No. 18 Vol. 8
www.mypaperonline.com
August 2020
You Can Be the Gift of Life for Livingston Resident Who Desperately Needs Kidney Transplant
H
By Jillian Risberg er kidneys are failing fast and for Gail Korkhin of Livingston a transplant means having the life she so richly deserves and the freedom from being hooked up to machines every night. So Korkhin is putting out an urgent plea to the public, including the readers of the Livingston News and beyond to help identify a potential donor. In 2012, she was devastated to learn about the unfortunate side-effect of the long-term medication she was taking that caused irreparable harm. Yet the 59-year-old was told by multiple doctors there was no substitute. “In 2016 I finally discovered a doctor who offered me a new drug,” says the former paralegal. “It worked, no side effects and I felt better than ever. Unfortunately my kidneys had deteriorated to the point of no return.” According to Korkhin — it was only the path into the abyss. Her creatinine continued to rise and filtration rate continued to fall. In February 2020 everything changed. “I was told by my nephrologist that I need a kidney transplant,” Korkhin says. “I am searching far and wide, advertising on every social media network, print media and word of mouth that I need a kidney.” She wants to find a living donor but the COVID-19 pandemic has made that difficult. “Everyone’s offering ‘thoughts and prayers’ but no one’s offering me a kidney,” Korkhin says. Her husband Boris and 26-year-old daughter Katherine don’t qualify because they have health issues of their own.
Now more than ever in these tumultuous times, Korkhin is mindful to look after herself and keep her hope up. “I walk three to four miles every day because I have high blood pressure, which is making the kidney disease worse,” says the former paralegal. “I try to manage it with the exercise and (medication).” Korkhin is looking for a healthy, altruistic donor. All blood types accepted even if not a direct match. “They don’t have to match me (B positive) because they have a paired plan,” she says, referring to her hospital’s Compatible Share Program (where a compatible donor/recipient pair may be offered the opportunity to participate in a kidney exchange). All potential donors should contact Daisy Dunbar at 973322-2098. She is living donor coordinator at RWJBarnabas Health. Specify that your donation is for Gail Korkhin. “To my prospective donor, thank you and G-d bless anyone who would be so kind as to donate life and let me stay with my family,” Korkhin says. According to the former paralegal, if the situation further deteriorates, she will have to go on dialysis. “In New Jersey for a B+ kidney it’s at least a seven-year wait,” Boris Korkhin says of Gail’s rare blood type. Adds Gail Korkhin, “If I get a cadaver kidney it lasts 10 years, if I get a living donor kidney it lasts 20.” But the Korkhins say a cadaver kidney does not provide the same quality of life. “The optimal outcome would be to get a living donor that matches directly,” says Boris Korkhin. Gail Korkhin is taking it day by day with the love and support of her family by her side.
“I spend a lot of time being her champion and looking for opportunities for a living donor,” Boris Korkhin says. “We understand that a (kidney) donation is a very difficult thing. There’s a lot of emotion involved and physical stuff.” According to Gail Korkhin, she wants her potential donor to know they have one less thing to worry about. continued on page 14
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