Churches, residents work to make kidney transplant a success
After nearly 10 years of dialysis treatments, doctors visits and mounting fears, Zuleica Arano, 22, of Hanover Park has a new lease on life.
She returned home last month after successfully undergoing kidney transplant surgery at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Her mother, Lucina Estrada, was her donor, after turning out to be a perfect match.
Both say they are doing well, and finding more energy every day.
"I feel great," Arano says. "I still have to go for check ups twice a week, for the first couple of months, but no more dialysis."
Their continued recovery is a success story not just for their family, but for the Schaumburg area and Tri-Villages community, whose residents held countless fundraisers to foot the bill for the transplant surgery.
"We are so grateful for the all the help," Estrada says quietly. It was nearly three years ago that she and her daughter - faced with end-stage renal disease, and needing a transplant to live - literally began knocking on doors at area churches to help them raise money for the surgery.
Without medical insurance, the mother and daughter said they had nowhere else to turn.
Moved by their cause, an unlikely partnership struck up between congregation members of Living Lord Lutheran Church in Bartlett and Church of the Holy Spirit in Schaumburg. Working together, they set out to raise $150,000.
"My heart really went out to them," says Pastor Jean Duran of Living Lord Lutheran Church.
Beginning in 2005, they undertook a series of fundraisers, that ran the gamut from battle of the band concerts and bowling nights, to selling books and raffle tickets at craft fairs.
"We sold everything we could think of," adds Sr. Marianne Supan, pastoral associate at Church of the Holy Spirit.
Their plight drew donations from congregation members at several surrounding churches, including St. Matthew's and St. Marcelline's Catholic churches in Schaumburg, St. Hubert's in Hoffman Estates, and St. Anne's in Barrington; as well as the Lions Club of Bartlett, and even a local mother's club.
"It was wonderful to have all of these churches working together for this lifesaving cause," Duran says.
Community donors also mailed in checks directly to a bank account set up for the cause. Anonymous donations came in for as much as $8,000 and $5,000, Duran adds.
The biggest difference, church officials said, were the matching grants made by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, whose continued support help keep the momentum going.
The surgery took place on Sept. 15, when doctors used hand assisted, minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery to remove Estrada's healthy kidney, and insert it on top of Arano's nonfunctioning one.
"So now I have three kidneys," Arano says.
Both now are recovering at home. Estrada left the hospital after one day, and Arano left within a week.
Next month, she hopes to look into returning to school. Her mounting illness caused her to drop out of Bartlett High School, so she will investigate getting her GED at Elgin Community College, before looking for a job.
"I have to work to pay for my (anti-rejection) medications," Arano says. "They're for life."
For now, her goals are simpler. She enjoys taking small walks in the neighborhood, and looking after her nieces and nephews.
Church officials are continuing to raise funds for Arano's postoperative medications. Interested supporters can make a check out to the Arano Benefit Fund, care of Harris Bank, 185 W. Irving Park Road, Streamwood, IL 60107, or submit a check directly to Living Lord Lutheran Church, or Church of the Holy Spirit.