly difficult because their lives revolve around her dialysis treatments. Everything they do has to be planned around the treatments. Travel is virtually impossible. If they want to visit family, they must make sure to find a dialysis center near the location and then hope they have a seat available.
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