Two days before Christmas 2006, former Goodrich resident Gloria Renaldo received an early gift.
‘We had just left a gas station in Grand Blanc when I got a call on my cell phone,? she said. ‘They told me, ‘We have found a kidney, we believe it’s going to be a good one.??
Within about 36 hours, Gloria was in surgery at the University of Michigan Hospital where she received the new kidney’the conclusion of a six-year wait.
‘That’s a long time to wait,? she said. ‘I kept hearing of other people getting kidneys before me and I had given up. But I just figured if God wanted me to live, I’d get a kidney. I had given up. I kept asking what the situation was, and was told the ‘O? blood type was one of toughest types to get.?
Gloria was diagnosed with Wegener’s granulomatosis, a rare disease in which the blood vessels are inflamed (vasculitis). This inflammation damages important organs of the body by limiting blood flow to those organs and destroying normal tissue. Her family members were not a match.
In Gloria’s case, her kidneys failed during a 2001 Goodrich visit with her grandchildren. She stayed in Michigan for medical treatment. Since then, she performed peritoneal dialysis at home’or on the road’about five times a day, checking in with hospitals as needed. She juggled diet, medication, and dialysis just to lead a normal lifestyle.
A professional photographer by trade, Gloria had worked at Manatee Community College in Bradenton, Fla. for about five years, where she came in contact with numerous chemicals used to develop film. She suspects this contact with chemicals for her medical problems.
‘A girlfriend of mine named Linda died a few years ago with an immunity disease after working at that same lab,? she said. ‘I worked in the film lab everyday. There’s nothing certain that caused my disease or Linda’s, but it’s possible.?
Gloria met Pierre Renaldo, a general contractor from western New York who specialized in Florida hurricane-resistant structures, on a Florida beach in 1983. They married the following year.
That’s when her adventurous life began, said Gloria, who joined her husband in outdoor activities, moving nearly 2,500 miles from her North American roots to Central America. In 1996, the couple moved to the West Caribbean Island of Roatan about 40 miles off the north coast of Honduras. While there, Gloria, a Catholic missionary, was contacted by the church to take in a woman from Honduras, along with the woman’s baby.
While living in the Caribbean, Gloria’s health faltered.
‘I got used to the dialysis every day,? said Gloria. ‘I did my dialysis at home but I hated the needles. Still, you get so used to it’you have to. The other option is death. During the six years I was sick, I kept a close relationship with God. If you really listen, He lets you in on many secrets.?
‘It was a tough time; however, the support and help of my husband really got me through. He waited on me around the clock. In contrast, I know two people that died recently that were home alone, with no support. They were just too lonesome and they weren’t eating the right food.?
About six months after the transplant, Gloria started feeling better’several medications, some of which were experimental, were adjusted to help in her recovery.
‘I still have a few little problems, but now I live like a normal person. People, don’t realize how important it is to donate their organs.?
‘I never met the donor family,? said Gloria. ‘I do know the donor was a 52-year-old man and that he was much larger than I am. The University of Michigan has a way for me to write the donor’s family, but I have been very preoccupied feeling better. I guess I did not want to tell his family if the kidney failed. I want to tell them the tests are good, which they have been so far.?
Gloria and Pierre moved from Goodrich to Anderson, S.C., near a family member and some warmer weather.
While the long wait was difficult, said Gloria, two local physicians, Dr.Sayed Osama and Dr. Aram Manasian, offered extraordinary care and she received great support at Hurley Hospital in Flint.