A Chicago-area mother and nurse remains in need of a living kidney donor five years after the COVID-19 pandemic complicated her initial search. NBC Chicago’s Regina Waldroup reports.
Nine years after being diagnosed with a rare disease that caused her kidneys to fail, Chicago nurse and mother of four Christine Hernandez is continuing her search for a living kidney donor.
"I know the right person is out there. I just need them to apply," Hernandez said.
After her kidney diagnosis in 2016, Hernandez was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018.
“Having to go through what I've been through in the last six years, it's … it's been a nightmare,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez first entered the transplant list in 2019, and said over 100 people had registered to be potential donors before the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything.
Hernandez said many of those who signed up changed their minds in the wake of the pandemic.
“I can't believe this happened to me. So many people applied. And everything shut down. It was like I've been through so much in this whole roller coaster,” Hernandez said.
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Now with end stage renal disease, Christine undergoes dialysis 3 days a week, with each session lasting up to four hours.
“At times I've wanted to stop dialysis, but my family tells me to keep fighting, that the miracle is coming. But it's so hard to sit in that chair all those hours,” she said.
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Hernandez's doctor says what makes her case so challenging is the formation of antibodies against potential donors. But he believes the person who can help her is out there.
“I've been doing this job since, now, since 1992, I've never seen anybody with this number of antibodies against potential donors,” Dr. Enrico Benedetti with UI Health said. “The issue is her high level of antibodies against potential donors.
"I refuse to think that is hopeless. I'm optimistic by nature. I hope that out there, there's somebody generous enough to be tested that will allow us then to manipulate the immune system of Christine and do the transplant safely," Benedetti said.
Hernandez said she will continue fighting for as long as she can, maintaining her belief in miracles.
If you would like to become a potential donor for Christine Hernandez, please e-mail the Transplant Coordinator, Anita Pakrasi at apakrasi@uic.edu.
